Whole Grain Risotto with Kale and Carrots
Hearty whole grain risotto with kale and carrots is a delicious side dish that goes great with salmon or chicken.
This post is part of the Virtual Potluck! We are teaming up with Bob’s Red Mill and California Olive Ranch to bring you four weeks of healthy eating–A Healthy New Year. This week I’m focusing on a side dish.
For the side dish, we were challenged to pair Bob’s Red Mill’s Grande Whole Grains with California Olive Ranch’s Miller’s Blend Olive Oil. The grain mix includes hard red white wheat, long grain brown rice, whole oats, whole rye, whole triticale, whole barley, white buckwheat, and sesame seeds. Bob’s Red Mill suggests using these grains as a cereal, a pilaf in salads, soups, and pita bread or as a stir- fry with vegetables. California Olive Ranch describes Miller’s Blend as having a “fruity beginning balanced with a bit of pepper at the end.”
I chose to make a risotto and I served it as a side with a roasted chicken. And let me tell you, this is such nutritious risotto. I love eating healthy foods, it just makes you feel so good. When I got home from the grocery store with this week’s groceries, I washed another huge bunch of kale and put it into the fridge with a smile on my face, knowing that I would be eating so well this week. Okay–so maybe that sounds a little cheesy, but it’s true. I feel better about myself when I’m putting healthy foods into my body.
The grains do retain a fair amount of bite to them (that’s FIBER folks!), so it isn’t smooth like traditional risotto. It is much more chewy. More like a pilaf. The flavors in this are great and I kind of like the chewiness of the grains.
Whole Grain Risotto with Kale and Carrots
Hearty whole grain risotto with kale and carrots is a delicious side dish that goes great with salmon or chicken.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 shallots, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 medium carrots, grated (about 1 cup)
- 2 cups Grande Whole Grains (Bob’s Red Mill)
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 4 cups reduced sodium chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 4 cups chopped kale, lightly packed
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large sauté pan or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrots and garlic and sauté until softened and fragrant, stirring frequently.
- Add wine and scrape off any bits that may be on the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook for 2-4 minutes.
- Add chicken stock and fresh thyme and bring to a boil. Add the grains, stir, reduce heat to medium-low and cook covered for 30 minutes.
- Add chopped kale and continue to cook for 15-20 minutes or until grains have softened and liquid is absorbed.
- Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan until melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- If desired, drizzle with additional olive oil.
Notes
- Recipe adapted generously from Bob's Red Mill.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 of 4Amount Per Serving: Calories: 267Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 1127mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 4gSugar: 5gProtein: 14g
RachelCooks.com sometimes provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as they are not calculated by a registered dietitian. Please consult a medical professional for any specific nutrition, diet, or allergy advice.
27 Comments on “Whole Grain Risotto with Kale and Carrots”
Hi Rachel!
How many would this serve as a main?
Thanks!
Laura
Hi Laura —
I created this recipe before I knew how to properly write recipes, ha! I would think it would serve 4, but I haven’t prepared it in a long time.
I bet you could make this into a soup and it’d be really good!
I follow you on Twitter !
This looks healthy and delicious! I love adding kale to green up a dish… hopefully I win Miller’s Blend to make this dish :)
This recipe sounds delicious and I’m sure it was enhanced using Miller’s Blend. Thanks for the picture of the grains!
A cousin (who’s Italian-American)was just saying on the phone that he makes risotto a lot, and a friend of his from Milan said that you can add almost anything to risotto. Miller’s Blend sounds like a good beginning for this risotto.
Your use of the Miller’s Blend and the Whole Grains Blend looks like a great side dish and at the same time would make a great entree for me. I have never tried Kale but plan to soon and this looks like it could make the cut as my first recipe. The close up photo looks amazing and your dish looks so “fresh”. Good Work!
That’s pretty much all I use, whole grain rice or whole grain period. This looks so colorful and filling!
We love kale and try to squeeze it into just about everything. Great combo!
This looks great and it would help with my Build a Better Me goal to eat more dark leafy greens.
This dish is right up my alley and I love chewy pastas and grains.
I love all the veggies you used in here as well.
Miller’s Blend would be perfect with the spicy flavor of Bob’s recipe for Grandé Mexicali. Cheers!
Looks so filling and delicious!
Love this! I need to make this like now!
I love risottos made with whole grains, but most of the recipes I’ve seen have called for soaking over night (it might have been a wheat berry risotto). I will have to try this.
Oh, this looks so yummy! Wish I could try the Grande Whole Grains but there not gluten-free. Still, I bet this would be yummy with millet or good old fashioned arborio rice.
Omg this looks amazing–creamy and healthy. Yum! I will like you on FB!
Risotto is one of my favorite things to make. This sounds right up my alley. LOVE the whole grains!
I would love to have a taste of your Whole Grain Risotto with Kale made with Miller’s Blend Olive Oil.
I would love to dip some bread in Miller’s Blend.
Oh…oh heck yes.
Cooking with Miller’s Blend makes everything taste better.
I love the different grains in this. It sounds so delicious – and healthy!
yum! i love the idea of a healthier risotto- and ive got a giant bag of carrots in the fridge! ps- i am infusing vodka right now with one of the marx food vanilla beans and it smells heavenly!
Sounds sooo good! Sometimes it’s nice to have a side dish with a little texture; I’ll have to keep this one in mind!
This sounds so yummy! Love this meal :)