Versatile Lentil Stew

One-pot recipes make my life a lot easier on weeknights, especially when the ingredients called for are easy to swap with ones I have on hand. That’s why I’ve been making various versions of lentil-spinach stew from Better Homes And Garden Vegetarian Recipes cookbook. Here is the recipe:

1 cup dry lentils
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp cooking oil
4 cups water
7 ½ -oz can chopped tomatoes
4 tsp chicken or vegetable bouillon granules
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp salt
½ tsp dried thyme
14/ tsp fennel seed, crushed
¼ tsp pepper
1 bay leaf
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach
1 tbsp balsamic or red wine vinegar

Rinse lentils; set aside. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven cook onion and garlic in hot oil until tender but not brown. Stir in the lentils, water, tomatoes, bouillon granules, Worcestershire sauce, salt, thyme, fennel seed, pepper and bay leaf. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add carrots and frozen spinach. Bring to a boil, breaking up spinach with a fork; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes more or until lentils are tender. Stir in vinegar. Discard bay leaf. To serve, ladle stew into individual bowls. Makes 4 servings.

Lately, I’ve been swapping the carrots, onion, canned tomatoes and spinach the recipe calls for with whatever is ready to be picked from my garden, such as green beans, mustard greens, green bell peppers and tomatoes. Plus, this is even easier to make in the crock pot—just put everything in the pot and cook on high for four hours.
Yeah, this recipe definitely makes my life easier at dinnertime. Now if I could just get my kids to eat it.

Italian Grapesicle

Last week, Terry brought home 3 pounds of red grapes, and my kids wouldn’t have anything to do with them. Instead of letting them go to waste, I made a sorbet out of them. I got the recipefrom the August issue of Tastes of Italia magazine. Here it is:

2 cups water
¾ cup sugar
2 lb red grapes
1 tsp of fresh lemon juice
Makes 8 servings

In a saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring to a boil and remove. Place the grapes and lemon juice in a blender and mix for 3 to 4 minutes, until skins and pulp are well pulverized. Remove, add sugar mixture and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Transfer to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container for firmer texture.

When I tried to mix it in an ice cream maker, it wouldn’t freeze, so I ended up putting the mixture in a bowl and freezing it. But instead of being scoopable like ice cream, the mixture hardened like a popscicle. In fact, if I made this stuff again, I would forgo the ice cream maker and freeze it in popscicle molds.
At any rate, it tastes so good, I don’t mind that that I about need a jack hammer to get it out of the bowl.

Low-Fat Basil Pesto

Here's a great way to use up that bush of basil in your back yard before the frost gets it. I found this recipe last year in Cook's Illustrated "The Best Light Recipe" cook book. It freezes beautifully.
How did those chefs at Cook's Illustrated lighten up fattening pesto? They eliminated pine nuts and replaced most of the olive oil used in traditional pesto with part-skim ricotta cheese. Sounds a little strange, but it tastes great. Try it!

4 medium garlic cloves, unpeeled
3 cups fresh basil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 shallot, minced
2 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Toast the garlic in a small skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally, untilthe color of the cloves deepens slightly, about seven minutes. Transfer the garlic to a plate to cool, then peel the cloves and chop or press through a garlic press.

2. Place the basil in a heavy-duty gallon-sized zipper-lock bag. Pount the bag with the flat side of a meat poinder or rolling pin until all the leaves are lightly bruised.

3. Process the garlic, basil, parmesan, ricotta, shallot, oil and 1/2 tsp salt in a food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Per 2 1/2-tblsp serving: Cal 80; Fat 6 g; Sat Fat 1.5 g; Chol 5 mg; Carb 2 g; Protein 3 g; Fiber 1 g; Sodium 270 mg

Reaping The Harvest

The other day I rooted around my pantry, trying to find something to make for dinner that didn't require a trip to the store. I found a bag of bulgar buried on the bottom shelf. Why did I buy this? It had a recipe for Tabbouleh on the back label--oh, yeah, that's why I bought it. I haven't had this Middle Eastern salad in years, mainly because it requires a lot of produce I don't usually buy, like mint and cucumbers. Then the light bulb went off--I've got all the ingredients for Tabbouleh--tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley and mint--growing in my garden!

I grilled some chicken breasts to go with it, and dinner was served! Now if I could just get my boys to eat it.

Tabbouleh

2 cups presoaked bulgar*

3 cups finely minced parsely

1/4 cup finely chopped mint, or 4 tsp dried mint

3 scallions, finely minced

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

2 tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3 tblsp. lemon juice

3 tblsp. oil

2 cucumbers

In a large bowl, gently mix together all the ingredients, except lemon juice and oil, with a wooden spoon. Add the lemon juice, toss and chill for one hour to blend the flavors. Before serving toss again with oil. Scatter cucumber slices on it before you serve.

*To presoak bulgar, place 1 cup of bulgar in bowl. Pour 1 cup tap water over bulgar and let stand 30 minutes. Yeilds 2 cups presoaked bulgar.