Daube Provencal

I got this recipe many years ago from who knows where. I tried to find in on the internet and came up with something close on a French site. You'll need to translate the page, unless you speak French! Below is the recipe that I used. We will serve this with mashed potatoes, although I made a note that it might be good with baked polenta, as well.

3 lbs chuck roast, cut into cubes
1 pint mushrooms, sliced (unless small)
3 onions sliced
1 small onion, studded with 5 cloves
5 cloves garlic, minced
4 carrots, sliced on bias
4-5 shallots, sliced
2 beef bouillon cubes (or 2 t)
1 bottle dry red wine
1 T tomato paste
1 bay leaf
2 T red wine vinegar

In dutch oven, saute meat in very hot oil, so it browns quickly without rendering juices. Set aside.
Saute mushrooms quickly (no juices). Set aside.
Saute onions, garlic, carrots, and shallots till onion is slightly caramelized.
Add the meat and mushrooms back into the pot.
Drop in bouillon and pour in the bottle of wine.
Add the tomato paste, bay leaf, studded onion, vinegar, salt and pepper.

Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer on low for at least one hour- the longer the better for the meat to get really tender.

**Delicious.

Chicken Pot Pie-2

Recipe number two for chicken pot pie. I liked it better than the first recipe. I roasted the chicken with the Roast Chicken with Herbs recipe and saved the drippings. The topping for the pie was gluten-free. I got that recipe from Silvanas Kitchen. Here is my best guess as to how I made the filling.

1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
6 mushrooms, chopped
1/2 C frozen peas
Other veggies
2 C cooked chicken, cut into small cubes

Saute onions, celery, and carrots till the onion is slightly transparent. Add chopped mushrooms and saute just a bit. Then add frozen peas and any other vegies you want. I added some left over roasted potatoes cut into cubes. Then add your cooked chicken. Pour this into a baking dish.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

1/4 C chicken drippings (from your roasted chicken) or butter or oil
1/4 C GF flour mix
3 T corn starch
3 C vegetable stock

Mix the flours and fat together over medium heat till smooth. Then add the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer till thickened. Add to the vege mixture.

GF Crust for topping

1¾ cups (245g) Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (117g) butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg (58g), lightly beaten, plus 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

In a food processor, combine the flour blend, salt and butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add the beaten egg; pulse until the dough almost forms a ball. Remove the dough and gather it into a ball.

Place a piece of plastic wrap on a clean surface. Lightly dust with flour blend and place the dough on top, sprinkle with more flour and cover with another piece of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a shape that will cover your baking dish. Remove the plastic wrap on top of the dough. Flip the dough on top of the pie filling and remove the plastic wrap. Trim any excess dough, crimp crust edges together. Brush the dough with the egg wash and make 3 slits on top. Place on a baking sheet (to catch any drips); bake until golden, about 1 hour.

**I forgot to take a photo before we dove in. This is my favorite chicken pot pie so far.

Roast Chicken with Herbs

This recipe comes from a cook book I received as a wedding gift, many moons ago. It is published by Sunset, called Easy Basics for Good Cooking. I used to make the roast chicken as a meal for new mothers. I'll try it again and see if the reality of today matches my memory of it. My intention is to put the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan and fill the pan with vegetables for roasting. If you don't want to do that, then save the drippings and use them as a base for your roux for chicken pot pie.

1 frying chicken (3-4 lbs)
3 cloves garlic, halved
2 bay leaves
3 T butter, melted
1/4 t each salt and pepper
1/4 t each ground sage, dry basil, thyme, oregano, and marjoram leaves
2 bay leaves

Remove giblets, etc.

Rub skin of chicken with 1 clove garlic; then put all garlic and bay leaves into the body cavity. In a small bowl, stir together all other spices with the butter. Spoon 1 T of this mixture into the cavity. Truss now (if you want to.)

Brush skin generously with the rest of the butter mixture. Place chicken, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake uncovered, in a 375 oven for 1 to 1/1/2 hours or deep thigh reaches 185.

Baste occasionally with any remaining butter mixture or pan drippings during last half-hour of roasting. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

 **Delicious and so easy! You can see I added potatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots to the roasting pan  as well.

