The benefits and harms of real porridge. How to cook healthy porridge

Porridge (a dish made from boiled cereals) is a healthy food product that is included in many national cuisines. In addition to the undeniable nutritional value, properly prepared porridges have high taste. They can be served as separate dishes or as a side dish for dishes made from meat, fish, and vegetables. To prepare porridges, crushed and whole grains of many cereals are used. Thus, in Rus', from time immemorial, buckwheat was considered the most revered grain, and in Georgia, corn grits, from which women prepare hominy.

How to quickly prepare tasty and healthy porridge? First of all, you need to decide on the consistency of the dish, which depends on the ratio of water and cereal. Porridges can be liquid, viscous and crumbly. They are prepared with water, meat, vegetable broth or milk. If desired, porridges can be supplemented with other products: pieces of fresh berries or fruits, honey, jam, nuts, dried fruits, mushrooms and even fried minced meat. Of course, butter is an invariable companion to any porridge. It’s not for nothing that people have had a saying for many centuries: “You can’t spoil porridge with butter.”

How to quickly cook oatmeal

One of the healthiest cereals made from grains is oatmeal. To prepare it, oatmeal, cereal or flour is used. How to prepare delicious oatmeal porridge, which will be the best dish for breakfast or dinner? You can use the following recipe:

Ingredients:

• oatmeal – 100 g; • sugar - 2 tbsp. l.; • milk - 1 l; • dried apricots - 100 g; • butter and salt - to taste.

First of all, you need to prepare dried apricots. To do this, dried fruits should be washed and boiled in water, then cooled and cut into small pieces. To prepare porridge, milk is brought to a boil, oatmeal is poured in while stirring constantly. A few minutes after boiling, sugar and salt are added to the dish. At the end of cooking, add pieces of dried apricots. Oatmeal prepared in this way is placed on plates. Butter is added to each serving.

Cooking healthy porridge

The main rule when preparing porridge is to preserve the beneficial properties of the cereal, as well as impart aroma and taste to the porridge. Therefore, we will build on these rules. Of course, it’s worth noting right away that porridges come in different varieties, and there is simply no universal recipe, but there are recipes that are suitable for many types of porridges.

So, first you need to take a certain amount of cereal, sort it out, thereby weeding out empty grains, skins and possible traces of pests, and then rinse it. Next, you need to use water to prepare healthy porridge. As already mentioned, water plays an important role, and it is important to correctly calculate its amount. For cereals that are difficult to cook, use a ratio of 1:3

. That is, take 3 parts of water for 1 part of cereal, but if we are talking about easier-to-cook cereals, you can use 2 parts. In general, there cannot be too much water, on the contrary - in this way, every grain is soaked, endowed with the beneficial qualities of the water itself. Adding a small amount of oil to the water will help soften it and also prevent the porridge from sticking to the sides of the dish. And, of course, the porridge needs to be lightly salted. For this, 10 g, or 1 teaspoon of salt, per 1 kg of porridge will be enough. Next, put it on the stove and start preparing healthy porridge.

How to quickly cook millet porridge

In order to get a tasty and healthy dish from millet, the cereal must first be prepared - sorted, removing black and deformed grains, and washed thoroughly. Only in this case will the porridge be perfect. To prepare crumbly food, you will need twice as much water or milk as cereal. If you want to cook a viscous porridge, the amount of liquid must be increased. A variety of additives, such as pieces of pumpkin, add additional flavor to a millet dish.

Ingredients:

• milk - 2 l; • prepared millet - 3 tbsp.; • sugar - 2 tbsp. l.; • pumpkin, diced - 400 g; • butter – 50 g; • salt - to taste.

Boil milk, add sugar, salt and pumpkin pieces. Boil the chopped melons until half cooked. After this, millet is added to the mass. The dish is cooked until done. At the end of cooking, butter is added.

“Soup cabbage soup and porridge are our food!”

You can prepare countless delicious dishes from wheat, rice, buckwheat, millet, barley and corn. And the recipes were invented in different ways. Sometimes a new dish appeared only because it was necessary to cook, as they say, from what was available.

There is a legend that the famous Suvorov porridge, cooked from a mixture of different cereals (pea, wheat and oatmeal) is also a kind of impromptu (all the cereals were almost finished and, in order to feed the soldiers, everything that was left was thrown into one cauldron).

