Pasta with Lentils and Kale

Kale is not something that I would normally buy.  I have never really been interested in the whole sauteed greens thing... maybe because this was not really part of my diet growing up or my dislike of anything that might in the slightest have a similar texture to spinach?  Regardless, if it were not for it showing up in our CSA box every other week it is likely that I would not be eating it.

Turns out it is pretty tasty.  And of course you already knew that is so very good for you.  So chalk it up for a bonus point to the CSA for getting me to add this superstar veggie to our diet.

I like kale prepared simply by sauteeing with garlic and seasoning with a splash of red wine vinegar along side a grilled steak.  But given how often we have it showing up in our refrigerator we set out to find another way to enjoy this veggie.  I saw this pasta with lentils and kale recipe on Heart of Light and it sounds like it would be something both Dan and I would enjoy... and we did.  It is quite satisfying and the caramelized onions just add so much flavor. 

The dish does take longer to prepare than first impressions might lend... but it is pretty simplistic and makes for an excellent mid-week dinner.  If you prepare it together then it goes a little faster- or maybe that is just perception as cooking with your partner and sipping a glass of wine after work is infinitely enjoyable.

Pasta with Lentils and Kale

Source Epicurious via Heart of Light

1/2 cup French green lentils
2 cups water
3/4 teaspoon salt
3-6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large onions, finely sliced
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 pound kale
3/4 pound dried short pasta (we like penne with this)

Simmer lentils in water with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart saucepan, uncovered, adding more water if necessary to keep lentils barely covered, until tender but not falling apart, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt.

While lentils simmer, heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté onion with pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, stirring, 1 minute. Reduce heat to low and cook until soft and golden.

While onion cooks, cut out and discard stems and center ribs from kale. Cook kale in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water uncovered, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer kale with tongs to a colander to drain, pressing lightly. Keep pot of water at a boil, covered.

Coarsely chop kale and add to onion along with lentils, then simmer, stirring, 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Add pasta to kale-cooking liquid and boil, uncovered, until al dente. Drain pasta. Toss everything together. Serve with a bit of Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

~ Tara

Peas & Potatoes with a Dash of Milk

Simplicitic and straightforward can ultimately be so pleasing.  While highly complex entrees have a place, more often than not I find myself craving dishes where the ingredients themselves shine.  Peas and baby potatoes is that kind of meal.

This meal takes me back to being a kid.  Growing up on a farm our dinners were comprised of what was in season and ready to be picked.  Early June brought peas and baby potatoes to the mix.  I will completely admit that when I was a kid, I made this dish because it was so easy thus I could quickly get back to more important things like reading a book under a tree. 

This recipe is one that it is filled with approximates.  The quantity can easily be adjusted for how many you are serving- just add more potatoes, peas, and liquids!  Fresh peas in season make a huge difference- peas in season from the garden show up frozen peas in a major way.  That said, a nice quality of frozen peas can make do.  I have been using white wine as it lends a nice addition to the flavor of the soup but it is easily left out or substituted with a broth.

Peas & Potato Soup

Makes approximately 4 servings

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 pound baby yukon gold potatoes (approximately 7-8), peeled and sliced
1-2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup white wine (or chicken or vegetable broth)
1 cup water
1 cup fresh peas (frozen will be an ok substitute)
1/2 to 1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 soft boiled eggs (optional)

In a large pot on medium heat, heat a drizzle of olive oil and add the garlic. Cook for about a minute until just fragrant but not brown. Add the sliced potatoes and the chopped parsley and stir. 

Next add the white wine and simmer to let the alcohol evaporate (you can just use chicken or vegetable broth). Cover with water, add the peas (if they are fresh, if frozen don't add them until the very end), and salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and let it simmer for about 20 minutes until potatoes are tender (If using frozen peas, add them now and cook just a minute or so until they are warm and bright colored). Drain about half of the water.  Add milk to cover and leave on the burn just until warm. Salt to taste and add black pepper.

Serve with sliced eggs if desired, a sprinkling of chopped fresh parsely, and a nice crusty slice of bread.

Enjoy!

~ Tara

Carrots with Shallots, Sage, and Thyme

One of my favorite childhood stories involves carrots.  It is not one where I would sneak carrots to the family dog.  My younger brother and I were quite big into imaginitive and pretend games.  We would often come up with characters and games and spend the entire afternoon perfecting our character.  While I was emersed into the Boxcar Children series we pretended to be runaways; we set up our makeshift shelter by an old building on our parent's property and would swipe carrots from my mom's garden for our "meals."  So while my childhood included eating carrots straight from the garden (we did rinse them off with the hose while  being careful not to be seen of course), my husbands is of the variety where he would try to avoid carrots.  He still will wrinkle up his nose if I suggest carrots as a side dish.

