I love to mix rice and grains, too. I believe in complex carbs! I usually do brown, jasmine, light quinoa & dark quinoa. Now, I am excited about adding red rice. I recommend mixing brown rice and grains with white rice to people who are trying to ween themselves off of white rice. Each time, they can use less white rice in the mixture. By the way, a Peruvian friend taught me about another kind of red rice. If you boil beets, you can cook the rice in the the water used. You get to keep the nutrition (sodium, sulphur, chlorine, iodine, copper and vitamin A, B1, B2, C and bioflavonoids) of the beets and add color to your meal. It's really pretty.

I, too, have been enjoying a weekly pot of "Granny's grains" for months now. I just had this week's combo --red quinoa, black rice, millet, purple prairie barley and amaranth -- for lunch, mixed with a saute of garam masala caramelized onions ( copy catting your tofu scramble onions) together with some kale, chard and raisins. Delicious.

I cooked similar food a while ago: mixing millet+quinoa+farro or sometimes 3/4 different kind of rice with cereals with roasted vegetables, and when I had left over, I made polpette the day after :)

thanks, I just purchased some red Bhutanese rice, this will be on our dinner table.

I just stumbled on your site last week and absolute love it! Your recipes are inspiring with all the ingredients that I love to use. Your photographs are absolutely amazing ... so mesmerizing. You have a wonderful eye....a truly gifted artist. :) I'm so happy to have found this site and have shared it w/ friends already. I checked out your cookbook from the library and am thrilled to have a new vegetarian book to love and enjoy! Thank you, Heidi! HS: Thanks for the kind words Michelle, glad to hear you are enjoying the site/book.

I just stumbled on your site last week and absolute love it! Your recipes are inspiring with the ingredients that I love. Your photographs are absolutely amazing ... so mesmerizing. You have a wonderful eye....a truly gifted artist. :) I'm so happy to have found this site and have shared it w/ friends already. I checked out your cookbook from the library and am thrilled to have a new vegetarian book to love and enjoy! Thank you, Heidi!

Just tried a pack of mixed grains from Trader Joe's (harvest grains blend) and it was great . . . red quinoa,red and green orzo, Israeli couscous and baby garbanzo beans. Ready to eat in less than fifteen minutes and you can add veggies, soy, etc. for variety.

This looks great! I love your recipes, Heidi. When I cook them, use a lot less salt than they call for. I only add the salt at the very end, if needed.

Hmm, do you think they were selling the really small packages for sprouting? Or were they single servings of grains? ;-) Thanks for this recipe! I'm always afraid to cook different grains together, and armed with a recipe I now can't wait to try this combo. You know, I think they could have been either of those things Lucy. It was hard to tell.

I usually have a prepared grain mix in my fridge. I cook up a variety of grains separately and combine them after cooking. My favorites are farro, black and red quinoa, black barley and rice (brown, red, black-whatever I have). I combine the mix with salads, omlets or make salads a la tabbouleh. It's an easy way to top up my grain consumption.

My grand mother use cook something similar But each time it use to be of different variety to break the monotony. At times a new and appealing thing used to be created. She also once cooked brown unpolished hand pounded rice with hand pounded wheat .The grains soaked for few hours and then cooked with some fresh shredded cabbage and carrots .She then use to season it with a coarse powder of roasted sesame and poppy seeds along with some walnuts .Drizzling the dish with a dab of fresh home made butter. It tasted great !!

This looks great! I love the idea of mixing millet with different types of rice!

This looks really interesting...I especially like the arancini idea.

This sounds great & will definitely plan on trying. As for the issue with being able to rinse all the grains; would a dal strainer work? I frequently prepare several various dal recipes with beans, peas, etc of various sizes and I have a strainer with interchangeable graduated screens (each one finer than the one before). Its gets about as fine as a window screen, would this work for rinsing the amaranth? HS: Give it a try Nichole - you'll know right away :)

Oh, yeah I know exactly what you are talking about! I love how it adds interesting textures and makes the rice look pretty. I like to eat plain or with a pinch of salt.

i'm a big fan of Kashi seven grain pilaf, but it's hard for me to find, and overpackaged to boot. But my kids love it sweet or savory so I buy it when I can find it. This looks like a great substitute and I don't have to do any of the figuring out. Thanks Heidi.

I'm glad you said that about the amaranth and strainer. I'm always wondering, what am I doing wrong here and should I bother rinsing these?? Lately I've been soaking my grains overnight with a splash of apple cider vinegar. They turn out more fluffy and sweet the next day when I cook 'em, and are easier to digest.

The combination of grains sounds great! It's gluten free too! Normally, I don't like cooked amaranth on it's own, too gluey when it's cooked. But I think this mix will work. I've also tried to mix grains with dried beans. I found that soaking the grains and beans for 2-3 hours can ensure even cooking. Heidi, have you tried popped amaranth? I'm looking for more ideas for popped amaranth, right now, I only eat it with cereal...

Thanks, this will encourage me to try millet and amaranth again. Can't handle them on their own.

wow, i never thought of combining grains before! yum.