Lentil Brown Rice and Pea Pilaf

 

Lots of carrots coming in now in my garden so I thought I would use a few in this pilaf recipe.  I used some fresh ground coriander (cilantro) seed for the seasoning.  It turned out very flavorful and would be a nice side dish for chicken or fish.

 

Sweet French Chantenay Carrots

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Lentil Brown Rice and Pea Pilaf 

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced yellow or red bell pepper

1 cup diced red onion

2 ½ cups cooked brown basmati rice

1 cup cooked brown lentils

1 cup frozen green peas

1 tsp ground coriander

2 teaspoons olive oil

½ tsp salt

ground black pepper

bay leaf

Heat the olive oil over medium temperature in a large skillet; add the bay leaf and carrots, onion and pepper.  Sauté for 5-10 mins and add the frozen peas. Cook additional 3 minutes just to thaw the peas.  Remove from heat. 

In a large serving bowl add the cooked lentils and brown rice.  Stir in the ground coriander, salt and pepper.  Add the sautéed vegetables and toss until combined.  Check seasonings, and add more salt and pepper if needed.  Serve warm.

sauteed peppers, onion and carrots

Cooked Brown Lentils

Brown Basmati Rice

Coriander Seed                 Ground Seed

Toss together, remove bay leaf before serving

You can grow and grind your own Coriander.  It is the seed from the Cilantro plant.  I have a lot going to seed right now since our weather has turned warm once again.  Seems like endless summer here in San Diego County.  

Cilantro Plants in Full Bloom

Summer Squash Quesadilla with Dill

This is an easy dish to make and you can use either your zucchini or yellow summer squash.  I used the yellow type zucchini for this recipe. Serve with fresh dill and your favorite salsa verde.

Summer Squash Quesadilla with Dill 
makes 6 quesadilla 
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• 2 medium yellow squash
• 1 medium white onion
• 1/2 cup shredded white or yellow cheddar cheese 
• Salsa Verde (Trader Joe's)
• Olive oil
• 6 corn tortillas
• Fresh dill sprigs

Slice the squash lengthwise then slice into thin half-rounds.  Slice the onion in half then thinly slice.  Saute the onion and squash in a tablespoon of olive oil, until tender.  In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Put one corn tortilla in the center of the pan and heat until you can easily move it around and it is soft.  Place a couple of tablespoons of the squash mixture on one half of the tortilla, top this with a tablespoon of the cheddar cheese.  Fold the tortilla in half and press down gently being careful not to push out the filling.  Brown for a minute or two and turn over.  At this time you should have enough room in the pan to add one more tortilla and fill as about.  It takes about 4 minutes for the quesadillas to brown enough to get a little crispy.  Watch the oil, add more if needed because as you add another tortilla you want to make sure that it doesn't stick to the pan.  Transfer browned quesadilla to a paper towel lined plate and drain for a minute.  To serve, top each tortilla with a bit of summer squash and fresh dill sprigs.  Serve with a verde (green tomatillo) salsa such as Trader Joe's Salsa Verde.

Fusilli with Lemony Kale, Toasted Sunflower Seeds and Feta

I am able to grow kale year-round here in Southern CA. This dish came about after I picked a huge amount and made a double batch of kale salad.  I decided I wanted something a bit more substantial for dinner and having twice as much kale salad as I normally make, this pasta was what came to mind. It's very good!  The salty feta with lemon and basil, the crunch from the toasted sunflower seeds makes a refreshing pasta dish.

Fusilli with Lemony Kale, Toasted Sunflower Seeds and Feta

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Serves 6-8 

 

1 pound kale (1 large bunch, I use Lacinato Kale)

Juice from 2 lemons

4 garlic cloves, minced

½ cup toasted sunflower seeds

4 TB extra-virgin olive oil

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

½ cup feta cheese (I used sheep’s milk feta)

Fresh Italian basil leaves, torn

1 pound dry fusilli or penne pasta (I used a bit of both)

Cook pasta according to package directions. While your pasta is cooking, strip the kale from the stalks, rinse well in cool water, and dry well.

  

Slice kale into small pieces and place in large, shallow serving bowl. Pour the lemon juice and olive oil over the kale.  Massage this into the kale by rubbing between your fingers; I use food grade, gloved hands for this so the lemon won’t hurt my hands! It will take about 5 minutes to get the kale soft; it will look much darker and very shiny in color when you are finished.

Add the minced garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and feta cheese to the kale, toss lightly and season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked, drained pasta to the kale mixture. The pasta should still be hot when you add it to the kale mixture.

