Rainbow Vegetable Saute with Wild Rice

“Eat the rainbow,” a vegetarian friend had told us. Thus when this recipe appeared in one of the newsletters I read I had to try it. We enjoyed the version as I adapted it and look forward to having it in the future with a few tweaks.

However my style of cooking differed from the version posted by Crystal Schlueter. If you happen to have fresh corn on the cob, space to cook orzo and rice, an open flame grill (not a griddle), plus a grilling basket then check out her version.

Using a skillet I used much less oil. I also kicked the spices up a notch. The procedure below also incorporates changes discerned while eating the first batch: Even less oil, reserving the tomatoes until later, and remembering to add the chickpeas.

As our main meal of the day, the recipe presented below made two large servings. It could be divided into four modest servings. Start to finish, this could be prepared in under 30 minutes, if you are fast with a knife.

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked wild rice (⅔ cup dry)
• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp ground paprika
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen sweet corn
• ½ large red onion
• 1 orange bell pepper
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 medium zucchini
• 1 medium summer squash
• 1 cup mushrooms
• 15 oz canned chickpeas
• ⅓ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley

Procedure

Prepare the wild rice. I use a Fasta Pasta cooker in the microwave and interpolated between the times listed for white rice and brown rice: Level III for 24 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, paprika, cumin, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and minced garlic. Set aside.

Thinly slice the red onion, zucchini, and summer squash, into half moon shapes adding them to the bowl with the seasoned olive oil. Slice the orange pepper in to bite sized strips. Slice the mushrooms. Toss well and set aside.

In a large skillet, dry saute the corn stirring frequently until lightly browned. About 5 minutes. Then set aside.

In the same skillet add the marinated vegetables. Saute until the squashes are softened about 10 minutes. Reserve the bowl and any residual marinade.

When the rice has finished, drain and transfer to the large bowl used for marinating the vegetables.

Heat the chickpeas and halved tomatoes by adding to vegetables in the skillet. About 2 minutes.

Transfer the sauteed vegetables and browned corn to the bowl with the rice. Fold together until well mixed.

Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese and freshly minced parsley.