Salmon With Warm Lentil Salad

I'm always looking for quick dinner ideas for John and I. I read this one Wednesday night and it's what we had for dinner Thursday, yup it looked that good :) The warm lentil salad calls for arugula... for some reason Wegmans was out, so I picked up a bunch of asparagus, steamed them up, and cut them into 1 inch pieces to toss in the salad... wicked good!! I'd say skip the arugula and make it with asparagus if I were you :D

Oh and since John likes more flavor with his salmon I did a quick hot wing marinade on his piece, mine was just a little sea salt and pepper. I cooked it up on the G.Forman grill (with skin on - I take it off after it's done cooking) instead of skinless and in a pan like the recipe calls for. Quick and oh so tasty!


Salmon With Warm Lentil Salad
recipe from Real Simple
serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup green lentils, rinsed
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 1/4 pounds skinless salmon fillet, cut into 4 pieces
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 red onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 bunch arugula, torn (about 4 cups) (my substitution: 1 bunch asparagus steamed and cut it into 1 inch pieces )
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions

1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil. Add the lentils and 1 teaspoon salt and simmer, stirring occasionally, until tender, 20 to 25 minutes; drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season the salmon with ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook until opaque throughout, 4 to 5 minutes per side.
3. In a large bowl, combine the vinegar, mustard, onion, parsley, the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.
4. Add the lentils and arugula (or asparagus) to the vinaigrette and toss to combine. Serve with the salmon and lemon wedges.

Lentils, shrimp, sausage, need I say more

Did the title catch your attention? If you are anything like me you would have clicked on it in .0001 seconds flat, because I love all three of the above ingredients... mix them together... oh baby!! I saw this recipe over at the Beantown Baker (she rocks, go and visit her). I knew I could adapt it to make John eat some (easy sub out the chorizo for jalapeno chicken sausage, or any spicy chicken sausage). I keep telling him, for example tonight at dinner while I mowed some nice rare steak "buddy, you are so missing out." His loss, more for me to eat!

The other thing I changed with the recipe is I added more garlic, nixed the carrots, and I also doubled the lentils so mine is less of a stew and more of a goulash. These stuff is SO GOOD!! Dried lentils are also crazy cheep so there's another added bonus! I roasted up some asparagus to top off the dish, not necessary but they went really well with it :)



Chicken sausage, Lentil and Shrimp Goulash - adapted from Beantown Baker
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, peeled & diced
2 clove garlic, peeled & minced
2 spicy chicken sausage links
1 bay leaf
1/4 t smoked paprika
1/8 t chipotle powder
1 14-oz can diced fired roasted tomatoes
1 1/2 c low-sodium broth (i used mushroom)
1 1/2 c dried lentils
salt to taste
20 cooked shrimp (i used frozen and just thawed them out first)

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat.
Add the onion, garlic & sausage. Cook until the onions are translucent.
Stir in the bay leaf, paprika and chipotle & cook for 1 minute.
Add the tomatoes, chicken broth & lentils. Bring to a boil.
Cover & reduce heat to simmer. Let simmer for about 20 minutes, until the lentils are tender.
If the stew is a little dry add a little more broth. Test for seasoning & add salt if needed. Stir in shrimp & cook until just heated.

CHOW!!!!

These stuff tastes better the longer it sits and marinates. I make a big batch and then pack it up in containers for John to bring to work for lunch. Totally quick and easy... and only dirties one pot! Gotta love that part :)

REMINDER: if you took part in the jam exchange tomorrow (my birthday!!) is the last day to ship your stuff out please!!! Can't wait to see what I get :D

lentils are yum

John made me dinner new years eve :) He made a lentil concoction with tomatoes, turkey kielbasa, garlic... I'm not sure what else was in it and he's not spilling the beans! He served it over brown rice with some cheese on top and it was spicy and super delicious!! He also made some home made hummus to start as an appetizer :) look at him go!!! Happy New year everyone!

I'm looking forward to a year full of new chow recipes and healthy options! If anyone has a recipe they would like me to "health up" just send it my way and I'll see what I can do :)

:D

Lentil Burgers in the Poconos

John and I had a fantastic time in the Poconos this Memorial Day weekend. Lots of hiking, reading, relaxing, cooking, crocheting, coffee drinking, did I mention relaxing?? While we were there I found my old bike from when I was a kid buried in the garage. This is the best bike ever, I mean come on it's a pink Schwinn with butterflies and a banana seat. While we were excavating it from the garage my mom and dad called to say hi so I went inside to talk with them. When I got back outside I came upon the best site ever...

