Buckwheat with Hen of the Woods Mushrooms and Ground Turkey

I would like to share a very flavorful and easy to prepare dish, which you can eat for lunch or supper. It also can be used as a garnish to a beef roast. You can use freshly prepared or frozen mushrooms. Use only those mushrooms that you are sure are edible.

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum sagittatum) is an amazingly healthy food. It looks like a grain but it is actually a fruit (seeds) of a plant related to a rhubarb. This plant originated in Asia and then spread to Europe through the Middle East and Bisontine Empire. In the USA this plant is mostly grown in the southern states. Diets with high buckwheat consumption are linked to healthy cholesterol levels and normal blood pressure. Buckwheat seeds have a high content of flavonoid rutin, which is involved in lipid lowering activity. It is believed that eating buckwheat helps to control blood sugar levels. Buckwheat also contains all of the essential  amino acids and is gluten free. Besides its high nutritional content, dishes prepared with buckwheat have a very strong, pleasant and unique flavor. Buckwheat groats are sold in the ethnic food aisle of supermarkets (where asian and spanish food are sold).

Ingredients:

2 cups of dark buckwheat

3 cups of water

2 tbsp of low sodium Kikkoman sauce

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp crushed red pepper (optional)

10.6 oz. (300 gm) Hen of the Woods mushrooms boiled for 10 min., drained and cut into small pieces.

9 oz. (250 gm) of lean ground turkey

2 cloves of garlic or a medium onion.

oil for frying

Directions:

1. Put the buckwheat groats into a 2 quart pan, add water and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 40 sec to 1 minute. Cover the pan with a lid and set aside for 1 hour. It can stay on the kitchen counter at room temperature. The cooked buckwheat will expand almost twice.

2. While the buckwheat is getting ready combine the oil, fresh crushed garlic or finely sliced onion (if you prefer it to garlic) in a large (5 quart ) frying pan . Then add mushrooms, Kikkoman sauce, ginger, and pepper. Saute it for 10 min on low heat, then add the ground turkey. Saute the mixture until the turkey meat is fully cooked.

3. Add the buckwheat to the meat mixture and stir. You may need to add more oil. Saute the mixture for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently. After 5 minutes taste the mixture to make sure that you have enough salt and pepper. Add more Kikkoman sauce if you need more salt.

4. Take the mixture from the heat and let it stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Notes:

This dish could be cooked without meat if you use it as a garnish for a roast or you can use meat, but not mushrooms. If you do not have Hen of the Woods mushrooms, you can use champignons or boletus mushrooms. In the case of boletus mushrooms, I would pre-boil them for 10 min to avoid stomach problems. As always, be careful with wild mushrooms and do not use them if they are unknown to you.