Lemony Lentil Salad

Another packable lunch item: lemony lentil salad. Brown lentils, orange and red bell pepper, scallions, and a dressing made of extra-virgin olive oil, whole-grain Dijon mustard, fresh squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and fresh ground black pepper.

Yes, I know whole-grain Dijon mustard has been making a lot of appearances on this blog lately. But it is so delicious. It has a really great rich, wintery flavor.

I've been really into lentils lately because I've learned that they are a great source of protein, folate, and iron. The bell peppers add vitamin C and carotenoids, making this a really nutritious salad. Eat with a sandwich or pita, and you have a great lunch! Cheers.

Chicken and Brussels Sprouts with Mustard Sauce (Plus Rosemary Potatoes)

This chicken and brussels sprouts recipe is from the December 2011 issue of Cooking Light. Zack found it and I thought it sounded good, so we made it a couple nights ago. It's really kind of like a Thanksgiving remix. The brussels sprouts (which my mom always makes for the holiday), the potatoes (of course), and the rich, hearty fall-like flavors (ideally). Substitute the chicken with turkey, and bam; you have yourself a new twist on Thanksgiving. I know, I know. Who's really going to change up their traditional holiday menu...? How about a day-after-Thanksgiving-want-to-use-up-leftovers-meal?

The whole-grain Dijon mustard sauce is really the star of this show. Add chicken broth and unfiltered apple cider to the same skillet you browned your chicken in (finish the latter off in the oven) over medium-high heat. Scrape up those browned chicken crumbs and bits as you bring to a boil, lower heat, simmer until thickened, then whisk in mustard, a little butter, and fresh flat-leaf parsley. Drizzle the final sauce over your chicken and crisp-tender brussels sprouts (we sauteed until lightly browned, added some chicken broth, covered, and cooked for a few minutes).

And the potatoes. Baked golden brown with fresh rosemary and thyme. Mmmm. Nothing like it. Zack and I have been wanting to try this variety bag of little potatoes that we have seen at Trader Joe's, so I snagged some when I knew I was going to be making this recipe. Our first purple potatoes. Yes. They look weird, but they taste the same as the others.

Lesson learned: brussels sprouts can be good without bacon and weird-looking potatoes can be tasty. And whole-grain Dijon mustard is amazing. Watch for the lentil salad recipe coming soon. The Dijon will be making a re-appearance. And rightfully so.    

Ground Turkey and Vegetable Soup with Split Peas and Barley

There's nothing like a hot bowl of soup during fall and winter; hence, we've been eating a lot of it. And sharing some too. So I decided to double the recipe this time and wowzers. We've got enough soup to last us a lifetime. But it's okay. Because this is good.

This soup is a variation of a recipe from Wholesome Kitchen, as is the Moroccan Harira that I have previously blogged about. Both have been huge hits and I'm excited to try more "delicious recipes with beans, lentils, grains, and other natural foods" from this cookbook.

This recipe calls for basically throwing all ingredients (dried split yellow peas, onion, celery, carrot, potato, pearl barley, ground turkey, fresh flat-leaf parsley, chicken or vegetable stock, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper) into a pot, bringing to a boil, and reducing the heat to a simmer, cooking for 2 hours. However, for soups, I've realized that I really like to sweat the onions in a bit of extra-virgin olive oil and butter before adding the stock and remaining ingredients. Also, since I was using ground turkey as a meat substitution, I browned that in the same pot before adding the stock as well.

 
This soup is hearty and jam-packed with wholesome goodness. The barley and split peas add great texture. I tried extremely hard to keep the soup at a low simmer (didn't want it to bubble too much and fall apart), so it kept shape this time. The chunks of vegetables were cooked to perfection and the ground turkey dominated the flavor.

When making soup, I've found that I kind of have to amplify the flavor with additional spices like curry or ground cayenne red pepper, in addition to bay leaf among others. This necessity may mean one of a few things: it's time for homemade stock. I think this may be in our future. We'll see. Cheers.