
Whether you're living the gluten free life or just want to experiment with cool new ingredients, teff should be high on your list.
Sometimes written as tef or t'ef, this grain (actually a pseudo-grain, since it's technically a seed) is the smallest whole grain in the world. Teff has a beautiful dark brown color, a great earthy flavor similar to amaranth or quinoa and can be used in many of the same ways in the kitchen.
Teff is known as an ancient grain, one that has survived through the centuries without much hybridization or processing. Most ancient grains maintain a high nutritional profile, especially if you compare it to common bleached wheat flour that makes up the basis of our standard American diet. Even if you don't want to give up wheat, experimenting with ancient grains is delicious and healthful, giving the body a chance to experience a whole grain and get the benefits from a new range of vitamins and minerals. Most ancient grains are gluten-free too, which is why they are gaining in popularity across the foodie world.
Teff is traditionally cultivated in Ethiopia and Eritrea, where it is consumed as a staple grain. It is becoming more popular around the world, as the high productivity and resiliency of the plant become more known.
Like most other ancient grains, teff is super nutritious. Most famous for the high fiber and calcium content, it's also a good source of iron. Just one quarter cup of dry (uncooked) teff has 4 grams of fiber—about 16 percent of your daily value; the calcium content comes in at about 10 percent and iron at about 20 percent. Teff is also high in what's known as “resistant starch." As the Whole Grain Council explains, resistant starch is, “a newly-discovered type of dietary fiber that can benefit blood-sugar management, weight control and colon health. It's estimated that 20-40 percent of the carbohydrates in teff are resistant starches."
Teff can range in color from ivory to brown, though the brown is much more common. Teff flour can also be made from either ivory or brown teff, though brown seems to be more common. Teff flour has a beautiful light brown color and mild, grassy flavor that lends itself well to rich spices and quickbreads like banana and pumpkin. Find teff in the bulk section if you're lucky or find it online. Bob's Red Mill makes bags of teff and teff flour as part of their "Grains of Discovery" series. Unlike most other grains, it's very hard to find organic teff.
Even if you're never heard of teff before, you have probably eaten it if you have ever tried Ethiopian food. Teff flour is fermented and used to make injera, the spongy flatbread upon which lentils, cabbage and other foods are served.
Teff Porridge Bowl with Polenta and Bitter Greens. Photo credit: Care2
This new recipe for a teff and polenta porridge is a great way to add this new grain into your life alongside a familiar staple like polenta. Choose your favorite bitter greens like dandelion, mustards or just some kale to balance out the sweetness of the raisins.
Teff Bowl With Bitter Greens
2 1/2 cups water or vegetable broth
1/2 cup polenta (coarse-ground cornmeal)
1/2 cup teff (whole)
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced finely
5 cups chopped bitter greens
1/4 cup raisins or finely chopped dried apricots
1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
1. Bring water/broth to a boil. Add polenta, teff, salt and one Tablespoon of oil. Stir to combine, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring often. Add more liquid if mixture seems clumpy or thick; it should be smooth and creamy and a bit soupy—it will firm up as it cools.
2. In a large skillet, heat remaining olive oil until warm. Add garlic and cook until browned, about three minutes. Add in greens and toss just until wilted, about one to two minutes. Remove from heat and toss in raisins, then drizzle with soy sauce. Toss to coat evenly.
3. When grains have finished cooking, divide into two or four serving bowls. Top with greens and serve while warm.
Here are a few other recipes to try out with this fun and funky grain:
Ginger Molasses Cookies, recipe below. Photo credit: Care2
3. Teff and Bean Burgers from Healthy Tipping Point
4. Tomato and Mushroom Teff Polenta
5. Injera, the Ethiopian flatbread
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<p>Think of it as a game of Jenga and the planet's climate system as the tower. For generations, we have been slowly removing blocks. But at some point, we will remove a pivotal block, such as the collapse of one of the major global ocean circulation systems, for example the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), that will cause all or part of the global climate system to fall into a planetary emergency.</p><p>But worse still, it could cause runaway damage: Where the tipping points form a domino-like cascade, where breaching one triggers breaches of others, creating an unstoppable shift to a radically and swiftly changing climate.</p><p>One of the most concerning tipping points is mass methane release. Methane can be found in deep freeze storage within permafrost and at the bottom of the deepest oceans in the form of methane hydrates. But rising sea and air temperatures are beginning to thaw these stores of methane.</p><p>This would release a powerful greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, 30-times more potent than carbon dioxide as a global warming agent. This would drastically increase temperatures and rush us towards the breach of other tipping points.</p><p>This could include the acceleration of ice thaw on all three of the globe's large, land-based ice sheets – Greenland, West Antarctica and the Wilkes Basin in East Antarctica. The potential collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet is seen as a key tipping point, as its loss could eventually <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/324/5929/901" target="_blank">raise global sea levels by 3.3 meters</a> with important regional variations.</p><p>More than that, we would be on the irreversible path to full land-ice melt, causing sea levels to rise by up to 30 meters, roughly at the rate of two meters per century, or maybe faster. Just look at the raised beaches around the world, at the last high stand of global sea level, at the end of the Pleistocene period around 120,0000 years ago, to see the evidence of such a warm world, which was just 2°C warmer than the present day.</p>Cutting Off Circulation
<p>As well as devastating low-lying and coastal areas around the world, melting polar ice could set off another tipping point: a disablement to the AMOC.</p><p>This circulation system drives a northward flow of warm, salty water on the upper layers of the ocean from the tropics to the northeast Atlantic region, and a southward flow of cold water deep in the ocean.</p><p>The ocean conveyor belt has a major effect on the climate, seasonal cycles and temperature in western and northern Europe. It means the region is warmer than other areas of similar latitude.</p><p>But melting ice from the Greenland ice sheet could threaten the AMOC system. It would dilute the salty sea water in the north Atlantic, making the water lighter and less able or unable to sink. This would slow the engine that drives this ocean circulation.</p><p><a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/atlantic-conveyor-belt-has-slowed-15-per-cent-since-mid-twentieth-century" target="_blank">Recent research</a> suggests the AMOC has already weakened by around 15% since the middle of the 20th century. If this continues, it could have a major impact on the climate of the northern hemisphere, but particularly Europe. It may even lead to the <a href="https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10871/39731?show=full" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cessation of arable farming</a> in the UK, for instance.</p><p>It may also reduce rainfall over the Amazon basin, impact the monsoon systems in Asia and, by bringing warm waters into the Southern Ocean, further destabilize ice in Antarctica and accelerate global sea level rise.</p>The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation has a major effect on the climate. Praetorius (2018)
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