Lentil Salad with Red Beans and Chickpeas

Petite and tasty, French Puy lentils are a great ingredient for summer salads. They stay firm, they absorb dressings well, and they're good for you. If you've never tried them, do look for them. Don't be tempted to use common brown lentils. They'll mush up the salad.

This colorful concoction not only makes a great summer side dish, it's a perfect main vegan/vegetarian meal for a warm summer day. Feel free to tailor it to your own taste, and enjoy!

LENTIL SALAD with RED BEANS and CHICKPEAS
Cooking the Lentils:
1 cup dried French Puy lentils
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
½ tsp. salt
1 bay leaf

Assembling the Salad:
1 15-oz. can chick peas
1 15-oz. can small red beans
1 small bunch of scallions, white parts chopped, green tops thinly sliced
2-3 small seedless cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1 3/4 oz. package fresh dill

Making the Dressing:
1/8 cup olive oil
2 Tbs. white balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs. dry white wine
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 large garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

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1. Place lentils, garlic, salt, and bay leaf in a 2-quart saucepan with 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until lentils are just tender, 15-20 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to cool, remove garlic and bay leaf, and drain again.

2. Drain and rinse red beans and chickpeas. Place in a large bowl with lentils. Stir in remaining ingredients, then fold in the dressing. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Turkish Bulghur Salad with Pomegranate Molasses Dressing

Bulghur, bulgur, or burghul, a common ingredient in Middle Eastern dishes (such as Tabbouleh and Kibbeh), is made by parboiling, drying, and grinding wheat to a fine, medium, or coarse texture. Bulghur stars in this colorful and delicious salad, my own adaptation of a recipe I found on Epicurious.com. It's a wonderful summer side dish for grilled meats, or served as a main course with a tossed green salad and crusty French bread. Enjoy!

TURKISH BULGHUR SALAD

WITH

POMEGRANATE MOLASSES DRESSING

For the Salad:
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 large vidalia onion, minced
2 cups fine bulghur wheat
2 cups boiling water
2 15-oz. cans beans, pink, borlotti, chickpeas, or a combination,
            rinsed and drained
1 large bunch fresh basil leaves, chopped (optional)
1 bunch scallions, green tops slices, white parts chopped
1 cup raw pistachio kernels, lightly toasted if desired

For the Dressing:
1/3 cup pomegranate molasses
          (available in your grocer's Middle Eastern section)
3 Tbs. olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, minced or put through a press
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

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1. Sauté onion in olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in bulghur until grains are coated with oil. Slowly add boiling water, stir, and simmer gently for about 5 minutes, until water is absorbed. Fluff wheat and turn into large bowl. Let cool.

2. Rinse and drain the beans you wish to use. Prepare basil and scallions and fold with beans into cooled wheat.

3. Combine dressing ingredients. Stir into wheat.

4. Top with pistachios (or allow individual diners to add their own nuts). Generously serves 6-8 as a main course salad.

Herbed Rice Ring

Warm weather is great for making rice rings, since many, like this Italian-inspired gem, do well served cold, and they’re a dramatic treat to present. I often dust off my metal rice mold, a ten-inch, 5½- cup treasure, to prepare this delicious and easy treat, usually as a side dish. It also makes a wonderful vegetarian main course by serving it with a spinach salad, crusty French bread, and grilled vegetables such as zucchini and/or eggplant. Either way, try topping off the meal with a French rosé.

This recipe would complement any number of barbecued meats or seafood. Turn it out on a bed of lettuce if you like, and fill the center with olives, fresh peas, edible flowers, whatever you prefer. I used fresh parsley and tiny tomatoes this time.

HERBED RICE RING

1 cup carnaroli or other arborio type rice
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup olive oil
3 Tbs. lemon juice
2 tsps. dried mint
1 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped
Salt and white pepper to taste
1 15-oz. can pink beans, rinsed well and drained

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1. Bring broth to a boil. Add salt and rice. Simmer, covered, for 18 minutes. Transfer rice to strainer and rinse with cold water to cool. Drain well.

2. Blend next seven ingredients. Gently fold in beans, then rice.

3. Press mixture into rice mold. Turn onto serving plate and garnish as desired.

Fajoom (Navy Beans and Lamb)

In my first "Kitchen Excursions" post, I mentioned Sandy, my beautiful Syrian mother-in-law, who taught me so much about cooking. Few could match her Syrian food, and learning most of it was "you have to watch someone do it."

Sandy once told me that "When you're going to make Syrian food, you get up in the morning and say, 'today I'm making Syrian food, and that's all I'm going to do all day.'"

Syrian food is great stuff, but spending the whole day cooking anything these days is impractical. Thanks to food processors and the top-notch prepared foods now available, it's also unnecessary.