The best porridges are those made from whole grain cereals. This is exactly how barley and oatmeal porridge was prepared in Rus' according to ancient recipes. And if you consider that porridges are ideally combined with many vegetable, meat and fish dishes, then the versatility of this dish is undeniable.

And finally, I will share with you an interesting and simple recipe for a dish made from corn and wheat flour.

How to quickly cook pea porridge

Porridge can be prepared not only from cereals, but also from the fruits of plants from the legume family. Pea porridge is a very tasty dish with many beneficial properties.

Ingredients:

• peas - 600 g; • water - 3 liters; • salt - to taste.

The peas are washed in several waters, after which they are placed in a saucepan, filled with water and put on fire. After boiling, the dish must be stirred, reduce the heat to low and cook for 1.5 hours until the peas are cooked. If necessary, liquid should be added or removed. To make the peas cook faster, you can pre-soak them in cold water for several hours.

Once the dish is ready, the peas must be pureed. You can use a blender or hand potato masher for this. After this, you can add butter, cream, fried onions, vegetables or pieces of meat to the pea porridge. Delicious! You can prepare such a delicious porridge not only over a fire, but also in the oven.

Delicious and healthy porridges: how to cook them correctly

Modern kids don't really like porridge.
They become capricious as soon as a plate with another portion of morning porridge appears in front of them. Many people unfairly criticize this useful and necessary product for humans. In order for porridge to be tasty and healthy, it must be cooked correctly.

Is it really so difficult to cook tasty and healthy porridge? After all, it’s enough to just take milk, porridge, salt, sugar, mix it all, and your morning breakfast is ready? In reality, everything is not so obvious.

If you simply mix all the ingredients, the porridge is unlikely to turn out tasty. It is incorrectly prepared porridge that causes such an aversion to it in children. Any dish must be prepared with love so that it turns out tasty and healthy. There is no need to rush when cooking porridge. Our distant ancestors treated the process of preparing porridge with trepidation.

Porridge in Rus'

In Rus', liquid porridges were very popular; they were used instead of soups. They liked to add meat, herbs, various roots, fish, and onions to cooked porridge. Such a dish was necessarily seasoned with fat or lard. Children were very fond of porridge-smashes, because such porridges were prepared sweet, honey, molasses, as well as berries and fruits were added to them.

The porridge was prepared according to a special recipe. Water, cereals were poured into the kashnik, as the clay pot was called, and the porridge was cooked for almost five hours in a Russian oven. Currently, it takes no more than five minutes to prepare porridge.

But the difference in taste between modern and ancient porridge is simply huge. The porridge that was cooked in ancient Rus' was loved by everyone, from infants to ancient elders. Not only did they eat their portion, but they always asked for more.

• Among cereals, buckwheat is a clear favorite . It contains many chemicals that help lower blood sugar levels. But when preparing it, it is important to follow some rules. You can cook buckwheat for no more than five minutes; cereal and water are taken in equal quantities.
• Oatmeal took second place . It contains slightly fewer nutrients, but eating oatmeal significantly reduces cholesterol levels in the blood. Nutritionists recommend eating oatmeal for people with liver problems and atherosclerosis.
• Third place goes to rice porridge , which is cooked from long grains. Round rice is too rich in starch, therefore it supplies the human body with an excess amount of carbohydrate such as glucose. You should not consume more than 150 grams of porridge, and it is advisable to take less sugar.

The benefits of buckwheat porridge

Buckwheat porridge, beloved by many, the benefits of which have been known for a long time, is one of the most popular porridges. The extraordinary usefulness of buckwheat porridge is that it contains essential plant proteins, besides, buckwheat is the champion among cereals in terms of the content of vitamins B (help cope with stress and insomnia) and A (strengthens the eye vessels). There are also more than enough microelements in buckwheat.

Buckwheat contains fiber, a whole range of vitamins - E, PP, B1, B2, folic and organic acids, as well as a large percentage of starch, which helps the body get the right amount of essential elements.

Buckwheat is the key to normal blood pressure and low cholesterol levels, which it gradually “eliminates” from the body. It is not contraindicated even for infants, because it is important in the formation of the nervous and skeletal systems. And for adults, it will be an excellent help in losing weight, because even a small amount of it makes you feel full.