Oh yes, at 6 feet tall he still managed to ride it with much grace!! FANTASTIC!!!

I on the other hand fit on the bike perfectly... umm if by perfect you mean it hurt my knees after a mile that is... The original plan was to bring it back to Rochester and I was going to ride it to work. I only live a mile and a half away and come on it saves gas! However even though it's a small bike it's REALLY HEAVY, living on the 3rd floor of an old house with no where to safely store it other than in my apartment I decided it was too heavy to have to lug up and down all those stairs every day. Although I am sure my coworkers would have LOVED to see me ride up to work on it :) Yeah I rode my little Razor scooter (circa 1999) to work a week ago... I don't think I'll ever hear the end of that one haha.

Anyway back to the chow part! Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella made some amazing looking lentil sweet potato burgers awhile back, that I just had to try. Her original recipe is here. I meant to follow it I really did, but a trip to the grocery store without the recipe in hand made me do things by memory... and I forgot a bunch of the ingredients she had listed.... So.. here is a version minus a few ingredients. Still very tasty!


Lentil Sweet Potato Burgers

• Two 15 oz can lentils, rinsed, drained
• 1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
• About 1 lb sweet potato, cooked and coarsely chopped
• About 1 cup stuffing mix or dried breadcrumbs (I used garlic bread crumbs and used less actual garlic then she said to use)
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 eggs, lightly whisked
• 1 shallot chopped
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup Sunflower and sesame seeds
• Hummus
• Franks Red Hot Sauce
  

1. Combine lentils, garlic, cooked chopped sweet potato, breadcrumbs, water, parsley, and eggs in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Use your wet hands to shape each portion into an patty-you should get 8 patties in total depending on the size you make. Roll one side in sunflower and sesame seed mix. Cover and refrigerate until ready to be cooked.

2. Spray a pan with olive oil and cook patties about 3-4 minutes per side. Top with a dollop of hummus and a shake of red hot.

chow!

waiting for their turn in the frying pan

Oh and one other thing... Mom, I stole a set of mixing bowls from PA... There is another (not nearly as fun) set so I didn't leave the house there without anything to bake with... but I think they will get much more love in my kitchen then sitting there unused. Poor mixing bowls. How cute are these!!! It's a set of 4, 2 are this color 2 are white with a yellow pattern. I love them!!!

yes yes I know I was born in the wrong decade :)

spicy lentils over brown rice

So John is known around the house as the concoction king... he'll put the most obscure things together and they come out tasting fantastic! I may not always want to admit it as I stand next to him at the stove sniffing and looking at him like he's crazy... but in the end what he makes is normally pretty darn tasty. Exhibit A below.


Spicy Lentils over brown rice
olive oil spray
1/2 Tbs chopped garlic
1 can lentils packed in water
1 bag 10 minute brown rice in a bag
1/4 cup medium to spicy chunky salsa
splash of fat free Italian dressing
couple glugs of red hot
parmesan cheese

Cook brown rice according to package. (10 min trip in a hot water bath)
Heat a wok on high then add olive oil spray and garlic, sauté until lightly brown, add can of drained lentils and stir around. Add salsa, Italian dressing, and red hot. Stir until heated through.
Serve over brown rice and sprinkle with some parmesan cheese.

Enjoy! Although I was skeptical at first of the concoction it was wicked tasty!

Lentil Burgers

I have an eating compulsion, I can't help it I LOVE TO CHOW!! There is an amazing eatery here in Rochester called Orange Glory and they make a mean lentil burger. I keep saying I'm going to try to make it at home and never do. No longer! I used a can of lentils instead of the dried kind (who knew they came in cans??) so it was crazy fast to make.


lentil burger
1 can lentils
1/4 cup whole what flour
1 tbs worcestershire sauce
1 egg
5 saltine crackers crumbled
garlic powder
black pepper

for garnish:
lettuce
roasted red peppers or salsa
shredded cheddar cheese

Open can of lentils and rinse well to get rid of some of the sodium. Place in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and stir up. Form into 4 burger patties and cook in a frying pan sprayed with olive oil. Cook until browned on both sides 4-5 minutes total. Serve on a whole wheat english muffin, or some of that thyme bread I made yesterday yum!