Multigrain & Veggie Side Dish

From Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking



Ingredients:
2-2/3 cups water
2/3 cup uncooked long grain rice
2/3 cup quick-cooking barley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped (omitted)
1 small turnip, chopped (omitted)
1/2 cup chopped celery or celery root
1 tablespoon minced fresh gingerroot
2 tablespoons Crisco® Light Olive Oil
1 package (10 ounces) fresh spinach, torn
1 cup canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

Directions:
In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in the rice, barley and salt. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 12-18 minutes or until grains are tender. Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes.

In a Dutch oven, saute the onion, carrots, red pepper, turnip, celery and ginger in oil until crisp-tender. Stir in the spinach, beans, soy sauce and rice mixture; cook and stir until heated through and spinach is wilted. Yield: 8 servings.

Comments:
This was not good. I'm not sure if it was the ginger, maybe the spinach was a little old. In any case, I couldn't even eat more than about three spoonfuls. I didn't subject Adam to it at all. I might try it again sometime, altering the recipe a little bit more to my tastes and ensuring the freshness of the ingredients.