Vegetable Soup made with Perennial Wheatgrass

Kernza's uniqueness as a whole grain wheat is that it is a perennial. Most of the world's food crops are annuals. Less than 15% of the food crops (including fruit trees and olive trees and asparagus) are perennials. That means this whole grain is not only good for the environment but good for the body.

This is the recipe I’ll be making for the Whole Grain Sampling Day event this March at OLLI.

Kernza Vegetable Soup

(6 cups)

Cook Kernza in countertop pressure cooker for 25 minutes.

2/3 cup Kernza

1 /2 cup water

On stovetop, sauté vegetables in olive oil for 10 minutes.

2 3/4 cup assorted diced vegetables

4 teaspoon olive oil

Mine has onion, carrot, yellow squash and mushrooms so to not compete with vegetables in the sorghum salad I’ll be serving.

Add seasonings.

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Add cooked, drained Kernza, diced and crushed tomatoes, water and bouillon cube.

1 cup diced tomatoes in juice (no added salt)

3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoon crushed tomatoes (no added salt)

1 vegetable bouillon cube ( low sodium)

Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer 20 minutes.

The Land Institute in Kansas spent years working with other researchers to create this domestic version of an annual crop. Kernza is not GMO modified, but created using traditional intermating techniques.

Kernza has a thick root system that can yield food for years to come. It has an incredible soil carbon sequestration system that pulls carbon out of the air and into the soil. The plant's deep roots reduce soil erosion and resist drought.