Veggie Stir Fry Over Italian Grains

Okay the weather has gotten warm and I have fallen off my blog posting schedule. Stuff happens. I am back on the wagon, in more ways than one. Today's dish is what I think of as a meat detox dish.  The previous few days our family lived on southern baked ham and macaroni and cheese. Tasty stuff, but really not healthy.  That's fine I had the ham in the freezer and it needed to be used, so now it has and it is gone. Time to move on.

After all that heavy food I needed something light, but still hearty enough for dinner.  That's where this dish comes in.  It's full of veggies, plus it gets a protein punch from the 5 grains in the Italian grain mix I like to use. It's by Pedon and contains farro (spelt), barley, durum wheat, rice, and whole grain oats. I found it at Costco.  If you can't find it in your local store, you can always use straight farro or brown rice.

This a lovely dish on it's own, but the next day I heated up the leftovers and added a few spoons of Swiss Chard Pesto (just because it was still in the fridge and needing to be used), and it was a winning combination!

Veggie Stir Fry Over Italian Grains

1 cup Pedon Italian 5 grain mix

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, sliced thin 

1 portabello mushroom, sliced and cut into large pieces

1/2 Italian eggplant, halved then thinly sliced  

1 jalapeno pepper, sliced 

1 zucchini, halved then sliced 

1 small crown of broccoli cut into florets and thinly sliced stems

4 cloves garlic, pressed 

10 or so cherry tomatoes, halved 

1 cup Pedon Italian 5 grain mix  

salt and pepper to taste

several fresh basil leaves, cut into slivers

1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

In a medium saucepan, heat 2 cups of water to boiling, add the grains and cook following the package directions.  Although I find with this grain , I need to cook it a bit longer than the package says.

In a wok heat the olive oil over medium high heat and add the onions, stir fry to soften.  Then add the mushrooms and eggplant, stirring quickly to get all pieces covered with oil before it gets soaked in.  Stir fry for 2-3 minutes until eggplant softens. Next add the jalapeno pepper and zucchini, stir fry another minute or so then add the garlic and broccoli   After about 2-3 minutes add the tomatoes, cook a minute longer then remove from heat.  Mix the balsamic vinegar and olive oil and pour it over the veggies Add the basil and then salt and pepper to taste.  Toss and serve over the grain mix.