Whole Grains...Do I Have To???

Nov. 5th, 2009

Rainbow Trout and Whole Grain Rice Pilaf

As I'm sure most people know, whole grains are an important part of a good diet. They offer a multitude of benefits such as lowering cholesterol and keeping your plumbing regular.

Tonight's meal consisted of: a green salad, fresh pan-fried rainbow trout & whole-grain rice pilaf.

For starters, I made a basic green salad, nothing fancy. Romain lettuce, cucumber, red bell pepper, carrots and purple onion. I served that with an olive oil vinegarette.

To prepare the whole-grain pilaf:

My favorite part of this meal is the whole-grain rice side dish. When I look for rice in the store I try to find a combination rice mixture. The one I'm using tonight is brown rice, red rice, barley and rye. Some measurements may need to be adjusted based on the rice mixture you are using, so if these measurements are not close to what you have on the container you buy, please adjust them.

Begin by measuring 1C of rice mixture in small stove-top kettle. Add 2.5 C water, 2 T olive oil, 2T chicken soup base, 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper and 1 tsp garlic paste or 2 medium sized garlic cloves minced. Bring to a boil, stir once and then cover. Turn the heat down and allow to simmer for 45-60 minutes (until all liquid is gone). Turn off burner. While still on the stove top, stir in fresh chopped parsley and basel (about 1 T of each) and .5 C frozen peas.
The residual heat in the pilaf will warm the peas so you don't need to worry about adding them frozen. The pilaf should not be dry so if it is, add a little more water, oil or even a pat of butter.

To prepare the fresh rainbow trout:

We caught the fish and brought home fillets. I will pan-fry 4 fillets in this recipe.Before I began I washed each fillet under cold water and patted dry with papertowel. I find drying the fish helps the coatings adhere better. With a sharp knife cut diagonal slits in the skin of the fish (this will prevent it from curling while it cooks). Be careful not to cut all the way through the fillet.I put 1.5 C flour in a pie dish. To it I added 1 T salt, 1 tsp pepper and 1 tsp garlic powder.I dredged the trout fillets in the flour and shook of any excess.In a large skillet over medium-high heat, I added about 2T butter and 2T good olive oil. Once the butter/oil mixture was hot lay the fish skin side down. Allow to cook about 4 minutes on each side.

Serve all food nice and hot and enjoy with a nice glass of wine!