Sprinkle with the toasted sunflower seeds, some fresh torn basil leaves, and check for the need of additional lemon juice, feta or seasoning.   Now you're ready to serve.

Lemony Kale with Feta and Toasted Sunflower Seeds

Swiss Chard Coleslaw with Colorful Bell Peppers, Olives and Sweet Lemon Vinaigrette

Swiss Chard Coleslaw with Colorful Bell Peppers, Olives and Sweet Lemon Vinaigrette

Meyer lemons are super sweet and are perfect for this refreshing coleslaw.  These lemons are thought to be crossed with a Eureka lemon and a Mandarin orange. They also make the very best lemonade since you won't need much, if any sugar.  They can be used in fruit salad, sliced and mixed in.  I leave the rind on too, just make sure you are using organically grown lemons.  Meyer lemons are grown all over California and are in many backyard family groves.  You will notice the rounder shape than that of a tart variety and they won't have the pointed knob on the end.

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Sweet Lemon Vinaigrette

•  2 medium cloves Garlic, peeled and crushed
• Juice from 1 Meyer Lemon, about ½ cup
• 1 tablespoon grainy Dijon Mustard
• 1 tablespoons fruity Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon dried Oregano
• Sea Salt and Pepper (add to salad after combined) 

In a large bowl, whisk together all vinaigrette ingredients, set aside.

Salad

In the bowl with the vinaigrette place:

• 1 large bunch of garden fresh Swiss Chard; use the white stem variety.  Clean and slice into thin strips
• 1 each of Red, Yellow and Orange Bell Peppers, sliced in julienne style
• 1 cup Sweet Corn, I used frozen, rinsed, then drained well
•   ½ cup Green Olives, drained and slice

I used double this amount of chard, about 8 cups

Toss the salad ingredients together with the vinaigrette, set aside in the refrigerator, covered, for about 30 minutes.  Remove from refrigerator and check to see if it needs the salt and pepper, since we have used olives you may not need the salt, but the pepper is a good addition.

**More uses for Meyer lemons:  Try grilling thick sliced Meyer lemons and add to a salad of arugula and Parmesan cheese.  Preserve them in salt like tart lemons and you will love using these in curry dishes. I often just slice the lemons and layer them with salt, not much just a sprinkle on each slice and pack them, stacked one on top of the other in pint canning jars, they will keep this way refrigerated for several months.  Preserved lemons are delicious used in Moroccan dishes, Curry dishes, Couscous, Tagine's and salads.

Pickled Mustard Green Stems

 I hate to waste anything I grow in my vegetable garden, keeping this in mind when I picked Red Giant Mustard earlier this week I set aside the stems when I stripped them of their leaves.  Here is what I made with the stems.  Crunchy, slightly spicy, nice and dilly with just a hint of heat from the mustard stems.  You will love these little pickles!

Red Giant Mustard from my garden

For this recipe you will need a clean quart jar with a tight fitting lid.

In a small bowl add: 
1 cup Organic Apple Cider Vinegar
1 generous Tbsp Pickling Spices
1 dried small red pepper, left whole (optional)

1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
Stir to blend

Slice the stems of the Mustard Greens into bite-size chunks and fill jar to about 3/4 full.  Pour over the pickling vinegar blend, and add just enough water to fill jar.  Add a bit of sea salt if desired.  Place the lid on tightly and shake to distribute the spices.  Refrigerate for 2-3 days, give it a good shake once a day.  These will keep for a month or more refrigerated, but believe me they will not last that long in this house!  Tony and I each had about a 1/2 cup last night as a snack. 

leave a bit of head space so you can shake the jar now and then

Every day or so I pick herbs from the garden to use in my cooking, it makes such a difference in the final dish.

My Homemade Pickling Spice Blend

1 tablespoons Mustard Seed

1 tablespoon Coriander Seed

1 tablespoon Caraway Seeds
1 Tablespoon Celery Seed

2 Whole Cloves

1 teaspoon Ground Ginger (or a fresh slice if using immediately)

1 teaspoon crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1 or 2 Bay Leaves, broken into pieces

1 teaspoon Whole Allspice Berries

1 teaspoon Black Peppercorns

1 teaspoon Whole Dill Seeds ( I used fresh dill for this recipe)

Some of the spices for the blend, the jar on the right is my spice blend. I have a collection of 1950's and 60's Spice Island Jars that I keep refilling.  Each jar has the original date on the bottom molded into the glass.

Optional: for a sweeter blend you can also add cinnamon sticks, but I prefer to only use those if I am canning sweet pickles, relishes or crab apples.