Chicken pot pie-1

I ended up bagging the stock from the chicken soup earlier this week and freezing it for later. I cut the chicken up into bits for this dish. I found this recipe on food.com. I have amended the recipe below.

• 1 package pie crust, thawed and rolled for top
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (spelt)
• 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 3/4 cups cooked chicken (cut up)
• 2 cups mixed vegetables-I used cooked carrots, sweet potatoes, and frozen peas.

Directions:

1. Thaw crust according to package directions-or make your own.
2. Heat butter in large saucepan. Cook onion in butter until tender-crisp.
3. Add flour and seasonings, mixing until smooth.
4. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil and is smoothly thickened.
5. Stir in chicken and vegetables.
6. Cool slightly. Spoon into baking dish.
7. Place rolled out puff pastry on top and make slits for steam to escape.
8. Bake on lower rack in oven @ 375*F. until filling is bubbling and crust is puffed and golden brown. 30-35 minutes.

**this is a super easy dish to make. However, I didn't think it was flavorful enough. Next time, I'll up the spices and make sure to include a bit of sage and rosemary.

Pressure cooker chicken soup

Last week I happened to catch a part of Dr Oz. He was exploring health myths. One of them had to do with the efficacy of using chicken soup during a cold. His conclusion? Not a myth- chicken soup really does help. Last week, I caught a cold from my daughter. Ugh. So out came the chicken from the freezer (they were on sale at Whole Foods the week prior- so I bought two) and down came the pressure cooker... I pulled this recipe from the internet- the Boston.com site. I have adapted it below.


Pressure-cooker chicken soup
Serves 6
6 carrots (leave whole)
2 medium onions, chopped
6 stalks fresh parsley 
3 celery stalks- top with the greens
1 bay leaf
4 peppercorns
1 chicken (3 1/2 pounds), cut in half (you could do quarters if it fits better in your pressure cooker)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
12 cups water (or as much as you can safely put into your pressure cooker)


1. In a pressure cooker, lay the carrots, onions, parsnip, parsley, bay leaf, and peppercorns in the bottom. Add the chicken pieces with the neck and gizzard, extra breasts, and salt. Pour in the water.
2. Lock the lid and set over high heat to bring the pressure up. Adjust the heat to maintain medium pressure and cook for 15 minutes exactly. (Important: do not leave the kitchen while the pressure cooker is on; modern cookers are perfectly safe, but you still need to babysit.)
3. Let the pressure cooker sit for 5 minutes. Carefully carry the cooker to the sink and run very cold water onto the top to bring the pressure down. You'll hear the valve make a big sigh. When it's safe to remove the lid, lift it off.
4. Let the soup cool for 20 minutes. With tongs, transfer the chicken to a large bowl. Put the vegetables into one container, tip the broth into another. Discard the parsley, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Let everything cool.
5. Refrigerate the broth. Remove the meat from the chicken bones and transfer the meat to the vegetables. Refrigerate.
6. Remove the fat from the broth. Tip the broth into a soup pot. Add the vegetables and chicken. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Adapted from "The Way We Cook"

**Oops. Forgot to take a photo. Tasted good. I still have the cold. 

Hearty Vegetable Soup

I couldn't resist picking up some chorizo at World Market this weekend. What a perfect way to use it! This soup looked great online at bbcfood and it uses all the right vegetables for the Los Poblanos box this week. It calls for crusty bread- I almost made some GF rosemary bread sticks...
I used 4 small turnips for this dish and fresh tomatoes. The leeks came from my garden as did the thyme. If you don't have an herb garden at your house- I'd recommend you put some flat leaf parsley, thyme, and rosemary into the ground or a container. Staple herbs!

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 25g/1oz unsalted butter
• 1 leek, cut into small chunks
• 1 large carrot, cut into small chunks
• ½ large turnip, cut into small chunks
• 1 sweet potato, cut into small chunks
• 1 celery stalk, cut into small chunks
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 x 400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes (I used fresh romas)
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• small bunch thyme, tied together with string (I tied mine with a leek stalk)
• 570ml/1 pint vegetable stock
• 150g/5oz green beans, trimmed (and cut into more bite manageable pieces)
• 1 raw chorizo sausage (about 110g/4oz), cut into small chunks (Optional)
• crusty bread to serve- Optional

Preparation method

1. Heat the olive oil and butter together in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the leek, carrot, turnip, sweet potato and celery and fry for 10-12 minutes, or until the vegetables start to soften but don't colour.
   
2. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and add the cumin, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, thyme, vegetable stock and green beans. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 40-45 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
   
3. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat and fry the chorizo for 10-12 minutes, or until crisp and golden-brown.
   
4. Remove the thyme from the soup and stir in the chorizo. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
   
5. Ladle the soup into warm soup bowls and serve with crusty bread on the side.
   
   
   
    Starting to simmer
   
   
    **The finished product. I'd say the chorizo is definitely optional with the richness of the broth-so I took it out of the title. Wow! This soup was fantastic.
   
   
   
   

Roast Chicken with root vegetables

What a perfect night to have this dish! Cold and dark, wind blowing, snow trying to form. I haven't made a roast chicken for a long time, so I thought I'd give it a go. I have a standby recipe I usually make, so I was pleased to try this one from Jamie Oliver. I like how nonchalant his recipes are and this one is just the same. I got the chicken from Whole Foods. I've amended the recipe below. If you want to know how to carve your chicken and make gravy, go to the link above.

• 1 x approximately 4 lb chicken, preferably free-range, organic or higher welfare
• 2 medium onions
• 2 carrots
• 4 potatoes
• turnips
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lemon
a small bunch of fresh thyme, rosemary, bay or sage, or a mixture (I used thyme from my garden)

To prepare your chicken
• Take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven
• Preheat your oven to 475°F
• There’s no need to peel the vegetables – just give them a wash and roughly chop them 

• Pile all the veg and garlic into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil
• Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the bird
• Carefully prick the lemon all over, using the tip of a sharp knife (if you have a microwave, you could pop the lemon in these for 40 seconds at this point as this will really bring out the flavour)
• Put the lemon inside the chicken’s cavity, with the bunch of herbs

To cook your chicken
• Place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the roasting tray and put it into the preheated oven
• Turn the heat down immediately to 400°F and cook the chicken for 1 hour and 20 minutes
• Baste the chicken halfway through cooking and if the veg look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them burning
• When cooked, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the chicken to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so

**The top photo is the chicken going into the oven. It turned out beautiful, juicy and tender.

Hearty Green Autumn Bowl

What a great way to eat autumn greens! I used the swiss chard from the harvest box for this dish. I couldn't find dry cannelini beans so I substituted northern whites instead. I didn't build the toast on top, but instead used slices of hearty country bread. You can find the recipe online here. I modified it below.

Serves 4

• 1 bunch Kale (or mix Kale and Swiss Chard) stems removed and leaves shredded
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil plus more for bread
• 1 Onion (medium) chopped finely
• 1 Carrot (Medium) chopped finely
• 1 Celery Stick chopped finely
• 1 Clove of Garlic minced
• 1 cup Dry White Wine
• 3 cups Cooked Cannellini Beans (canned is fine but rinse well - 2 cans)
• 1 Lemon, cut in wedges
• 4 Slices Chunky Wholesome Bread 
• 1 teaspoon Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Chili Flakes or more if you like
• 2 tablespoons Rosemary finely chopped
• 1 liter Chicken Stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 Vine Ripe Tomato Medium chopped finely

1. Finely chop onion, carrot and celery and put in a pot with oil and fry over medium heat until onions are translucent. Add garlic, bay leaf and wine. Reduce until no wine is left in the pot. Add Salt, pepper and chili flakes. Now add tomatoes, beans and rosemary. Mix well. Now add stock.
2. Once the stew comes to a gentle boil add the kale and/or Swiss Chard and cook until wilted (about 3-5 minutes) 
3. When ready, serve soup in large bowls and add a squeeze of lemon juice. 

**This picture is from thespicegirl from the food blog Food52. It shows the dish with pine nuts and lemon peel- I didn't do that. Nevertheless, you get the idea. The recipe is delicious.

