Are you looking to add some variety to your side dishes? Why settle for the same old rice and corn mix when there’s an alternative to boost your meal with healthier proteins. Learn how Harvest Grain Blends can improve any meaty meal while providing a wide variety of tastes and textures to your next side dish.
What are Harvest Grain Blends?
As you casually stroll through any Trader Joe’s, the aisles are usually packed with healthy foods that are one-of-a-kind in our book. You’re likely to find a dry bean and gain mixture that looks inviting and colorful called Harvest Grain Blend. It contains a total of 4 different beans and grains including Orzo, Red Quinoa, Baby garbanzo beans, and Israeli-style Couscous.
Already, you can see this grain mix is packed with proteins along with the potential for making more than just a side dish. There are just as many surprises on how this harvest grain blend can be used and served.
A savory side
As you can imagine, these grains are prepared as a stand-alone side that has any number of combinations that you can add to them. Add in cooked carrots or sautéed mushrooms. There is another option to add this into fillings for casseroles and also the perfect filler for tacos and burritos. Play around with adding spices and seasoning, or perhaps your own secret blend of dried grains or beans as you like.
A meal in itself
What are the potentials that you can achieve with including harvest grain blends to a stand-alone meal? It’s perfect for making a stir fry dish with shrimp or mixed together with chopped meats in a stew, and even makes excellent texture in a soup. If you’re a fan of crockpot cooking, this mixture is foolproof for cooking meats and sauces in one all day to get a hearty hot meal that is perfect for cold days.
How to prepare harvest grain blend?
It’s easy enough to prepare these beans and grains in ordinary water to boil. It works perfectly in a rice cooker, crockpot, and the iconic Dutch oven. But why stop at just using regular water and try infusing healthy flavors. Try using stocks such as chicken broth, vegetable stock, and even beef stock. Throw in some fresh chopped veggies, for abundant layers of flavor which can add more depth to this grain blend.
Get creative in serving and presentation
These grains can also be infused into gelatin side dishes mixed with meats and veggies. Mix them into ground meats and fry them as flavorful nuggets or patties. You can also finely chop veggies into this blended mixture with a bit of egg and flour and bake or fry them. Add leftover harvest grains into your hash brown mixture for a breakfast treat that’s filled with energy and protein.
If you’re looking to impress, mix a generous amount into any mashed potatoes or sweet potato sides to add more color and interest. Don’t be afraid to add these grains and beans into every dish you enjoy.
