Pantry Clean Out: Grains
Learn how to easily cook 8 types of grains, plus wholesome recipes and my new favorite cookbook
If you peek into your pantry right now, is there a bag of farro, barley or quinoa that was purchased in a moment of aspirational grocery shopping?
Maybe you intended to start eating healthier or follow the Mediterranean diet. Maybe you wanted to meal prep whole grain salads for lunch. But now, a few weeks or months have gone by and you still haven’t cooked that farro because you have no idea what to do with it.
Help has arrived!
Below are links to cooking instructions for 8 different types of grains. Some of these recipes include stove top instructions, but most are Instant Pot. An Instant Pot (or any brand of electric pressure cooker) is a really easy, hands-off method for cooking beans and grains.
Scroll further, and you’ll find nine wholesome recipes that use grains to make soup, salads and side dishes.
How to Cook. . .
Wholesome Grain Recipes
If you don’t feel like cooking a full recipe, then here’s an easy way to use up grains:
Cook 1 cup of whatever grain you have on hand.
Chill it in the refrigerator.
Add 1 can of beans (like garbanzo) and fresh chopped herbs (like parsley).
Add either roasted vegetables (like zucchini or cauliflower) or fresh chopped veggies (like celery, grated carrot or halved cherry tomatoes).
For more flavor, add crumbled feta or goat cheese.
Toss with a light drizzle of oil, a very generous squeeze of lemon and salt + pepper.
You’ll have a wholesome, flavorful grain salad that you can eat for lunch all week!
Dinner Last Week
I’m always curious about what other families are eating. Aren’t you? Here’s what my crew ate last week.
Monday: I dredged cod in flour, egg and panko and fried the thin fillets in melted butter and olive oil. The fish gets brown and crispy after about 4 minutes per side. This is an easy main dish, one that pairs well with potatoes, rice or pasta, and any type of veg. The only downside of this meal is that it makes the house smell like fish. This is a big downside for me, otherwise I’d probably fry fish more often.
Tuesday: This is a good example of what a family might eat for dinner if a recipe developer with a food blog (like me) is cooking for them. We ate three recipes that I tested earlier in the day: Greek-style green beans with potatoes, caesar salad with a mayo-olive oil dressing and basmati rice with chickpeas. I also made a grilled cheese sandwich for Josie.
Wednesday: We ate ground turkey teriyaki over white rice. I’ll be featuring this recipe in next week’s newsletter. I served it with egg rolls and sautéed spinach.
Thursday: Tacos! As I mentioned last week, I’m committed to a weekly taco night until our avocado tree stops producing gorgeous avocados. On this night, our taco protein was ground beef.
Friday: The kids and I left on a road trip for Arizona to visit my parents. When we arrived, my mom served split pea soup for dinner, which is a perfect meal to prepare for guests. Soup can be prepared earlier in the day (or the day before) and reheated when the guests arrive, leaving you free to chat and relax.
Cookbooks
I started following Carla Lalli Music years ago when she wrote recipes for Bon Appetit magazine. Her style is casual and inviting and she has a knack for short ingredient lists and really flavorful, satisfying recipes. Her cookbook That Sounds So Good is my current favorite because every recipe really does sound so good.
Braised short rib noodles bowls, spiced chicken legs with garlic crunch-crumbs, spaghetti with melted cauliflower sauce, fried farro with grated cauliflower and shallots…wouldn’t you love to be invited over to her house for dinner?
The recipes are broken into two categories: weekday and weekend cooking. Some of the recipes are more ambitious than you might have energy for but many are simple and do-able. I’m sure you’ll find something you want to cook!
If you’re daydreaming about where you’ll go on vacation next January to escape subzero temperatures, may I suggest Arizona? I am definitely not a summer desert person, but the desert in winter is quite lovely. The weather during our visit last weekend was crisp but sunny and the kids were thrilled to have the neighborhood pool mostly to themselves.
This weekend it’s back to reality. We’ve got a swim meet and house maintenance and maybe a garage sale (ugh) on the agenda.
Hope you have a good weekend!
Jenny
P.S. If you find yourself in desperate need of a dark chocolate fix, Honey Mama bars are the medicine you need. After a rough school drop off (in which one child really didn’t want to go to school) I sat in my car and ate most of the chocolate cake bar. It might have been a placebo affect, but I swear that my mood improved immediately. The bars are pricey so they’re only an occasional treat, but they’re worth it. I’m not affiliated with the company in any way, just wanted to pass on a yummy tip!