Fajoom is a great intro to Syrian food. The most tedious chore is cutting up the lamb, and even that isn't bad thanks to the convenience of already boned and butterflied lamb. (You can have a butcher cube the meat for you, but he won't fuss trimming it.) I periodically prepare lamb cubes and almost always have them in the freezer, wrapped in 1-lb. portions and reserved for a number of recipes, from French casseroles to Moroccan stew. And, of course, Syrian food.

Baharat, which Sandy called Syrian allspice, is the Arabic word for spice. Every country in the Arab world has its own blend of baharat. If you're lucky enough to have a Middle Eastern grocer nearby, they will surely have it. If not, you'll find different recipes to make it online. You can also order it online.

FAJOOM

4 Tbs. unsalted butter                         
2-3 garlic cloves, minced                    

1 large onion, minced                          

1 lb. lean cubed leg of lamb
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1 14-oz can chicken broth
2 15-oz. cans navy beans
1 tsp. Syrian allspice (Baharat)

Salt and pepper

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Melt the butter in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and stir for a minute. Add lamb. Brown well, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

In a small saucepan, combine and heat up tomato sauce and chicken broth. Add to skillet and blend with meat. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While lamb is simmering, thoroughly rinse and drain beans. (Note: If navy beans aren't available, substitute any small white bean.)

Fold beans and baharat into lamb. Simmer another 5-10 minutes, or until beans are heated through. Serve with bulghur wheat pilaf, rice pilaf, or couscous. (Note: Along with Syrian (pita) bread, plain yogurt (laban) is traditionally served with or on the side of most Syrian dishes. Do try it.) Generously serves 4.

Shrimp with Pancetta and Cannellini Beans

The discovery that my local supermarket now carries pancetta already diced up sent me scouring my cooking files for recipes made with this tasty Italian bacon. Serve this one with plenty of crusty bread to sop up every bit of the delicious sauce.

SHRIMP with PANCETTA and CANNELLINI BEANS

4-5 Tbs. olive oil                                         6-8 fresh sage leaves, chopped
4 oz. chopped pancetta                              4-5 large garlic cloves, sliced
1-2 fat shallots, minced                              ½ cup dry white wine
1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined       2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
1 15-oz. can cannellini beans,                     Fresh ground pepper
     rinsed well and drained

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1. Heat 2 Tbs. of oil in a large skillet over low heat. Sauté pancetta slowly until fat is rendered and meat starts to brown. Raise heat to medium, add shallots, and sauté until golden, about five minutes. Fold sage and beans into bacon mixture and set aside until ready to serve.

2. Reheat beans over low heat. Heat garlic in remaining oil in large skillet over medium heat until garlic colors. Remove garlic and discard. Add shrimp to oil and sauté for 1 minute. Add wine, parsley, and a grind or two of pepper (salt if desired, keeping in mind that pancetta is fairly salty). Cook until shrimp are done, another 2-3 minutes.

3. Toss hot beans and shrimp together. Add more liquid if necessary. Serve at once with crusty bread and a salad, if desired. Serves 2-4 depending on side dishes. Don't be looking for leftovers!

Chili Two Ways

"This is to thank you for all the special meals you make for me," said one of the talented writers in our Monday night writing group, and she handed me a brand new cookbook. She caught me off-guard—I truly enjoy hunting down vegetarian recipes that everyone in the group enjoys, and my husband enjoys them too.

The cookbook is The Flexitarian Table by Peter Berley, a neat collection of recipes that can be adjusted to please all the vegetarians and meat lovers in your life. A great idea, and inspiring to read, even though I've been cooking like this for a while now. Below is my own Chili Con Carne recipe in both its original form and with suggested changes to adapt it into a vegan delight.

CHILI TWO WAYS

3 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 large vidalia onion, peeled
4-5 garlic cloves, peeled
2 jalapeño chili peppers, seeded
1 red bell pepper, seeded
2 Tbs. chili powder
4 Tbs. ground cumin
2 lbs. lean ground beef OR 4-6 portobello mushrooms, chopped in processor
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
3 15-oz. cans mixed kidney beans, rinsed well and drained
               (increase to 5 cans if using mushrooms instead of beef)
2 tsps. dried oregano
1 13-oz. can beef OR vegetable broth
1½ cups dry red wine

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1. Heat oil in non-stick skillet. Prepare and process vegetables and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes. Stir in chili powder and ground cumin. Cook for one minute and transfer to 8-qt. stock pot.

2. Brown ground beef or mushrooms in the same skillet, breaking up meat and adding 1 tsp. salt, about 5 minutes. Transfer beef/mushrooms with slotted spoon to stock pot, leaving fat behind. Stir tomato sauce, tomatoes, oregano, and beans into stock pot. Add beef/vegetable broth and wine. Simmer about 2 hours.

3. Serve with chopped scallions, tortilla strips, sour cream/tofu sour cream, and grated Monterey Jack or similar cheese/veggie cheese. Plenty for 6-8.