The most beneficial properties of buckwheat porridge are that it holds a record for the content of iron and cobalt, which are involved in the process of hematopoiesis. It also contains enough potassium, calcium, and magnesium. This trio is necessary to strengthen the nervous and cardiovascular systems.

At the same time, what is the benefit of buckwheat porridge and cereals? It is low-calorie, and therefore indispensable for diabetics and heart patients. In addition, buckwheat contains rutin, a substance that seals the walls of blood vessels, having a preventive and therapeutic effect on the veins.

A note about buckwheat porridge . Mix a handful of buckwheat in a coffee grinder, pour the resulting powder with cold boiled water or milk and, bringing to a boil, boil for 2-3 minutes. As a result, you will get porridge in which, due to minimal heat treatment, all the beneficial substances have been preserved.

Benefits of oatmeal

One bowl of whole grain oatmeal provides a daily dose of important antioxidants such as vitamin E and selenium. They protect cells from premature aging and help prevent cancer. So what are the benefits of oatmeal and cereal?

Oatmeal or, as it is also called, “beauty porridge”, is primarily a source of natural fiber and proteins, vitamins C, A, PP, E, as well as vitamin B complex, magnesium, phosphorus, fluorine, calcium, potassium, nickel and others important minerals, as well as biotin, pectin and other nutrients.

The undoubted advantages of oatmeal also include the abundance of soluble fiber and gluten. By stimulating the work of the intestines, the first removes toxins from the body and serves as the prevention of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

Gluten envelops the gastric mucosa and helps cope with attacks of gastritis no worse than almagel. Oatmeal is a storehouse of nutrients and a healing porridge for those who suffer from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

By the way, if you have a good appetite, after a small portion of oatmeal you can eat a hearty breakfast: sausage, scrambled eggs, a sandwich with butter. Any oatmeal, the benefit of which is precisely this, neutralizes the effect of bad cholesterol. It normalizes acidity and cleanses the body with the fiber it contains.

In addition, this porridge, oddly enough, actively fights depression and depressed states. This is also an excellent dish for a child, because its special consistency makes it easy to eat even for “toothless” people, and its beneficial properties help develop a strong muscle structure for the child. Beauties should remember that oatmeal will make their skin clearer and smoother, while improving its color.

A note about oatmeal . Don't buy instant oats. Due to preliminary heat treatment, not only do they not contain any useful substances, but the starch content also increases, and the beneficial properties are partially lost, which harms the pancreas and also contributes to the appearance of excess weight. Any oatmeal is useful in the form of regular rolled oats, or even better - in the form of oatmeal.

The benefits of pearl barley porridge

Delicious pearl barley porridge, the benefits of which are known to many women, can easily claim the title of “beauty porridge.” You ask, how is pearl barley useful for the fair sex? The fact is that lysine, its main wealth, takes an active part in the production of collagen. As you know, it is what makes the skin smooth and elastic, preventing the appearance of wrinkles.

It is very nutritious and is able to keep the body in good shape, loaded with a lot of physical activity. It helps metabolism and is essential for brain activity.

Do not forget that the benefits of pearl barley porridge are evidenced by the fact that this hearty porridge is low-calorie, and it is also a champion in phosphorus content. This microelement is necessary for normal metabolism, as well as for the formation of the skeleton, especially during the period of growth. This porridge contains a fairly large amount of lysine, an amino acid that has an antiviral effect.

Regular consumption of pearl barley will strengthen your immunity against colds, and will also help fight this infection if you are already sick. Lysine also helps the body produce collagen, which is known to provide us with healthy, smooth and elastic skin. Regular consumption of pearl barley will prevent obesity and fight toxins in the body.

A note about pearl barley porridge . Pearl barley, especially large ones, requires long cooking (up to one and a half hours). True, cooking can be speeded up if you pre-soak the cereal for three hours.

However, real gourmets believe that even this is not enough to make pearl barley porridge truly tasty, and they recommend this method of preparation: soak the barley in cold water, or even better, in yogurt (per glass of cereal - 1 liter of water) for 10-12 hours.

After soaking, cook in milk (2 liters per glass of cereal), preheated to 40 degrees. Immediately after boiling, cook in a “water bath” for 6 hours. Season the finished pearl barley porridge with cream or butter. They say that the taste of pearl barley prepared in this way can reconcile you with the investment of time.

