Healthy Summer Vegetable Sauté Over Brown Rice

This is the perfect dish to make when you have a lot of farm fresh produce. I love the farmers’ market but always seem to buy too much produce. By combining many of the veggies from the refrigerator I created an all American sauté that tasted like summer.

I try to buy shitake mushrooms often because they contain lentinan, which is thought to fight cancer as well as boost the immune system. Cabbage is a member of the cruciferous vegetable family so it is another cancer fighter. Onions and garlic also contain ingredients that are thought to fight cancer. Pinot grigio was added for flavor, Italy has to sneak into every dish I make. I finished the dish with a little Earth Balance because it was so low in fat without it that I wasn’t certain we would be able to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins in the dish.

Healthy Summer Vegetable Sauté Over Brown Rice
Serves 4

Rice Ingredients:

2 cups short grain brown rice
4 cups water
1 pinch of salt

Vegetable Sauté Ingredients:

½ head green cabbage, thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup green beans, tipped
½ pound fresh shitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced
2 cups shelled lima beans
2 cups corn kernels
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup of pinot grigio
1 tablespoon earth balance (vegan margarine)
salt and pepper, to taste
fresh basil leaves, torn – optional but recommended
1 cup cherry or pear tomatoes, halved

Directions:

Combine rice, water and salt and bring to a boil in a pot with the lid on. When the water is boiling (about 5 minutes) reduce the heat to a simmer and set your timer for 40 minutes. When all the water is absorbed, which will probably happen at about 45 minutes, turn off the heat and allow the rice to stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Combine all the remaining ingredients, except the salt and pepper and cook over medium high heat while the rice is standing. When the vegetables are as tender as you like check the dish for seasoning and adjust the salt and pepper.

To serve, top the rice with the vegetable sauté, tomato halves and tear a little fresh basil on top if using. Fresh thyme stripped from its stems would also be good in the dish. If you are going to use thyme add it to the last few minutes of cooking to help the flavor and aroma to permeate the dish.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 428.73
Calories From Fat (10%) - 43.53

Total Fat - 5.03g
Saturated Fat - 0.84g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 302.66mg
Potassium - 759.82mg
Total Carbohydrates - 84.98g
Fiber - 13.97g
Sugar - 5.68g
Protein - 13.18g

Comments:

This dish tastes like summer to me. I love a good vegetable sauté and this one is no exception. If you weren’t watching your fat as closely as we are another tablespoon of Earth Balance would be good in this recipe. The basil adds a lot to the freshness of the dish so I highly encourage you to add it. Overall this was a nice, fresh dinner that both my husband and I enjoyed. The dish is very filling so despite the light taste it is a one dish meal.

Whenever I use fresh shitake mushrooms I save the stems in a bag in the freezer. Then when I make mushroom stock I include those in the broth. Shitake stems are too tough to be pleasant to eat, but they have great flavor. If you have room in your freezer, and you make stock, save them for use later.