Lessons from Gertie

When resting after a beautiful, fun weekend, it's best to keep one's paws in a bundle.

Sweet Potato Pasta Sauce

Friday night my oldest friend Emily was in town for the evening. I was lazy on food, but I made some sweet potato sauce that was pretty good. Would be better with a few additions, but you have to start somewhere right?

 Without natural light, it doesn't look like much but hey. Here's how we made it:
1. Roast sweet potatoes (we sliced them into rounds, and 400 for about half an hour worked well).
2. Mix together garlic, basil, a bit of olive oil, pepper, and seasoning salt. Trader Joe's makes frozen mini-ice cube looking things of several different herbs, and I love them because you don't have to do anything at all.
3. Blend in roasted sweet potatoes. Add milk (I started with a cup, and ended up adding more) and some water until it is the texture and thickness you want.

 I think this would be really great with some roasted vegetables and a green salad. And some of Robin's homemade bread.

So my quest to add sweet potatoes to nearly everything continues....next up? An Easter quiche....

Happy Easter (or happy Sunday, depending on your background) to you and yours!

Lentil Burgers

Never again will I cook such a large amount of lentils for a meal for two. However, it has encouraged me to try some new things, and this one was pretty successful.

Cast of characters:
-1/2 cup lentils
-1 cup brown rice
-1/4 cup bread crumbs
-1/4 white onion
-1 egg
-A bit of cheese (I tried both cheddar and feta) - I used about 1/8 of a cup.
-spices (cayenne, seasoning salt, garlic, pepper, chili powder)
-Other veggies if you want: I added 1/4 cup of peas to some of them, and corn to others. 

Mix all the ingredients together in a food processor (or a stick blender, if you're lucky enough to own one of those) to your preferred texture.

Pan fry on medium, making sure the pan is hot before you start. I used a combination of olive oil and vegetable oil.  Use just olive oil spray if you are feeling healthy. Let them firm up for a couple of minutes before flipping. This part is the hardest for me. Patience is SUCH a strong suit of mine ;).

We served ours on Trader Joe's Ciabatta rolls, with lettuce and tomato. And some Lemonaise. Lemonaise will change your world, it's so good. Stalk your local food store for it.

I've tried these a variety of ways now, and here's what I think the keys to any home-made veggie burger are: an egg to help it hold together, spices, and a little bit of cheese (not much, a couple of tablespoons is fine). I tried it with no egg, and it tasted good but certainly not appetizing looking when it is a blob of lentils. Anyone made veggie burgers before? Any recommendations? Always love new ways to make delicious things!

Mr. C. approves. And if a toddler will eat it, it must be okay. He even asked me for more "hamburger". Winning! 

Pure Joy

Just a shot from last weekend with Mr. C. Wishing you a day filled with unbridled joy!

Lentil Curry Tomato Soup

I don't know if you can really call this soup, but call it what you whatever you want. It was pretty good.

If you've read any of these other posts, it's clear I'm a little obsessed with the tomato/curry/coconut combo. So this is really just what I do with it with lentils and a slow cooker. It was raining today, and it was a good excuse to put off paper writing.

So here goes:

-1.5 cups green lentils
-1 cup lentils from local harvest. I don't remember what kind they are, but they look like this:

It doesn't really matter, but I used 2.5 total cups of lentils (note: this is a LOT of lentils, ie: enough to feed at least 8)

1. Saute onion until caramelized, add to slow cooker.
2. Rinse lentils, add to slow cooker with 6 cups of water or broth (more if you want it to be more like soup).
3. Add 1 large can of whole, peeled tomatoes.
4. Cook on high for at least 4 hours. Somewhere about halfway, add 2 tablespoons curry powder and 1 tablespoon garlic powder (let's be honest, you all know me: these are made up numbers).
5. Near the end, add half a can of coconut milk, and bring to simmer again.
6. Serve over rice, quinoa, or whatever you've got. Adding fresh cilantro never hurt anybody. Unless you don't like cilantro (looking at you, A).

You could obviously do this without the slow cooker, significantly quicker. And if you only have two people, and don't want to eat lentils for days, only do 1.5 cups of lentils. Sorry, Robin.

In response, I've made leftover lentils just about any way you can imagine.

Like this lentil dip. I used the lentils I made, added some peas, more garlic, cilantro, cayenne pepper and seasoned salt, covered with cheddar cheese and baked at 350. It was great as a dip for crostini and carrots. Next up: veggie burgers made with leftover brown rice and lentils.

Hope your weekend has been filled with sunshine. And lilacs. And walks with puppies. Because my do I love those things!

Kale Salad

If you have eaten anything I have cooked in the past year and a half, you have probably eaten this. A friend of mine brought it to a barbecue not too long after we came to St. Louis, and I have been loving it ever since. But I think I finally made a few improvements, so try it out!

Ingredients:
-1 bunch kale, rinsed and chopped
-Small amount of salt 
-1/4 white onion (red would be better), chopped fine
-1 apple, diced (I used a little honeycrisp)
-1 red pepper, diced
-Feta cheese (or something else crumbly)

Dressing:
-Olive oil
-white balsamic vinegar
-honey
-dijon mustard

The reason I make this salad obsessively is because it's so EASY. It tastes best if you can let it marinate for a couple of hours after assembly, but there's nothing to it.

-Massage the kale with a little salt until it wilts (I was told 5 minutes, but I'm never that patient. You are all shocked, I know).
-Add all diced vegetables, then toss with dressing.

I thought the addition of honey and mustard, though probably only a teaspoon or two of each, added something. Perfect for a March BBQ. Well, at least when that March BBQ takes place with weather in the mid-70s.

Curried Carrot Quinoa Bites (how's that for a mouthful?)

I found a recipe for quinoa bites here:
And then I modified it quite a bit. With quinoa and cheese how can you go wrong?

Ok they don't look like much, but just trust me.

Ingredients:
-3 carrots, shredded
-1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed
-1/2 onion, chopped
-2.5 cups cooked quinoa
-3/4 cup cheddar cheese,grated
-2 tsp tsp curry powder
-1/2 tsp powdered ginger
-1/2 tsp garlic powder
-1 egg
-2 T lemon juice, more to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Grate cheddar and carrots, add to large bowl.
3. Add spinach, quinoa, and onion, along with spices.
4. Mix in egg and lemon juice.
5. Spray mini muffin pan and add quinoa mixture, pressing firmly into pan.
6. Bake 25 (ish) minutes, or until the cheese melts and the edges are just starting to brown.

I believe these should be dipped in something. If you have never bought Cilantro salad dressing from Trader Joes, now would be a good time. It's in the refrigerated section, and I am kind of obsessed.