Useful properties of millet porridge

Yellow wheat porridge, the benefits of which have been proven for a long time, was considered a product that gives strength, so doctors recommend this porridge for athletes and people involved in physical labor. It is also useful for teenagers.

Whether millet porridge is healthy for people of all ages can be judged by the fact that millet contains:

• silicon is the substance from which all living beings “build” bones and teeth;
• copper, which gives fabrics additional elasticity;
• essential amino acids that serve as building materials for muscles and skin cells.

In addition, the substances contained in millet are able to bind heavy metal ions and remove toxins from the body. Therefore, it is advisable for residents of large cities and areas with unfavorable ecology to include this porridge in their diet. B vitamins are very rare, so their content in cereals makes barley porridge even more healthy.

The undeniable usefulness of millet porridge has only one drawback: millet can cause constipation . Therefore, it is better to eat it with fresh and stewed vegetables. For example, classic millet porridge with pumpkin.

A note about millet porridge. When going to the store for healthy cereals, choose millet packaged in transparent bags: the color of the millet can tell something about the taste of the future porridge. The yellower the millet, the tastier it is. In addition, darker grains will make your porridge crumbly, while light ones will most likely turn out to be “smudged.”

How to quickly cook corn porridge

This porridge, as the name suggests, is prepared from crushed corn grains. Cereals can have different degrees of grinding, and the cooking time of the porridge depends on this. The more the corn grains are crushed, the faster the delicious dish will be prepared. This porridge has one property - even the most liquid dish will, after a certain time, turn into a dense mass that can be easily cut with a knife and used as a base for preparing other dishes.

Ingredients:

• corn grits - 3 tbsp.; • milk - 3 tbsp.; • water - 3 tbsp.; • sugar - 1-2 tbsp. l.; • salt - to taste; • butter - 100 g.

Boil water, add salt and pour in the cereal. Cook for 10-12 minutes with regular stirring. After this, pour milk into the mixture, stir and continue cooking until tender. Add butter and sugar to each serving before serving.

Semolina

Probably, parents fought every child to eat semolina porridge. But an adult gradually comes to conscious eating, and viscous porridge no longer seems something terrible. The wheat grain processing product contains the following set of nutrients:

• vitamins B1, B6, B9;
• silicon;
• sulfur;
• vitamin E;
• cobalt;
• manganese;
• vitamin PP;
• potassium;
• phosphorus;
• iron;
• copper;
• molybdenum.

At first, semolina was used as flour, and then it gained fame as food for the rich. Today it is a common component of dietary nutrition. Here are the benefits of semolina porridge:

• saturates the body with energy for productive physical and mental work;
• improves the functional condition of the skin;
• stabilizes the nervous system;
• stimulates the production of your own collagen, which ensures skin elasticity;
• strengthens bones and tooth enamel;
• stimulates the functioning of the reproductive system;
• stimulates carbohydrate and lipid metabolism.

Semolina porridge cannot be called an exclusively healthy product. Adults are not recommended to eat it more than twice a week. And children under three years old do not have to be given this porridge. And that's why:

• high gluten content can cause severe allergies;
• if semolina is abused, the intestinal walls become thinner, which makes it difficult to absorb nutrients;
• phytin makes it difficult to absorb protein and calcium, which can cause decreased body tone;
• With frequent consumption of semolina, digestive problems and stool disorders are possible.

How to quickly cook pearl barley porridge

To prepare pearl barley porridge, whole, well-polished barley grains are used. Even in ancient Rome, gladiators were fed porridge made from such grains. It was believed that this food gave remarkable strength to wars. Today pearl barley porridge is not as popular as in the old days. And it's a shame. A properly prepared dish has an extraordinary taste and aroma.

Ingredients:

• pearl barley – 300 g; • water – 600 ml; • milk - 400 ml; • smoked loin or brisket - 150 g; • vegetable oil for frying; • salt - to taste.

Pour the washed cereal into boiling salted water and cook until half cooked. After this, drain the excess liquid from the pan, add milk and stir. Place in the oven and simmer until the dish is completely cooked. At this time, you need to prepare the meat product: cut the loin or brisket into small pieces and fry in a frying pan. You can choose olive oil as a vegetable oil, which will give the dish a piquant aroma. Place the prepared porridge on plates, top with pieces of brisket and pour over the rendered fat.

