Fall Lentil Salad

After a busy summer filled with gymnastics practice, cheerleading practice, vacationing, and LOTS of boating, I'm back! We had a HOT summer, with a LONG stretch of days with temperatures soaring above the 100 degree mark, so cooking was the last thing I felt like doing at the end of a sweltering day. All summer we had a lot of simple meals, salads, and home-made sausages cooked on the grill. We're still experiencing above average temperatures, with the day time temperatures rising to near 80. So, while the calendar says it's fall, Mother Nature hasn't quite agreed. Usually by now I've been bit by the fall cooking bug....casseroles, soups, stews and good, hardy warming meals. Needless to say, I've not been bit by that "warm meal" bug yet.

I did however have a burst of inspiration over the weekend, and created this fall lentil salad. It's best served warm or at room temperature, perfect for the cool, but not yet cold evenings we've been having. This salad will delight you with a combination of sweet and savory.

Fall Lentil Salad

1 1/4 cup dry green lentils

3 cups vegetable broth or water

1 Tbs Earth Balance

3/4 cup diced celery

1 cup diced carrot

1/4 cup diced shallor

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 cup diced winter squash, I used delicata

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

1/8 cup maple syrup

1 Tbs dijon mustard

1 Tbs Cold pressed olive oil

Preheat oven to 375. Toss diced winter squash in a Tbs of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast on a baking sheet until tender. In the meantime, cook lentils in broth until broth is absorbed and lentil are tender (may need to add more broth or water). In a large skillet, melt Earth Balance and saute celery, carrot and shallots until tender. Add salt and thyme to sauted veggies. When all components are finished, in a large bowl, combine lentils, squash, sauted veggies, pumpkin seeds and cranberries and stir to combine well.

Prepare dressing by whisking balsamic, maple, dijon and olive oil. Drizzle over lentil saland and toss to coat evenly.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Maple Baked Lentils

This is just a variation of my Sweet and Savory lentils, using maple syrup instead of agave to sweeten. I also left the nutmeg out of this recipe, because my kidlets don't seem to like the flavor of nutmeg in dishes. I love this recipe, because it's warm and comforting, and because all of these ingredients are things I always have on hand, so I can throw it together whenever I am at a loss for what to cook. It also requires dirtying only 2 dishes, and is a meal that comes together largely unattended.

Maple Baked Lentil

1 1/2 cups Puy lentils
3 c. water
1 bouillon cube
1 Bay leaf
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/4 onion, diced
1/2 cup pure maple syrup

Add lentils, water, bouillon cube, and bay leaf to cooking pot. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook until lentils are almost tender, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375. Remove lentils from heat, drain, remove bay leaf, and set aside. Combine veggies, lentils, syrup and salt and pepper to taste in a casserole dish. Stir to combine. Cover with foil and cook 30 minutes covered. Remove foil and continue to bake uncovered for 10 more minutes. Cool and serve.

Tacos

When we were eating meat we ate tacos all of the time. They are so quick and easy, and most importantly, they are so good!! Rob really likes tacos, and he always loved taco nights. Once we quit eating meat we started eating these lentil tacos. I made them several times when we first stopped eating meat, and I haven't made them since. I was so surprised when I was skimming through my blog the other day, that in all of the time I've been blogging these haven't appeared. Although, I guess getting out of that rut was the point of starting this blog, wasn't it?

I follow the recipe exactly, only I always have to add about 1 1/2 additional cups of water, and therefore I like to bump up the chili powder by about 1 tsp. The lentils just don't seem to get cooked before one measly cup of water is absorbed.

I topped the tacos with diced onion, tomato, and homemade guacamole. Then I poured a little salsa on top and gave each taco a good squeeze of lime juice. Shredded vegan cheddar, or a little vegan sour cream is also good on top.

Rob and I have both agreed that these tacos are WAY better than tacos made with ground beef. And, as I said before, Rob loves tacos, so for him to say they are better than the ground beef version is really saying something. They have all of the flavor and texture of your traditional beef tacos, but none of the grease. They really are good, try them.

Lentil Soup

Tuesday is upon us once again, and you know what that means, the Crock Pot was a cookin' today. If I want my family to have a homecooked meal on Tuesday's it's got to come from the slowcooker. We've done the Slow Cooked Ziti several Tuesday's now, so it was time for a change. Besides needing to be cooked in the slowcooker, our other Tuesday night requisite is that it has to be something the girls will eat without giving Rob too much hassle since he has to feed them on his own. There's not a lot of time for dinner before dance class starts, so our meal needs to be something that they will eat quickly and that won't require Rob making them a different meal.

Tonight I decided on one of my favorite quick and easy soups. This lentil soup is based on this recipe that I found at The Fat Free Vegan. The soup is pretty good as the recipe directs, however I've made some additions to it that I think make it taste quite a bit better.

1 1/2 C. Puy lentils
1 Large can of crushed tomatoes with basil
2 C. Vegetable broth
1 medium onion chopped
1 celery stalk chopped
1 Bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp sea salt (I use homemade veggie stock that is salt free, so if you are using canned stalk you may need less salt)
fresh ground black pepper.

Put it all in the crock pot, add 4 cups of water. Cook on low 8 hrs or until lentils have softened.

This soup is delicious served with some crusty bread for dipping, but tonight we had it solo.

Sweet and Savory Lentils

Agave Baked Lentils:

2 cups Puy Lentil (you could use any kind of lentils, but I prefer the french lentils, they seem to hold their shape and not become mushy)

4 cups water

1 Bay Leaf

1 vegetable bouillon cube

1 large carrot, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup agave nectar (or substitute honey if you like)

1 tsp nutmeg

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375. In sauce pot add 4 cups of water with 2 cups Puy lentils, vegetable bouillon cube, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minute remove lentils from heat and set aside. In a 9x12 baking dish combine carrots, celery, onions and garlic with agave, nutmeg, EVOO and salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Then, pour lentils with their cooking liquid into baking dish. Stir to incorporate vegetables. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. After 1 hour remove foil and bake about 10 more minutes to evaporate some of the liquid.

I baked the sweet potatoes at the same time the lentils were baking, when they were done I cut them in half, scooped out the flesh and mashed it with a few Tbs of soy milk and 1 Tbs of brown sugar.