Denver Grainlette

This is what happens when a Denver omelet meets a grain bowl. Instead of eggs, the grainlette uses a pre-cooked lentil-and-grain mix as its base, tossed with classic Denver omelet vegetables (green bell pepper, tomato, scallion, and mushrooms) in a skillet with just enough water to steam everything until the vegetables soften and the pan goes dry.

The whole cook takes about 10 minutes if your grains are already done, making this one of the easier plant-based dinners in the lunch-for-one category. The recipe scales up or down depending on your hunger, and leftovers reheat beautifully for next-day lunch.

Use any pre-cooked grain mix (a pouch of lentils and wheat berries, or brown rice and quinoa, or farro and barley) depending on what is in the pantry. The exact mix matters less than the proportion: roughly one and a half cups of cooked grain to one cup of vegetables. Finish with a grind of black pepper and serve as the main event with bread on the side, or as a side to a larger salad.

Kitchen Tips

• Use pre-cooked grains from a pouch or from a batch you cooked earlier in the week. Cooking grains from dry doubles the time this dish takes.
• Cook down the water until the pan is almost dry before adding the grains. Wet pans make mushy grainlettes.
• Season aggressively. This dish has no egg, butter, or cheese to carry seasoning, so salt, pepper, and maybe a splash of soy or tamari really matter.
• Brown the mushrooms slightly before adding the other vegetables for deeper flavor.
• Use a nonstick skillet if you want the grains to develop crispy bottom spots like an egg omelet.

Variations

• Add ½ cup grated cheese (cheddar, feta, or parmesan) if you are not strictly vegan.
• Top with a fried egg, poached egg, or scrambled tofu for extra protein.
• Stir in ½ teaspoon of smoked paprika or Old Bay for a different flavor direction.