Quinoa Burgers

Always on the look out for a great veggie burger! I saw this online- modified it by not adding the sugar originally called for and adding a scallion and bumping up the cumin a notch.

2 cups cooked quinoa

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or other variety, if you prefer)

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 medium carrot, finely grated (OR 1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed)

3 eggs ( 4 eggs if using zucchini instead of carrot)

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

3 green onions, including white parts

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Olive oil for frying

.

In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, carrot, eggs, flour, green onions, Splenda, pepper, cumin, salt, and garlic powder.

Heat a frying pan and a couple teaspoons olive oil over medium-low heat.  Measure 1/4 cup and form into patties about 1/2 inch thick  - mixture will be slightly sticky.  Fry until golden-brown, about 4 minutes on each side.   Makes approx. 10 burgers.

Making the burgers...

**Delicious! I'll be making these again!

Carrot Ginger Soup- Indian spices

For those of you who have been reading this blog, you know that I have been looking for a great carrot soup. I think this just might be it! Super easy to make (in my food processor). Here is the recipe online. Below is with my modifications (green chile and vegemite).

Carrot ginger soup:
It makes about 20 ladlefuls.

One giant onion or two medium, chopped
1-3 roasted green chiles, chopped
3″ chunk of ginger, peeled, grated
Three garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp curry powder
10 carrots, peeled and cut into medallions.
One huge potato, peeled, chopped
Vegetable stock to cover (about 6 cups)
1 tsp vegemite

Chop everything.
Sauté onion garlic and ginger in vegetable oil until tender. Add spices.
Cook one minute until aromatic. Add carrot and potato. Coat in spices and oil.
Add stock. Bring to a boil. Simmer until veggies are tender. Maybe 20 minutes. Allow to cool a bit then blend to a puree.                                                                                                                                                         Top with sour cream or yogurt.

**Delicious and so easy to make. The yogurt was perfect with it. I made GF cheesy buns to go with it.

Green Salad with tuna and poached egg

Seems silly to post about a salad, but there you go. It is a meal! The Black Russian tomato came from my garden.

Lettuce
Cucumbers
Carrots
Avocado
Tomato
Tuna
Poached egg

For the dressing, I did a 2 to 1 ratio of balsamic vinegar to olive oil, threw in some italian herbs, salt, and pepper.

**Wonderful!

Carrot Bread

This is a savory bread, designed for your bread maker. You can find the recipe on a website dedicated to carrot recipes.


Carrot Bread for Bread Machine


Ingredients:
½ cup of water.
1 1/3 cups of white bread flour.
2/3 cup of wheat bread flour.
2 teaspoons of dry milk.
1 teaspoon of salt.
2/3 cup of grated carrots.
1 tablespoon of honey.
2 tablespoons of plain yoghurt.
1 tablespoon of molasses.
2 tablespoons of walnuts chopped.
1 teaspoon of fast rise yeast OR 2 teaspoons of active dry yeast.
Preparation:
Place all of the ingredients in your bread machine, in the order recommended in your bread machine manual; then press Start or On.

**I put the ingredients into the machine in the order above. This bread is delicious. Moist, a little sweet, and a bit chewy with the walnuts.

Quinoa Tabouli Salad with Chickpeas

One of my favorite summer salads. I used to use bulgher until wheat became an allergy issue in this house. Now I use quinoa and love it. This recipe comes from The New Moosewood Cookbook. I found the recipe on-line on the food.com website . However, what you see below is how I've adapted it over the years. Depending on what is in season, I'll add the tomatoes or if I have kalamati olives, I'll add them. I usually add chickpeas for the protein.

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa
• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• pepper
• 3 scallions, finely minced
• 1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley, packed
• 8- 10 mint leaves, minced
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced or 4 roma tomatoes,diced
• 1/2 cucumber,  minced

1. Cook the quinoa in the water for about 15 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed.Fluff up the quinoa.
2. Emulsify the lemon juice and oil. Then mix in the salt, garlic, pepper, and scallions.
3. Chill for 30 minutes.
4. Before serving, add the rest of the ingredients.

