Don’t let his name confuse you. Buckwheat, also known as buckwheat, is not a grain. It is a pseudocereal that gives us a good amount of proteinespecially rich in the amino acid lysine and ideal to complement primary sources of vegetable protein. Besides has no trace of gluten.

It is ideal for celiac people and for those who follow a low gluten diet. Also for people who are carrying a regimen of food to alleviate digestive inflammation. But not only for them.

In fact, buckwheat is an essential ingredient in some well-known recipes, such as the famous Breton crepes.

In this video you will find a delicious recipe for buckwheat crepes:

Buckwheat is, without a doubt, very recommended for anyone who wants to discover a new healthy ingredient or give variety to your diet, so today I present to you a Weekly gluten-free menu.

Of course, buckwheat couldn’t be missing from a menu like this. You will find on the menu many proposals to include this «cereal» in your recipes.

• Can download the menu weekly gluten free here.

I will also share with you three recipes with buckwheat that I love and that you will find suggested in the downloadable weekly menu.

How to include buckwheat in your healthy weekly menu

The only small drawback that this pseudocereal has is its high phytic acid content, which is why it is always recommended soak, germinate, cook or ferment the grain. This does not require anything strange, it is as we would do with any cereal. Soaking, sprouting and cooking are suitable options when using grains; Fermentation is ideal when we use buckwheat flour.

You can use the cooked grain, like any other cereal, or you can use the flour, which is very versatile. It is the typical crepe flour and blinis, to which it gives a great flavor, and with it, for example, udon noodles, gluten-free noodles, are made. With this flour you can make savory fritters, delicious wraps or even your own gluten-free pizza doughs.

Remember that, If you use flour, it is better to keep it in the refrigeratorin a hermetically sealed jar, preferably made of glass. Otherwise it is possible that it will go rancid right away.

Below I present three recipes with buckwheat flour so that you have more variety of possibilities when using the delicious flour of this nutritious «cereal». You will find them in this week’s gluten-free weekly menu. You will see that buckwheat flour it gives us a lot of play at breakfast.

There is also no lack of cereals on the menu such as rice or other pseudocereals that do not have gluten such as quinoa ordifferent flour and pasta optionssuch as lentil flour, chickpea flour and zucchini «pasta.»

What you will not find in this weekly gluten-free menu are industrial gluten-free breads or pastries. Gluten-free processed foods are usually not recommended. Remember add fruit to breakfasts, snacks and salads.

Easy and healthy buckwheat recipes

1. Buckwheat and lemon muffins

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These cupcakes or muffins do not come out as spongy as traditional muffins, but they have a very good flavor and can be perfectly combined with ice cream, beetroot or yogurt. They are also a great snack option to have outside the home.

Ingredients:

• 100 grams of buckwheat flour
• 50 ml soy milk
• 10 grams of baking powder
• 1 lemon in juice and zest
• 1 level tablespoon ground flax
• 15 ml of water
• 50 grams of panela
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 pinch of salt

Preparation:

1. In a glass, let the ground flax soak in the water until the seeds release the mucilage. This way we obtain a liquid with an egg texture that we can use to bind the dough instead of the egg.
2. In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.
3. In another bowl, mix the liquid ingredients, including the flax «egg.»
4. We pour the well-mixed liquids into the bowl where we have the flour and add them until we obtain the muffin dough.
5. We preheat the oven to 180ºC.
6. We place the dough in the greased muffin molds or in reusable silicone capsules, filling each hole up to half of the mold or up to 2/3, never all the way to the top.
7. We bake for about 20 minutes and check with a wooden stick that they have been done correctly. If it comes out clean, they are ready.
8. We temper it out of the oven and serve at room temperature.

2. Buckwheat and Thyme Crackers

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These gluten-free crackers are the best complement to your sauces and spreads. They are great to accompany hummus, guacamole or any other homemade vegetable pate. Homemade crackers in general are very easy to make, and if they are not perfect in shape, even better.

Ingredients:

• 150 grams of buckwheat flour
• 2 tablespoons virgin olive oil
• 150 ml of water
• 1 teaspoon ground white sesame
• 1 level tablespoon of ground thyme
• 1 level teaspoon garlic powder
• a handful of poppy seeds
• olive oil or margarine for greasing
• a pinch of salt

Preparation:

1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well, kneading with your hands until we obtain a manageable dough.
2. Once we have the dough, we spread it on a greased baking paper and cut it into small squares or mark the dough by drawing small squares so that we can later separate the future crackers.
3. We sprinkle them with some poppy seeds on top.
4. We preheat the oven to 180ºC and bake between 10 and 15 minutes.
5. When they are golden brown, we remove them and let them cool. If they were not separated, we broke them into the marked pieces.

3. Gluten-free crumbs with tempeh and fruits

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Traditional wheat flour crumbs can be version with other gluten-free floursalthough also with legumes. For example, with some split red lentils, which have the advantage of hydrating and softening very quickly, also providing color and vegetable protein.

In these we will use buckwheat flour with sautéed tempeh.

Ingredients:

• 200 grams of buckwheat flour
• 200 ml of water
• 20 grams of tempeh
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 level teaspoon of paprika
• 1 pinch of salt
• a few pomegranate or grape seeds to accompany (optional)

Preparation:

1. Peel the two cloves of garlic.
2. We cut the tempeh into small cubes.
3. Sauté the garlic in the oil along with the chopped tempeh. Once golden, we remove them and reserve the oil.
4. We mix the buckwheat flour with the water well.
5. We heat the reserved oil in the pan and pour the mixture.
6. We cook over medium heat and work with a spatula or wooden spoon to form crumbs, until they are very loose.
7. We turn off the heat and add the tempeh with the garlic.
8. We serve on a plate with the selected fruit.