A light vegan/flexatarian meal just right for summertime evenings

We find that these long summer days really do stretch long into the evenings, and our supper seems to find its way to the table about 7:30 or 8:00 p.m. when it’s so nice to sit in the front terrace - surrounded by grapevines and next to a koi pond/waterfall. This area is on the east side of the house, so is cooler by evening.

Mr. Maven told me that he wanted soup and salad for supper tonight and I was happy to oblige.

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Multi-grain porridge as comfort food

There are times when you just need some warm comfort food. We like ours to be of the whole grain variety … utilizing a lot of different grains in order to get as many of the micronutrients as possible ( the whole being greater than the sum of the parts - literally ), mostly choosing those that don’t enrich the Big Agribusiness/Wheat/Corn corporate pockets.

Choosing these other grains also puts less of a burden on the environment and are more sustainable. When your food comes from one hybrid strain of something, the chemicals come in - in an all too often failed attempt to replace all that nature originally gave it.

Tonight was one of those comfort food nights when we just wanted it keep it simple, but a bowl of cold cereal wasn’t quite right either.

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Secret ingredient: Quinoa Primavera entree

This is so simple and versatile, and you’ll really like quinoa once you try it. Tonight, since I don’t happen to have fresh asparagus, I’m going to substitute fresh Blue Lake green beans. To ensure that the green beans are nicely cooked through ( Mr. Maven likes them a bit more cooked than al dente ) I’ll blanche them first in boiling water for just about two minutes, then drain. I also have some frozen veg in the freezer - probably not peas - so I’ll perhaps use frozen okra ( hey, I’m from the South and I have an African woman living here!) instead, or maybe the pea and carrot mixed veg.

Continue with the recipe as shown in the video.

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Tips to add nutritional value to white rice

Being of the whole grains are better grains persuasion, I don’t often use white rice. But this evening, I was doing a simple stir fry of bay scallops with onion, red bell pepper and baby spinach leaves with some bottled sauce, and the white rice just sounded better- and would cook faster than brown. 

  

Here’s what I do: I add some other whole grains to the mix. Since I use one of the ‘Fuzzy Logic’ Rice Cookers, it’s all pretty automatic, but works simillarly enough to my old rice cooker for this purpose. You add X cups rice and/or other grains and then water or broth to the corresponding mark. Close lid. Push a button and wait for the dingaling. I keep the ratio to about 4 parts white rice to 1 part other grains.

I keep Quinoa and Amaranth on hand all the time. I add these to the white rice and don’t notice any discernible difference in looks, but a nicer, but subtle nutty flavor. These grains are often available in specialty markets or the natural foods aisle. They are also available in bulk bins more often these days.

One of the great things, doing it this way, is that even fussy kids aren’t going to notice the difference. Ah … Moms’. We’re a sneaky bunch.

Shown above: Red Quinoa. Also comes in different colors.

Shown below: Amaranth 

Another grain I’ll sometimes add is quick cooking barley, or barley flakes ( which I’ve blogged about on here before). All of these grains add protein, fiber and micronutrients that bring a wealth of nutrition. You’ll not be sacrficing anything for the look and texture of white rice.

I also commonly add low sodium chicken or vegetable broth for extra flavor.

Rice is so wonderfully flexible that it will adapt to almost anything, and sometimes white rice is the best choice even when you’re trying to go whole grain. It’s nice to know how to amp it up.

maven

Top Tip for Getting Delicious and Healthy Whole Grains: Easier Than You Think

I have a ‘fuzzy logic’ rice cooker that a bought on ebay. I’ve always had some sort of rice cooker since they are so idiot proof … set it, and walk away. wait for the ‘ding’. It wasn’t until recently though that I started playing around with other whole grains in the machine.

I’ve believed for some time that, as Americans, we are too dependent on wheat and corn …and to a lesser extent white rice.

It’s just a guess, but I think that giving our bodies a wide variety of grains ( among other foods) helps add essential nutrients and gives us a necessary diversity that our highly processed food culture has taken away.

So I’ve started buying grains such as kamut, spelt, kasha, wild rice,  buckwheat, barley and quinoa, then combining them with brown or wild rice, tossing them into the rice cooker using the brown rice setting. The results have been very satisfying and popular with the family.

Essentially, it’s become a breeze to create nice nutty whole grain side dishes and salads. You can add fresh or cooked vegetables to the cooked grains … even things like nuts, cooked lentils and dried cranberries. It’s an easy way to add an important mix of fiber and proteins to your diet, plus when you portion it out to freezer bags and toss into the freezer (sans the additions ) it’s really convenient.

I cook the grains, in any combination, as I said on the ‘brown rice’ setting and usually using low sodium, organic chicken broth instead of water. I might add some parsley at this point but prefer to season after it’s done and when I’ve decided whether or not to freeze part of it, use some as tonights’ side dish or whatever. It even makes a hearty cold weather morning alternative to oatmeal… you could even top the warmed grains with a lucious poached egg and serve with some fresh fruit.

To further simplify, I like to use the pre-cooked and packaged Trader Joe’s black lentils. I just toss those in when the grains are done then work from there with onion, chopped celery, roasted red or yellow bell peppers, olive oil and whatever the creative muse suggests.

The big fat Israeli couscous is a nice addition to, creating a textural difference.

One of the nice parts of all this is that most of these grains are available in the bins at your local market and a really inexpensive way to up the nutrition factor for your family. Take a look at this link from Whole Foods about the nutritional value of quinoa: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=142

The other place to discover the benefits of whole grains is at: http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/  The Whole Grains Council helps consumers find whole grain foods and understand their health benefits; helps manufacturers create delicious whole grain products; and helps the media write accurate, compelling stories about whole grains.

You can also cook whole grains like these in those convenient, and inexpensive, Black & Decker steamers. But I live at a higher altitude here in Reno, and whole grains will take longer to cook (even in a rice cooker). You have to allow extra time for altitude … unless you decide to use a pressure cooker (another fave of mine) and that’s another post.