 

 **Delicious, as always.

**Made a different time, with black olives, tomatoes, and carrots.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

I love these rolls wrapped in rice paper. They are perfect for a warm day. You can find a multitude of recipes on-line for the fillings and for the sauces. Here is what we did:

For the spring roll
Cucumber, cut into long slices
Carrot, long peels
Tot Soi, washed and left whole
Basil, cut into strips
Mint, cut into strips
Parsley
Tempeh, cut into strips
Rice vermicelli

For the Sauce
1/4 C hoisin sauce
2 T almond butter
1 t rice venegar
1 garlic, crushed
1 squirt Thai hot sauce

In bowl of warm water, dip each rice paper wrapper for about 3-5 seconds (depending on rice paper thickness). Do not over soak your rice paper wrapper! Place on work service and allow rice paper to soak up water and become gelatinous and pliable (about 30 seconds to 1 minute, again, depending on the thickness rice paper).
On top 1/3 side closest to you, lay noddles and greens on the bottom for added strength to the wrapper. Then place herbs and other vegetables. Roll up spring roll about 1/3 way through, then fold in the sides.
Serve with hoisin almond dip (or any other sauce).

**Delicious. Keeper.

Spring Fettuccine

The basis of this recipe comes from Fettucini alla Primavera. I will be using more vegies than it calls for. Since I've never made this recipe- we'll see what changes as it gets made. The recipe below is what I intend to make- not the recipe on the link.

6+ oz frozen baby peas
1 C zucchini, sliced and cut in half
1 cup frozen edamame
1 C baby carrots, peeled
1 1/2 oz butter
1 small white onion, finely chopped
1 lb brown rice fettuccine
4 oz ham, diced
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 C cream
1/2 C low-fat milk
fresh mint
freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (parmesan) for serving

Take peas out of the freezer. Drop the edemame into a saucepan of lightly salted boiling water. Bring the water to the boil, then cook the beans for 3-4 minutes. Drain. Plunge the carrots into lightly salted boiling water and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until tender. Drain. Steam the zucchini until al dente. Put the butter into a medium-sized frying pan and add the chopped onion. Cook gently until very tender. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of gently boiling well-salted water until al dente. Add the edamame, carrots, and zucchini to the onion in the pan and cook for a few minutes more, until hot. Add the ham and season the sauce with a few pinches of salt and plenty of black pepper. Pour in the cream and let it bubble up for a few minutes (don't over-reduce it). Turn off the heat.As soon as the pasta is cooked, drain it over the peas and turn it all into a heated serving bowl. Add the mint to the sauce, then pour all the contents of the pan on top of the pasta. Toss well and serve immediately with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Serves 4-6

 **Delicious! I used 2 large carrots, 2 small zucchini, half a larger bag of baby peas, and a whole small  bag of frozen edamame. Because of the extra veges, I put in 3/4 C whole cream and 3/4 C of 2%. I didn't cut the mint up, but put in some leaves whole. Keeper for sure!

Risotto cakes with fontina

Having leftover risotto and leftover roasted carrots, I looked around for a risotto cake recipe. I found a few and this is what I came up with.

2 C leftover risotto (mine was made with roasted garlic and thyme)
1 C roasted carrots, chopped
1/2 C fontina cheese, shredded
1/4 C chopped parsley
1 egg
1/2 C breadcrumbs

Mix the cold risotto with breadcrumbs, cheese, parsley, carrots, and egg. Shape into 4" rounds and chill. Heat oil and saute cakes until crisp and brown.

**Delicious- Keeper

Baked carrots with cumin, thyme, butter and chardonnay

This recipe comes from Jamie Oliver's Return of the Naked Chef. It seemed like a perfect recipe for the carrots we are receiving this week. Plus I have a nice mound of thyme that made it through the winter!

