Monthly Archives: April 2010
Tasty Maine Tomatoes
I splurged on a basket of Backyard Farms tomatoes, grown hydroponically in Maine. They taste pretty good for April. I wouldn’t go so far as to compare them with freshly-picked heirloom tomatoes in the summer, but they are good treat during the lull between now and July.
Maybe it was a little indulgent. I didn’t realize how many tomatoes were in the basket. We’ve been enjoying them simply sliced with our summer spiced salt blend (salt, black pepper & cayenne), and in the Israeli Couscous Salad I talked about last week. Today, I made lentil salad with tomatoes.
I love lentils. They are my favorite kind of bean (chickpeas are a close second choice). I especially like the little green lentils. For salads, they hold their shape better than the brown ones from the supermarket. I get them in bulk at Whole Foods. Sometimes, they are labeled as Le Puy, and, sometimes, they are labeled as French lentils. They are always tasty.
The tarragon and chives in the herb garden are going great guns. Both go well with lentils, so I threw those in too.
Here’s what I did:
Lentil Salad with Tomatoes
1 cup lentils, preferably green lentils
1 onion, diced
3 bay leaves
3 tomatoes, diced
¼ cup Tarragon Dressing (see below)
A small fistful of chives
Combine lentils, onion, and bay leaves in a saucepan. Cover with water, 1 inch above the surface of the lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until lentils are tender, but not mushy, 20 to 30 minutes. Drain, and cool slightly.
Combine lentils, diced tomatoes, and dressing. Snip the chives with scissors over the salad and toss again.
Tarragon Dressing:
¼ cup tarragon vinegar
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon leaves
Salt & pepper to taste
In the blender, combine vinegar, mustard, and oil. Add tarragon leaves and combine until they are more chopped, but not until everything turns green. Season to taste.
Warm Weather Favorite 2010
Every season, we seem to fixate on a new recipe that becomes an immediate staple at our house. One fall, it was a garlic winter squash soup; one summer it was gazpacho; other times, it’s a particular salad. We tweak it until it suits our palates, and then make it over and over again.
With the early arrival of warm weather to New England, this year’s recipe looks like it will be a new salad I created. I’ve already made two batches since Friday, so I think it’s here to stay, at least for through the summer.
It started with that continuously unsuccessful goal of using up ingredients in the pantry. Some items turn over frequently, but others languish indefinitely. A jar of Israeli couscous that was pushed to the back of the shelf suffered in the neglected state. If you’re not familiar with Israeli couscous, it’s bigger than regular couscous, bigger round pasta grains, similar to pastina, smaller than barley. In the past, I have found it at Trader Joe’s, but after using it up, I found more in the bulk bins at Whole Foods.
A salad seemed like the perfect thing to welcome the warm weather. I made a sort of tabouli, using other treasures from the refrigerator.
It was an instant hit, going well with hamburgers, grilled salmon, and grilled chicken, all of which we’ve eaten since the first batch on Friday. It would also be good on its own.
Israeli Couscous Tabouli
Serves 4-6
1½ cups water
1 cup Israeli couscous
2 Tbsp lemon juice (Meyer lemon, if it’s in season)
3 Tbsp olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
1 lb tomatoes, diced
½ cucumber, peeled, and diced
2 scallions, sliced thin
½ cup Kalamata olives, quartered lengthwise
Generous handfuls of Italian parsley and cilantro, chopped
Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the Israeli couscous and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, until couscous is cooked through. Fluff with a fork.
For the dressing, whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil with salt and pepper to taste.
Combine cooked couscous with the remaining ingredients and toss with the dressing.
A Plateful of Happiness 