farro-orzo-whatever asparagus-bean-pesto glop

So looking for more plant based dinner solutions, we started out with an old favorite grain from Italy in mind, farro, to which a mixed bean can would be added with asparagus (bob failed to find frozen shrimp at Wegmans for our frequently made shrimp and asparagus risotto/farro dish), then a web search found a farro cannelloni bean and parsley pesto salad recipe that also had some of that nutritional yeast in it that we bought for a vegan "cashew e pepe" pasta recipe, so we tossed in a few tablespoons into our fresh pesto thinned out with the cooking liquid. When assessing our leftover stock of farro, orzo etc, it turned out we could instead get rid of some leftover whole wheat farro and a partially used box of quick cooking Gallo "3 cereali" carried back from Rome: brown rice, oat flakes and pearled wheat. The base for this dish was chopped onion and celery sauteed in olive oil with a bit of red pepper flakes to which the beans, pesto and nutritional yeast were added with the cooked carbs and some leftover cooked asparagus from the fridge. Ani decided some feta bits over each serving would work, and indeed it kicked the flavor up a notch. Crumbled gorgonzola would work too. Try something similar. We wolfed it down, two helpings each. Served with fresh asparagus. bob chopped his asparagus up and mixed it into the glop. Gave it some extra color.

ingredients

1 c farro/whole wheat orzo/similar carb mix, cooked separately

2-3 T olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks of celery, chopped

some red pepper flakes to taste

1 14oz can of beans, we used Delallo bean medley: red kidney, cannellini, borlotti, butter beans and chick peas

1/2 c fresh pesto, or from a jar

2 T nutritional yeast (we had to find something else to do with it)

some reserved carb cooking water, "quanto basta" (enough)

optional crumbled feta or gorgonzola cheese

a bunch of asparagus, cooked apart, some chopped to mix in the dish

instructions

1. Prep the asparagus and cook them in an asparagus pot.
2. Meanwhile boil your choice of farro or orzo or carb mix of your choice according to the instructions.
3. Prep the onion and celery and saute them with some red pepper flakes in the olive oil until softened. Then mix in the beans to heat them up. Then loosen up the pesto with some of the carb cooking water and incorporate the nutritional yeast and then stir into the mix.
4. Drain the carbs and mix into the pot. Mix in some of the chopped asparagus, or more of it as you like. Serve the rest on the side? Crumbled cheese is a nice flavor accent.

notes

1. The inspiration for this dish: asparagus shrimp risotto
2. Delallo imported Italian bean medley.
3. Illustrations available.