Southwestern Composed Salad

Last night, I served this "composed" main course salad to our writers' group in a glass bowl to highlight the colorful layers. Once we dug in, the composed effect vanished, but the salad created gorgeous scoops of rainbows over the baby greens on our plates (see below). Delicious, lo-cal, and summery, casual enough for a barbecue but fancy enough for your mother-in-law, what more could you want? And leftovers are great. Tonight my husband and I enjoyed them with Chicken with Honey and Cumin Marinade.

The first photo I posted on Kitchen Excursions, the gorgeous Antipasto to the right, is a lovely example of a composed salad. No, it doesn't mean the salad is calm and collected. A composed salad is simply the opposite of a tossed salad, arranged just so, a more elegant presentation. Despite the prep work, composed salads are fun to make, and ingredient amounts aren't critical. All you really need to do the job is your imagination and a pretty platter or a glass salad bowl. Experiment, and enjoy!

SOUTHWESTERN COMPOSED SALAD

For the salad:

¾ cup pearl barley

2¼ cups vegetable or chicken broth

1 cup red quinoa

2 cups water or broth

1-2 cups black-eyed peas, fresh, frozen, or dried

10 oz. frozen corn, thawed, or fresh corn from 2-3 ears, cooked al dente

2 cups broccoli florets

1 15-oz. can pink beans, rinsed and drained well
Baby spinach and/or salad green of choice

For the Dressing:
6 Tbs. olive oil

2 Tbs. dry white wine

½ cup fresh lime juice

2 Tbs. honey

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

3 tsps. ground cumin

1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

½ tsp. Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

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1. Stir barley in a small saucepan over moderate heat until it starts to color, about 5 minutes. Add hot broth and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer about 40 minutes, until liquid is absorbed and barley is tender. Leave partially covered until cool.

2. Bring the quinoa and broth to a boil. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes, until liquid is absorbed and germ of the grain is visible. Leave partially covered until cool.

3. Cook black-eyed peas according to package directions. Drain and let cool.

4. Lightly steam broccoli. Drain and cool.

5. Assemble salad in layers, ending with red quinoa. When ready to serve, spoon over salad greens and pass dressing separately rather than dressing the whole salad. Leftovers will keep better this way. Enough for 6-8 as a main course salad.

Garlic Green Beans and Shitake Mushrooms

Contributed by Dawn Marie Hamilton

Store bought produce just isn't as tasty as fresh-picked veggies. My dad used to grow a variety of string bean (green bean) known as Kentucky Wonder. I remember sitting on the patio in a webbed chair on a hot summer evening, helping my mom snip the ends and remove the strings from the beans before she'd cook them for dinner. They both have passed, but I think of my parents every time I cook green beans.

Most green beans purchased from the local grocery store no longer have strings—all you need do is wash and snip the ends.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound green beans, washed and ends snipped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 ounces shitake mushrooms, sliced
pepper
¼ cup sliced almonds

1. Pour olive oil into a large sauté pan. When hot add beans and whirl in oil to coat. Cover and cook on med-low for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add garlic and mushrooms and cook until beans are al dente and mushrooms are softened. Sprinkle with pepper to taste. Stir in almonds and cook uncovered for 5 more minutes.

Makes 4 side-dish servings.

Serve with chicken, steak or lamb. Try Slow Cooker Rosemary Chicken.

Enjoy!

Quinoa and Two-Bean Salad

Our Monday night writers’ group enjoyed this southwestern-style salad as a main course last night. We gobbled it up along with a fresh spinach and herb salad and a loaf of crusty French bread. Quinoa and Two-Bean Salad is also a perfect side dish for those big barbecue parties coming up.

Quinoa (KEEN-wa) first appeared on Kitchen Excursions in the Portobello Mushrooms Stuffed with Quinoa and Spinach recipe. Cultivated by the Incas of South America thousands of years ago, quinoa’s tiny, grain-like seeds are a complete and easily digestible protein and a smart and delicious addition to any diet.

Look for pre-washed quinoa, and don't be afraid to experiment with different colored "grains." I chose the beans in this recipe for color. Use whatever type you prefer.

QUINOA and TWO-BEAN SALAD

For the Salad:
1¼ cups quinoa
2½ cups water
1 15-oz. can black beans
1 15-oz. can pink beans
1 Tbs. white balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1½ cups frozen corn, thawed
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 bunch scallions, green tops sliced, white bottoms chopped

For the Dressing:
3 Tbs. olive oil
6 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 tsps. honey
3 tsps. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 large garlic clove, minced

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1. Bring water to a boil. Stir in quinoa. Simmer about 12 minutes, until water is absorbed. Fluff and let sit off the heat for five minutes, then transfer to a large bowl to cool.

2. Rinse and drain beans. Toss beans in a medium bowl with vinegar and salt and pepper and let sit.

3. Whisk dressing ingredients together.

3. Add corn (no need to cook it), beans, cilantro, and scallions to quinoa. Fold in dressing and turn salad into serving bowl. Garnish with scallion tops. Serves 6-8 or more as a main course.