However I have discovered that with just the right blend of seasonings or glaze he will devour them without a single wrinkle of the nose.  The Carrots with Challots, Sage and Thyme recipe from Gourmet is just lovely.  It is a perfect fall or winter side dish.  And a very simple one I might add.  I left out the shallots as we were out of them and it was still very tasty.  And you can cut down this recipe to serve two very easily.  The only thing to key in mind with this recipe is to not get to distracted when cooking the carrots so as to avoid having them overcooked; mushy carrots are less than appetizing.

Carrots with Shallots, Sage, and Thyme

Source: Gourmet, November 2009 issue

3 lb carrots, peeled
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 lb shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 stick unsalted butter (I cut this by half)
1/4 cup chopped sage
1 Tbsp finely chopped thyme
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

Cut carrots into 3 by 1/2 inch sticks.

Bring stock to a boil with 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper in a 12-inch heavy skillet.  Add carrots and simmer, covered, until just tender, about 15 minutes.

Remove lid and boil until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes.  Transfer carrots to a bowl and wipe out skillet.

Cook shallots in butter with 1/2 tsp each of salt and peppar in skillet over medium heat, stirring occassionally, until golden brown, about 6 minutes.

Add sage, thyme, and nutmeg and cook, stirring until very fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.

Remove from the heat and return carrots to the skillet, tossing to coat.  Season with salt and pepper.

Can be made 1 day ahead and chilled.  Reheat over low heat.

Enjoy!

~ Tara

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I really love sweet potatoes.  They have such a great flavor naturally and packed full of nutrition goodness. For the first severals years of being together, Dan wouldn't touch sweet potatoes.  I think what convinced him to give them another try was reading how nutritious they are when cooked simply.  Whatever it was that pushed him to give sweet potatoes a second chance, I am glad he did as it makes it easier to cook the same side for both of us and I love being able to include them in our menu options.

The other night we had friends over for dinner and Dan wanted to make blue cheese stuffed tenderloin for them so sweet potato fries seemed like a natural companion for the beef.  I hadn't made them before but was sure there would a simple recipe for a baked version out there on the wonderful web... And the very first result from my search was exactly what I was looking for.  The recipe from Our Best Bites was easy to make and they turned out great. They really do cool quickly, we had a small delay in serving as Dan was slicing the meat and thus they cooled down... so if you are trying to time them with something else keep these so they finish right as you are planning to serve.

I definitely recommend trying Sweet Potato Fries, they might just change someone's mind about whether they like sweet potatoes or not!

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Recipe from Our Best Bites

2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, 1 lb after peeling
2 T extra virgin olive oil, approximate
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t coriander
1 t kosher salt
1 t parsley
fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet lightly with cooking spray.

Slice your sweet potatoes into french fry shape and sizes; try to keep the size consistent for even cooking.

Put the sweet potatoes in a bowl and drizzle the olive oil over them, toss to coat and adjust olive oil amount as necessary (will vary if you have less or more sweet potatoes) so all are coated.  Sprinkle on the herbs and toss to coat.

Place the fries on the baking sheet so that they are not touching. Place in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, remove from oven and flip.  After flipping space them out so they aren't touching. 

Put the pan in the oven and cook for another 15-20 minutes. They should be nice and golden brown.

Enjoy!

~ Tara

Gingered Carrots

While I am all for preparing vegetables in the most simple ways, every now and then you need to spice them up a little.  And Dan tends to enjoy vegetables a wee bit more when they have either spicy flavoring/sauces or if they are component with another dish (such as adding vegetables to baked ziti).  So the other night I found myself 30 minutes before we needed to start dinner hunting for a way to spice up carrots with ingredients that we already have in our cupboards (clearly not a night that we planned ahead) and that would go with the wasabi crusted fish that Dan was preparing.

So it was a lucky find to come across a Gingered Stir Fry recipe on epicurious just in the knick of time.  I made a few minor edits to modify this to be Gingered Carrots.  We were out of ginger root so I just used powdered; I am sure that ginger root would give a wonderful flavor but the powdered worked out well.  Instead of julienne strips, I used the slice option on our grater and made very thin disks.  Overall, it was a very quick and easy veggie side dish and a nice alternative.

Gingered Carrots

Adapted from recipe found on Epicurious

3 tablespoons chicken broth
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or medium-dry Sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 pound carrots (about 3 medium), cut into julienne strips
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh gingerroot or approximately 1 teaspoon dried ginger

In a bowl stir together broth, rice wine or Sherry, sugar, cornstarch, and salt until combined well. Cut mushroom caps into 1/8-inch-thick slices.

Heat a wok over high heat until hot. Add oil and heat until it just begins to smoke. Stir-fry carrots 3 minutes. Add daikon and stir-fry vegetables 2 minutes. Add mushrooms, cabbage, garlic, and gingerroot and stir-fry 2 minutes, or until carrots are crisp-tender. Stir broth mixture and add to vegetables. Stir-fry vegetables 1 minute.

I added a few peas to ours as I try to sneak them in whenever I can (they are apparently a supercharged veggie bursting with nutrition).  This side dish got the stamp of approval from Dan as he proceeded to eat every bite... and he does not love vegetables! 

Enjoy!

~ Tara