I recently purchased wheat berries and amaranth grain on a whim after seeing them used in a variety of ways on some of my favorite foodie blogs. Since finding them in the health section of my local Stop & Shop, the grains have been sitting, untouched in my cupboard begging me to incorporate them in a dish. After returning home from a taxing upper body workout at the gym this evening (which had followed a 7 1/2 hour shift), I was in dire need of some fuel, so threw together this “garbage” meal…aka use up the produce in the fridge and try out some new ingredients in the process. Success on all levels: quite filling, energizing, nourishing and tasty! Jane and Steve (my parents) approved. So did my belly.
Ingredients
1/2 cup amaranth grain
1/2 cup hard red wheat berries
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cups water
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can chickpeas
1 can navy beans
1/2 cup onions (I used half red, half white)
Veggies of your choice (I used broccoli, spinach, zucchini and carrots)
Olive oil, fresh lemon juice and apple cider vinegar
Red pepper flakes, freshly ground pepper and sea salt to taste
Start by preparing the grains. (FYI: the wheat berries can take around an hour to cook so make sure you get these on the stove before anything else).
In a medium-sized sauce pan, bring chicken broth to a boil. Add in the wheat berries, cover and let simmer until the wheat berries are tender. In a smaller sauce pan, bring water to a boil before adding in the amaranth grain, which takes 18-20 minutes to cook.
While the grains get going on the stove, open the cans of beans. Thoroughly rinse and drain them both.
Next, choose vegetables of your liking, or whatever ingredients you want to get out of your fridge, and dice up. My dad mentioned shrimp would have been great in this dish. Duly noted, father. Thanks, although I hate shrimpies. Something about the texture freaks me out…
Anywho, like I have said, I was trying to use up a lot of produce in the refrigerator so took advantage of the onions leftover from last night’s dinner. My dad pitched in by chopping these up (as well as the other veggies pictured above) while I tended to the grains. Look how pretty he made it for me! Can you tell he worked in the restaurant business for 25 years? Perfection.
Onto the stir-frying portion. Lightly drizzle olive oil into the bottom of a large pan over medium heat and sauté veggies of your choice. Season with red pepper flakes.
Add in the beans…
And once the grains are tender and drained, add them to the mix. I squeezed half a lemon and added a splash of apple cider vinegar for some more flava. Before serving, season with freshly ground pepper and a pinch of sea salt.
Yum, yum, yum. How fabulous is that close-up? Talk about refueling the tank…this dish does the trick! Plus kept me satisfied for the rest of the night. Don’t-cha just love when that happens? I’m pumped for leftovers tomorrow.
What refuels you?
Sprinkled with Love,
Lauren
