After an evening of preparing salads at a local restaurant in attempts to being my pursuit at a culinary career, and an epic fail (I am 99.9% sure that I did not get the job), I decided yesterday that I was going to cook lunch today and take over for Rowena's 3 day non-stop cooking extravaganza. After perusing through the kitchen, 101cookbooks, epicurious and other random food blogs, I settled on a lentil salad with tomatoes, carrots, potatoes and a mediterranean/middle eastern style yogurt mint sauce with nuts and raisins and/or dates. I planned on coming in to work around 9-9:30 to get started on doing things for the council, but I ended up not making it here until about. I started cooking the moment I walked into the door, intending to just put the lentils on to start cooking. I quickly realized that I didn't have time to actually do any work though, as I wanted to bake an apple pie with the apples from the director's neighbor's tree.
I did as I said I would and first put the lentils on to start cooking. I wasn't sure how many people were going to show up to lunch- it's always a hit or miss with interns, full time staff, volunteers, visitors and the other CFJC non-profit who shares the upstairs space. I decided to make 2 cups of French green lentils and put them on to boil after a quick rinse and then turned the stove down to a simmer.
Meanwhile, I got started on the veggies, which I decided to roast after debating if I should cook them on the stovetop. I cubed, quartered and halved fingerling potatoes and small red potatoes and small brown ones. I wish I knew the names of each kind, but each and every potato was different: different color, different texture, different taste, and a different cut.
I took a break from the veggies, decided I better get started on the pie. I went out to the garden and picked a rather firm lemon from the tree, which I zested. I juiced two older lemons into a bowl and added the zest to keep it moist. I then cored and peeled the 6 apples, slicing away large chunks of brown mushy parts- I guess that's what happens to organic local apples. I say this because I can't even believe that apples grow here- there's no winter and no summer. Amazing. I then sliced the apples and put them in a bowl. I poured the lemon juice and zest over the apples to help them retain their color and absorb some juice, then set the slices aside. I mixed 3 tbsp flour, 3/4 cup sugar, fresh vanilla from a bean which I got at the JUSTICE BEGINS WITH SEEDS conference this past weekend, along with a few other seeds and some good info on the local movement. I mixed this all together and sprinkled a layer on the base of a pre-made crust. I'm not a huge fan of pre-made crusts, but it was in the freezer and I frankly did not have time to make a crust, no matter how easy they are!
I began adding the apple slices in layers, sprinkling cinnamon and more of the sugar-flour mixture on top of each layer. I can't say it was a very pretty pie, and once all the apples were on, I poured the remainder of the juice and, remembering the walnuts, sprinkled chopped walnuts all over the top and added 4 slices of butter to the top, hoping it would melt over the top and sink in to the filling. I put the pie in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour.
Returning to the veggies, I cut white carrots into threes and from there worked to cut them lengthwise into sixth (I sliced them down the middle, then 2 more times for each half- all lengthwise cuts) so they were like fries. I cut about 6 large carrots and 12 potatoes and put them in a bowl with 6 cloves of unpeeled garlic and olive oil and salt and a teensy bit of cumin and crushed red pepper. I then explored the herbs available outside and settled with rosemary, which I coarsely chopped and added to the veggies. I mixed it all together and put them in an even layer on a baking sheet.
I added the sheet to the oven, placing it below the pie, hoping the flavors wouldn't interfere too much. I then put 2.5 cups of brown rice in a rice cooker and washed fresh, local greens for a salad. At this point, Rowena came in to help me and sliced some tomatoes with fresh basil from the garden. She pulled out a loaf of challah from the freezer... did I mention the bread here? The bread here is fantastic. Some of it's homemade from a friend of the director and some of it's day-old bread that's donated to us. But it's all absolutely fantastic. Crusty exterior, doughy, light inside, always hearty and dark.
Back to the meal... While everything was cooking, I juiced the zested lemon, added some olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. I then went out to the garden to grab some mint, which was few and far between. I chopped up the mint and whisked everything together. Searching for brown sugar, I stumbled upon brown rice syrup, which I decided to give a try and added a bit into the dressing to balance the acidity of the lemon. Checking on the veggies, I noticed that they were almost done, but I turned up the oven to broil to crisp them up (and of course removed the pie at this point). I then added 1 cup of greek yogurt to the lemon-oil-mint-syrup mixture and whisked together until thin and dressing-like.
Once the veggies were crispy looking, I pulled them out and put them in a large bowl, to which I added chopped and lightly toasted walnuts, just enough to release the oils, and a handful of craisins. I removed the skin off of the garlic and added the whole cloves with a teaspoon of minced garlic, courtesy of Rowena.
With everything finished and ready, the lentils with a bite to them and trusting the rice cooker's work, I called everyone in for lunch. The instructions: a little bit of rice, a little but of lentils, and a spoonful of veggies, and a splash of dressing. Mix together.
Lunch was quite delicious and even the unpresentable pie with the store-bought crust tasted amazing. And, better yet, there was PLENTY of food for everyone and leftovers.
Ingredients
Lentils w. Rice and Roasted Vegetables
10-15 small and medium-sized fingerling potatoes
5-6 cloves of garlic
5 large carrots (of any color)
olive oil
1 tbsp fresh rosemary
crushed red pepper, to taste (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tsp cumin (optional)
Ratio of 1 cup lentils : 1.5 cups water, maybe 1 cup for the number of veggies
Ratio of 1 cup rice : 2 cups water, about 1 cup for the amount of veggies
Dressing:
1 cup Greek Yogurt
1-2 lemons, juiced and zest
salt and pepper, to taste
crushed red pepper, to taste (optional)
1 large handful of mint, chopped
1/8- 1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup craisins, raisins, or chopped dates, or mixture of 2 or all 3
Apple Pie
1 crust
6 large apples, cored and thinly sliced
3 tbsp flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 lemons, juiced and zest
1/2-1 vanilla bean, sliced open and scraped
2 tbsp butter, quartered
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
about 3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional)
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