Summer Vegetable Pilaf Recipe For Staple Meals

Pilaf Rice Ingredients:

½ cup long grain rice
½ cup lentils
2 cups or ½ small eggplant, peeled and diced
1 cup or 3 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot
1 ½ cup broccoli
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup fresh basil, snipped
1 can vegetable broth, reduced sodium
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon lemon peel
2 teaspoon olive oil, extra virgin
¼ cup Asiago cheese, low fat

Method:

1. Combine the reduced sodium vegetable broth along with the uncooked long grain rice, lentils, onions, water and lemon peel in a large (about 3 quart) saucepan. Bring the mixture to the boil over medium heat. After it boils, reduce the heat and cover the pan. Simmer further for about 20 minutes.
2. Stir in the zucchini, broccoli and carrots during the end – about 4 to 5 minutes of cooking.
3. Cook the egg plant and minced garlic in a separate 10 inch skillet in hot oil over medium heat for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the egg plant is soft.
4. Remove the rice and pulse mixture from the heat. Let it stand at room temperature for about 5 minutes in the pan itself. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, cooked eggplant and fresh basil carefully in the lentil mixture. Divide the mixture between 4 individual serving platters and sprinkle Asiago cheese equally among each serving. Serve immediately. This recipe makes 4 servings.

Health Tip:

• You may even add other vegetables like summer squash or winter squash or pea pods to the vegetable pilaf and make this recipe healthier.
• Summer vegetable pilaf is a completely vegetarian recipe that provides 254 calories, 44 gm carbohydrates, 5 gm dietary fiber, 12 gm proteins and 5 gm total fat per serving.
• As this recipe is vegetarian it provides negligible amounts of cholesterol – 5 mg per serving which is mainly contributed from the cheese, if you want to make this recipe cholesterol free then avoid garnishing it with cheese. Looking at its healthy nutritional profile, this recipe can be considered heart friendly as well as diabetes friendly.
• Each serving of summer vegetable pilaf provides 530 mg sodium per serving, which can be considered high. Asiago cheese contains a considerable amount of sodium, so if you are on a low sodium diet then avoid adding the cheese at the end before serving. This modification will also help to reduce the total fat and calories of this recipe. Also make sure that the vegetable broth you use is reduced sodium or sodium free.