ethiopian green lentils

More spicy lentils!  Though, these are green and based on the Ethiopian lentils we eat.  Making these at home means that we do not drive across town.  I really liked them with the Indian rice I made since I did not have any injera in the house.  Maybe someday I will try but not today.

Actually, today I think I would like a large bowl of miso for dinner.  It is just how my chest is feeling. 

These lentils are yummy.   I make them in the slow cooker to make my life easier.  It will be an adjustment when I move to a cabin in a few years.  We do not plan to have electricity right off so a slow cooker may not happen.  A small pressure cooker may be needed!

ethiopian green lentils

2 cups green lentils

4 cups water

2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 sweet onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 morita pepper (I find mine vary in heat so you may wish to start with a half), minced

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (it is what I had in the house)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Put the lentils in the slow cooker.  Rinse very well.  Cover with water.  Put on low.  In a skillet, heat the oil.  Add the onion.  Let it get soft and start to brown.  Add garlic.  Sauté until golden.  Add the pepper.  Let cook until soft and very fragrant (you may need to step back.  This pepper can cause coughing fits while cooking).  Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  Stir well and get everything hot.  Pour the skillet contents into the slow cooker.  I added the vinegar here but you can wait until ten minutes before serving so it has more punch.

Let cook until the lentils are cooked through.  You can even cook off a lot of the water.

More lentils for my tummy!

indian yellow rice

The last time we went to meatless Mondays at our favorite Indian restaurant, we had some yellow rice.  I know it was colored with turmeric but the flavor is pretty fabulous, especially with spicy lentils.  I was making spicy Ethiopian lentils and thought the rice would be a nice compliment.  It was so yummy!  I will be making this again.

indian yellow rice

1 1/2 cups of a mixture of white and brown rice (I used short grain because that was what I had)

2 cups water

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 cardamom pods

1/2 teaspoons turmeric powder

1/4 cup raisins

Wash the rice, in a pot or bowl.  Put the rice in a fairly large pot.  Cover with water.  Add everything else.  Bring to a boil.  Turn down to a simmer.  Simmer for ten minutes.  Turn the temperature down to low.  Cook for ten minutes.  Turn off the heat and let the rice sit in the pot on the burner for at least ten minutes.

Serve.

yum!

We are off to the mountain for the next week.  I am not going to even try to write here because I am lucky to come off the mountain anymore, let alone with a computer.  Have a lovely Independence Day and be safe.

saag paneer

The other dish my Beloved likes so well at our favorite Indian restaurant is saag paneer.  When I did some research, I found out saag means greens.  Any greens.  Not just spinach.  We used a mixture of greens from the garden.

It turned out well.  I keep running out of spices so next time will a bit different.  More flavor but this is still good.  My Beloved really likes this when he has eggs in the morning.  He scrambles the eggs and saag paneer together.  I am more the side by side person.  It is a definite make again.

saag paneer

a large handful of greens.  We used broccoli, amaranth, radish, and chard, finely chopped.  The recipe called for six cups but I am sure we did not have that much

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 morita chili, minced

1/4 to 1/3 cup cream

1/2  to 1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon ancho

7 ounces of paneer, cut into chunks

Put a skillet on the stove over medium heat.  Pour in the olive oil.  Heat.  Add the garlic and let start to brown.  Add the greens and let start to cook down.  The recipe said about 15 minutes and that is about what it takes.  Add the cream.  I started with a little and added a bit more.  Add the cheese.  Mix well.  Cover the skillet and let cook for about 15 minutes.  The greens will be less soupy and the cheese will be hot.

My Beloved said one of the things he liked about this was that it was not too dairyey (his word).

It is really yummy with dal and rice.

dal

The Small Mister eats lentils.  Our favorite Indian restaurant always has a daily dal which is lentils with seasonings.  I really like it with the turmeric rice they serve.  It is good with the naan too. 

Now, I do have to admit that Small Mister is not the only reason to cook lentils, though knowing he is eating is lovely.  I have been having more problems with inflammation recently.  Two arthritic conditions is just not fun.  I stopped eating poultry except on Thanksgiving and very occasionally otherwise.  I have started to react to beef.  I get flares of pain and more inflammation.  Fish and vegetarian dishes are working for me currently.  Lentils are also anti-inflammatory. 

We will be eating more dal.  When i get the spices, we will also being trying Ethiopian wot at home too.  It is also lentil based.

I tried a recipe from Wolfgang Puck and was quite pleased.  I had to make due a bit because I was out of things but the dal was very yummy.  I have ginger now so next time I am giving that a go in the dal.  The Indian restaurant we like also uses anise in theirs.  Another spice to pick up and give it a try.

daily dal

Note:  You may see variations on this as I try different spices and maybe even vegetables with it.

2 cups autumn lentils (they are mix Whole Food carries that we like) or red lentils

4 cups water

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 to 1 cup finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 morita peppers, ground in a spice mill

2 tablespoons Garam Masala

1 tablespoon salt or start with less and go by taste

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 cup good Italian tomato paste ( I was out of tomatoes)

The night before, wash the lentils until they are clean.  Pick out any rocks if you find them.  Let them soak in water that covers them.  The next day, pour off the water and put the lentils in a slow cooker.  Cover with four cups of water and put on low.

In the evening, about a half hour before you wish to eat, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion.  When the onion starts to brown add the garlic.  Stir.  When the garlic and onion are browning nicely, add the morita pepper, garam masala, salt, pepper, and sugar.  Mix well.  Take the skillet off the heat and add everything to the slow cooker with the lentils.  Mix well.

Mix in the tomato paste.  Let cook a bit more to let the flavors meld.  I would say about a half hour.  Or the time it takes to cook some rice or saag paneer.

Very yummy.  It freezes well too so the large pot goes a long way. This will be for dinner soon again!

national peanut butter cookie day

Last week, during our stretch break at work (Yes, exactly what it sounds like.  A break where there is trainer led stretching for ten minutes), I found out it was National Peanut Butter Cookie Day.  It made me laugh.  I came home and told my Beloved.  He asked very sweetly if he could have peanut butter cookies. 

Peanut butter cookies are not high on my list of favorites.  He enjoys them but I think there are a few others he likes better.  They are the easiest cookie to make gluten free.  I find the hardest thing is if you are silly enough like me to bake them on a cast iron pizza pan, is keeping on eye on them so they do not burn!

peanut butter cookies

Note:  If you use a more pasteurized then I did, you can actually roll them into balls later and put the cross hash in them.  Even maybe roll them in some granulated sugar.  These not so much.

1 cup old fashioned peanut butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream the peanut butter and brown sugar in a bowl.  Mix in one egg.  Stir very well.

Drop by spoonfuls on baking sheets covered with Silpats or parchment paper. 

Bake for 15 minutes.  If you need to do a second baking, watch the cookies closely so they do not burn.

So simple.  So yummy.