French Green Lentil Salad (warm or room temp)

Hi, mamas. Here's a link to the lentil salad my family loved. It was really fast and easy. I can't remember what I served it with but the posting has lots of suggestions.

Thanks for a great night last night. With the time change especially, it felt reminiscent of my band days to be coming home so late.

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2006/11/cheap_caviar_1.html

-- Heather

Slow Cooker Red Lentil Dhal

Emily's post on red lentil tomato soup (which I have made and LOVE) reminded me of this favorite slow cooker recipe. Crock pot meals can be tricky for me-- as easy as they are, the results can be a bit like "cafeteria food" (to quote my husband). This one seems to work for us for some reason.

A few tweaks:

1) I use more liquid than called for, perhaps double if it fits. It seems my slow cooker tends to let off quite a bit of steam.

2) I replace the water with homemade chicken stock.

3) You could add bits of cooked chicken to make it meatier (I know some of our guys prefer this).

Feel free to be flexible with whatever vegetables and spices you have on hand. I've never made this the same way twice, depending on what's in season.

I found this online at the Ottowa Foodies Wiki.

Vegetables

• 1 potato, cubed
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• ½ small cauliflower, florets separated
• 1 small onion, chopped
• ½ red pepper, chopped
• 1 zucchini
• ~6 large mushrooms, chopped
• 1 tomato, seeded and diced
• 1 cup some frozen peas

Lentils

• 1 ½ cups dry red lentils

Spices

• 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 ½ tsp mustard powder
• 3 tsp turmeric
• 2 ½ tsp chilli powder
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 3 slices ginger, thickly sliced
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• ground black pepper to taste

Liquids

• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil or margarine
• 400ml coconut milk
• 400ml water

Directions

1. In the slow cooker, combine all of the vegetables except for the peas. Firmer vegetables should go at the bottom, mushy ones on top.
2. Add lentils.
3. Add spices.
4. Add liquids.
5. Cook for 7-9 hours on low, 3-4 hours on high or until the lentils have dissolved. Add the peas, cook for 10 minutes more.
6. Serve with basmati rice, naan or other flat bread.

Creamy Rosemary, Tomato, and Lentil Soup

This is one of our go-to suppers for those evenings when we haven’t been to the store in awhile. When our hands are busy with the kids, the only real prep we have to do is chop the onion. I recommend that you make a triple batch so that you have some to freeze and some to eat the next day at lunch. We use olive oil or butter here, but I'm sure that you could some some other oil or fat if you prefer.

1 onion, chopped

a few cloves of garlic, minced

aromatic vegetables (carrots, celery, leeks, or whatever else you have on hand), chopped

olive oil or butter

1 32 oz. can tomatoes, with their juice

2 cups good chicken stock, or water

½ cup red lentils

salt to taste

large handful minced fresh rosemary (optional)

greens, roughly chopped (kale is a favorite here)

Heat some olive oil (scant ¼ cup?) in a soup pot. Add the onions, salt to taste, and cook over medium heat until softened but not browned. Add the garlic, rosemary and aromatic veg (if using), and allow the garlic to soften as well. Add tomatoes, lentils, and broth or water, salting to taste. Bring to a simmer and then turn heat to medium low (or whatever heat the soup simmers gently at on your stove). Simmer, partially covered, until the lentils are creamy and falling apart, (at least 1 1/2 hours for us). Do remember to stir the soup occasionally, though it doesn't need much attention if the heat is low enough. We often putter around the garden or go for a short walk after we get this going IF the heat is right. We've also put this in a 300 degree oven and gone for a longer walk: we call this the poor man's crockpot.

When the lentils are completely soft, check the seasonings and adjust as necessary. Puree with an immersion blender, or use a food mill or regular blender. If adding greens, return the soup to your saucepan and toss the chopped or torn greens on top. Turn up the heat to medium and steam the greens.

Sometimes we swirl a dollop of pesto or green goddess into each bowl for variety. Delicious with salmon broiled in herbed and oiled breadcrumbs and a salad of some kind.