Meatless Monday with Greens & Grains Gratin with Browned Yogurt Topping

Hello and welcome (back) to the Miratel blog for our latest Meatless Monday vegetarian recipe share. The Meatless Monday pledge aims to reduce meat consumption 15% by eliminating it one day per week to preserve  planetary health. Miratel has taken the pledge to support this great movement and consider it part of our CSR business strategies to spread awareness of the impact of food choices on our environment. Every Monday we feature a new vegetarian or vegan recipe to help make going meat-free easier.

Our recipe today is for a hearty flavour packed dish that can be made with the odds and ends you might find in your fridge. This greens & grains gratin with browned yogurt topping makes for a satisfying and healthy meal and comes courtesy of The Yellow House – a beautiful foodie website with amazing images and great recipes that are about 95% vegetarian. Now, let’s get cooking.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus a little more for oiling the baking dish
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 cups raw greens, chopped finely (mine includes spinach and basil. If you use kale, chard, or collards, de-rib and de-stem them first)
• 1 cup parmesan, grated (another cheese could also work)
• 3 cups grains, cooked (mine is made with a brown rice/wheat bulgur pilaf mixture I had on hand)
• 1 cup thick, Greek-style yogurt
• 3 eggs
• Coarse salt
• Pepper
• Paprika (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Oil a 3-4 quart baking dish.
3. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic and cook, stirring a bit, until the shallot begins to become translucent and aromatic, about 3-5 minutes. Add the chopped greens and give a few quick stirs to coat in the oil and allium mixture. Remove from heat.
4. In a large mixing bowl, mix the grains, the greens mixture, and 3/4 cup parmesan. Taste for salt and pepper and season if necessary. Then, stir in just one of the eggs and mix until well incorporated. Spread the mixture in an even layer in the prepared baking dish.
5. In another bowl, mix the yogurt, remaining two eggs, and remaining 1/4 cup parmesan. Throw in a few pinches of paprika if you want. Spread this mixture in an even layer over the grains and greens.
6. Bake, 35 minutes or so, until the egg-yogurt topping sets and becomes speckled brown. Serve hot.

The browned yogurt topping has a slight custard quality and makes this dish very unique in a very good way. Feel free to experiment with the greens, grains and cheese of your choice or availability. Aside from being delicious, the beauty of this recipe is that you can reinvent it every time and it will always be great. Serve with a lightly dressed raw green vinaigrette salad of your choice.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday website and join us in taking the Meatless Monday pledge today. Spread the word at home and at work and promote CSR business initiatives to make your green call centre, office, factory, shop, restaurant or salon even greener.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.