Why grain side dishes are not popular in US? (beer, restaurants, substitute)

[elnina]

I eat many dishes with grains. Millet, grits, buckwheat, barley, semolina, bulgur - those are great substitutes for potatoes or rice - rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals. However grains ( except for rice and corn ) are not popular in American restaurants. I wonder why?

[SATX56]

Maybe the beer companies use a lot of it. The rest is probably given to third world countries in some program to feed the starving. I know of uses for grits and barley but not the others you mentioned. Well, flour from semolina...
..We must be the grain producers for the planet!

[Caligula1]

Most people I know cook and eat what they grew up with, including myself.
Speaking for me only I'd like to try to eat a diet consisting of more vegis, grains.
There are so many choices I think I become intimidated and stick with what I know.
Americans love our "comfort food" Fried chicken, Mac and Cheese, Hot dogs, Cake..
Everything we most likely should only eat ohh lets say as a treat..

We are the most obese nation on the planet, it's all a cultural thing I think.

[Capt. Cave Man]

I think it's cause most grains are ground to make bread, pasta, etc.

In our area it would be wheat or milo, how the heck to make that a side?

Good question, Elnina.

[AnonChick]

Grits are very popular in the USA, if you're in the southern states. Grits with gravy is a typical side dish, especially with breakfast.

The use of different grain types in meals are fairly culture-specific though. When I'm eating italian food, the grain will be in the form of bread. When I'm eating indian or chinese food, it's going to be rice. With middle-eastern or Israeli food, I'll be eating tabouli, which is a bulghur-based side dish. With mexican food it's all about the corn and the rice. Don't forget about oatmeal, which can be a side dish as well as a main course, depending on how it's cooked.

Grain of all sorts is an integral part of meals in the USA, from coast to coast. It's just the presentation and preparation of them that differs.

[FastFerrari]

Because all those foods you named, parents cant get their kids to eat

[uggabugga]

Good question. We just got used to eating it in bread form, I suppose. Personally, I like grits, couscous, oatmeal, hominy, and quinoa.

[Nomadicus]

I like my grits but I want tomato gravy on them. Cheesy grits are also an option. I like barley in soup. Oats and oat bran in muffins. Oatmeal added to meatloaf as a binder. And multigrain breads are on my list of grains.

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by elnina

I eat many dishes with grains. Millet, grits, buckwheat, barley, semolina, bulgur ...

Buckwheat, otherwise known as kasha, cooks like a grain, but is a fruit, a member of the rhubarb family, not a grain.

That's why Kashi products are 6 grains and a fruit on a mission, not 7 grains on a mission as they fraudulently claim.

[Cattknap]

We eat spelt, quinoa, barley, wheat, flax seed meal, radish seeds, wild and brown rice, farro and wheat berries...some of us do eat a variety of grains - I was raised eating different grains.