How to quickly cook rice porridge

Rice porridge is a popular dish that is served for breakfast, lunch or dinner as a separate dish or a side dish for meat, vegetables, and fish. One of the best options is sweet rice porridge with the addition of berries or fruits, such as raspberries. The recipe involves using both fresh and frozen berries.

Ingredients:

• rice cereal - 150 g; • milk - 1 l; • butter – 40 g; • sugar – 30 g; • salt - to taste; • raspberries (or other berries) - 100 g.

Boil the rice in a small amount of water until half cooked and rinse with cold water to remove mucus. Boil milk, add sugar, salt, add rice and continue cooking until the cereal is soft. 3 minutes before turning off the heat, add raspberries and butter to the dish. Serve the porridge hot or cold.

Is it possible to save money by regularly eating cereals?

There is an opinion that healthy eating always means spending a lot of money on food. But it is not so. If you learn how to choose the right products, this will not affect your budget in any way.

In the food pyramid, which was developed by American nutritionists, the degree of usefulness of foods is determined by their location in it. At the base of the pyramid are the healthiest products and the least expensive ones - grains, fruits and vegetables. And this is evidence that healthy eating is not a privilege only for the wealthy part of the population, but is available to everyone.

As for vegetables and fruits, which have become more expensive recently, to reduce the cost of food, nutritionists recommend increasing the share of vegetables, reducing the amount of fruits (not only because of their cost, but also because they contain a lot of sugar). And, if possible, try to buy local varieties - they are not only cheaper, but also healthier.

Prices for cereals (with the exception of rice and buckwheat) have remained virtually unchanged, and today they are still quite affordable (you can learn some more tips on how to save on buying groceries from this article).

Now there is a tendency to revive old recipes. Restaurants serve long-forgotten dishes, gourmets buy exotic types of cereals. An example of this is the now fashionable porridge made from very expensive bulgur grains (wheat grains processed in a special way).

In fact, this cereal with an overseas name has a domestic analogue at a very affordable price - this is Poltava cereal No. 1. Both products are made from durum wheat varieties, preserving many useful substances.

You can save money by replacing ready-made breakfast cereals and muesli with cooked oatmeal porridge. And if you add fresh fruits, berries, honey and dried fruits, you will get a completely inexpensive, healthy and tasty dish.

But if we talk about the priority of the usefulness of the product, then in the case of rice it is better to give preference to brown rice, although it is more expensive than polished rice.

By the way, do not forget to store cereals correctly.

How to quickly cook semolina porridge

Semolina porridge, so famous since childhood, is not only healthy, but also a very tasty product. Of course, if you cook it correctly. In order for the porridge to turn out great, you must strictly observe the proportions of the ingredients. The consistency of the dish directly depends on this. So, to prepare a quick and tasty semolina porridge you will need the following products:

• milk - 800 ml; • semolina - 2/3 tbsp.; • egg - 1 pc.; • vanillin, sugar - to taste; • chopped walnuts (if desired) - 40 gr.

Boil milk in a saucepan, add sugar and salt, carefully add semolina in a small stream. In this case, the mass must be constantly stirred. Cook for 15 minutes. In a separate bowl, beat the chilled egg (until fluffy foam forms). Add the resulting mass to semolina porridge. When serving, add finely chopped nuts to each plate.

All porridges are very healthy for the body, and they are not difficult to prepare. That is why they are very popular and are served on the table in almost every home. Porridge helps restore strength after a hard day, charge the body with the necessary energy, and replenish the supply of vitamins and minerals.

Rice

A staple food for almost half of the world's population, especially in Asian countries. However, this is not exactly the rice that we are used to eating. After all, our diet usually contains polished white rice. When polished, almost all the beneficial properties of rice contained in its shell are lost. Because the main beneficial substances in any cereal are contained in the shell. In the processed grain, almost only starch remains with a minimal amount of proteins, dietary fiber, minerals, and vitamins. Moreover, starch, which has a fairly high glycemic index, so this rice is not very good for diabetics and overweight people. Brown or wild rice (unpolished, with a shell) is an excellent grain that has almost all the same properties as buckwheat. What else is good about rice? It contains a large amount of potassium, which removes excess fluid from the body. Therefore, rice is useful for people with a tendency to edema, especially those with cardiovascular diseases. In addition, rice protein is very well digestible. Therefore, if a person has problems with the digestive system, then rice will also be a good cereal for him, especially since it is also gluten-free.