Cooking with Kashi: Multigrain Pilaf and Pine Nut Stuffed Vegetables

Kashi pilaf and pine nut stuffed vegetables I recently attended an event at Kashi, which you can read at The DeBroff DeBrief – Day One and Day Two. (Check out Day Two for a recipe for a delicious and oh-so-healthy Corn, Tomato and Basil Salad.)

I’ve been eating Kashi’s products for years, but had never cooked with their rice pilaf before. This dish, created by Katherine Emmenegger, the Executive Chef at the Great News! Discount Cookware and Cooking School in San Diego, is perfect for cold fall and winter evenings. It’s full of fiber and protein, but also high in fat and Weight Watchers POINTS, so watch your portion size!

We were cooking for a big group, so you may want to cut the recipe in half for your family. Also, it takes a really long time to cook up the pilaf. The chefs at Great News ended up putting it into pressure cookers to speed up the process. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, give yourself plenty of time. Or try cooking the pilaf during the day in a slow cooker and then finishing off the rest of the recipe (and reducing oven cooking time) before dinner time.

Multigrain Pilaf and Pine Nut Stuffed Vegetables
Serves 12

Vegetables

We only used bell peppers and didn’t chop up the “guts” in the food processor.

Ingredients:

2 medium green bell peppers, washed, cut in half down the length, and seeds removed
2 medium zucchini, washed, stem removed, and sliced, crosswise into 3-inch lengths
3 large ripe tomatoes, washed and top sliced off, reserve the top

Directions:

Scoop the centers from the zucchini (not all the way through, so there is a bottom) and tomatoes into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth.
Place the hollowed vegetables into a roasting pan.

Pine Nut and Kashi Pilaf Filling

Grapeseed oil has a higher flash point than olive oil and no discernable taste. However, it’s fairly expensive, so feel free to substitute with olive oil.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
3 medium yellow onions, peeled and diced small
4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup finely minced fresh Italian parsley leaves
3/4 cup minced fresh dill
Add enough water to add to the pureed vegetable mixture to equal 6 cups of liquid
3 cups Kashi Original Pilaf
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon or to taste
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
salt and pepper, to taste
1 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350⁰ F.
In a saute pan, over medium high heat, heat the oil; saute the onion and garlic. Add the pureed vegetable centers, parsley, dill, water, and bring to a simmer.
Add the pilaf, simmer until the pilaf is half cooked; the filling should still have a lot of visible liquid.
Season with cinnamon, salt, and pepper.

Assembly:

Fill each of the hollowed vegetables and cover the tomatoes with their tops. Drizzle with the olive oil. Excess filling can be placed in the bottom of the pan around the vegetables.
Cover the pan with foil and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, periodically checking to insure that there is enough liquid to continue cooking the pilaf. Add more water as needed.
Remove the foil, top with the Parmesan cheese, and bake for 15 minutes more to brown.
Allow the vegetables to sit for 20 minutes before serving.

Stuffed vegetables are served warm or at room temperature and are wonderful the next day.

Nutritional Information: Serving size is 1/6 of the recipe. If you are watching your weight, I’d half the portion.

Calories – 810
Fat – 8 g
Sodium – 265mg
Fiber – 15g
Total Carbs – 77g
Sugars – 7g
Protein – 17g

Weight Watchers POINTS = 8 for a half portion or 1/12 of the recipe

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