1 lb. baby carrots preferably organic, scrubbed and left whole, tops removed 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, crushed 1 handful fresh thyme, leaves 4 tbsp butter salt freshly ground black pepper 5 oz chardonnay wine

Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. 2. Tear off around 5 feet of kitchen foil and fold it in half to give you double thickness of foil, about 2 and a half feet wide. 3. Place everything but the wine and seasoning in the middle of the foil. 4. Bring up the sides and pour in the white wine. 5. Season well. 6. Fold or scrunch the foil together to seal. 7. Cook in the preheated oven for 45 minutes until the carrots are tender. 8. You may need to cook it for longer if the carrots are bigger than baby ones.  **I covered a baking dish with foil, rather than put this in a foil packet. The carrots were very flavorful- make sure you use good wine- otherwise you will not like the end results.  Easy to make. ##Not a big hit for leftovers.

Manhattan Tuna Chowder- Crockpot

No time to cook on Tuesday- so I thought we could try this chowder recipe. I've got everything but the red potatoes on hand... and most of the recipes from the Better Homes and Gardens Ultimate Slow Cooker cookbook have been good.

Serves 6

2 14-oz cans chicken broth (I'll use my own)
2 C chopped round red potatoes (2 medium)
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes
1 C chopped celery (2 stalks)
1/2 C chopped onion (1 medium)
1/2 C coarsely shredded carrot (1 medium)
1 t dried thyme, crushed
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1/8 t ground black pepper
1 12-oz can chunk white tuna (water pack), drained and broken into chunks

Combine broth, potatoes, undrained tomatoes, celery, onion, carrot, thyme, cayenne pepper, and black pepper.
Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-31/2 hours. Gently stir in tuna. Let stand, covered for 5 minutes.

per serve: 40 calories, 2 G fat, 25 mg chol.,900 mg sodium, 1 g carbo, 3 g fiber, 16 g protein.

 **I don't think this dish could have been any easier. I wasn't crazy about it, but the 2 out of the other 3 eaters besides me thought it was great. I paired it with buttermilk biscuits.
##I might make this again.

Warm lentil salad

This recipe comes from the Orangette blog. What a great site! I'll be serving this lentil dish with a fresh salad of greens with sliced sugar snaps on top.

French-Style Warm Lentil Salad
Adapted from Epicurious.com

This lentil salad isn’t exactly like the ones I’ve eaten in France – those were usually plainer, with just vinaigrette and flecks of raw shallot – but I like it just as much. (And – bonus! – it doesn’t leave me with shallot breath.) It also keeps and reheats well, and it tastes even better the next day, which makes it perfect weekday lunch material.

1 cup French green (also known as “Puy”) lentils, picked over and rinsed
3 cups water
1 Turkish bay leaf
½ tsp. salt, divided
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
5 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
2 Tbsp. plus ½ tsp. red wine vinegar
½ Tbsp. Dijon mustard
Crunchy sea salt, for serving
2 Tbsp. finely chopped Italian parsley, for serving

In a medium saucepan, bring the lentils, water, and bay leaf to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until almost tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in ¼ teaspoon salt, and then simmer, covered, for another 3 to 5 minutes, until tender but not falling apart.

While the lentils simmer, warm 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, and 1/8 teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just softened, about 7 to 9 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons vinegar, mustard, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt. Add the remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil, and whisk to emulsify.

When the lentils are ready, drain them in a colander or sieve, and discard the bay leaf. Dump them into the skillet with the vegetables, and add the vinaigrette. Cook over low heat, stirring gently, until heated through. Stir in the remaining ½ tsp. vinegar, and serve warm, with crunchy salt and parsley for sprinkling.

Yield: 4 side-dish servings

 **Great salad. Easy to make. Should have put the parsley in it. I will next time!
##Keeper. 

Pineapple Fried Rice

I adapted this recipe from the cookbook called Fresh: Healthy Cooking and Living from Lake Austin Spa Resort. Make sure the rice is cold or it will be too gummy.


1 C diced onions
1 1/2 T minced fresh ginger
4 C cooked rice
1 C shredded carrot
1 C minced pineapple
2 eggs, beat lightly
1/2 t salt
4 green onions, chopped
1 green chili, chopped

In a wok, add some oil and fry the garlic, just until it begins to color. Add the onion and ginger; saute for a few seconds. Add the rice, carrot, and pineapple; stir- fry for a minute or two. Add the onions and chili. Stir for a minute. Add the eggs and stir. Finish with salt to taste.

**So easy to make.