Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Wine braised lentils

I was trying to figure out something to do with a fast-wilting bunch of kale last night, and eventually I stumbled on a recipe from Kaji's Mom that, with a few adaptations, suited my needs quite well. Thanks!



I sautéed some white onion, sliced into crescents, with some celery, carrot, and minced garlic in a pot until they started to get tender. Then I added 1 1/2 cups of red wine, about 2 1/2 cups water, about 2 tablespoons tomato paste, about 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard, and 3/4 to 1 cup of red lentils (her recipe called for black lentils, which I've never heard of--I'll have to go exploring!) and just let it simmer, with the lid on, over medium heat for 20-30 minutes. I had to keep adding water so that it wouldn't stick. After about 15 minutes I added the bunch of kale, chopped, and salt and black pepper to taste. I just let it cook down until the kale was wilted and tender. The original recipe she gave said to serve this over roasted potatoes, but I skipped that step this time because we had leftover mashed potatoes that we were trying to finish up. So Bob had his with the mashed potatoes, and I just had mine with a slice of whole wheat bread. There's enough left over for each of us to have one more serving (maybe this time over roasted potatoes).

I loved the flavor combinations in this recipe--it tasted very complex, but it was so easy to make. I love the way bloggers can take each other's ideas and build on them!

After dinner I concocted this shake:


I brewed about 1/2 cup of green tea, double strength, and let it chill in the rerigerator for awhile. When it was cool, I blended it with some vanilla ice cream (So Delicious), a couple of ice cubes, and five crushed gingersnaps. It was different and very tasty; if I really wanted a "shake" consistency I would have added more ice cream, but I figured there was already enough in there and settled for it being a little on the thin side. Bob and I shared it (well, he drank most of it) sitting in the bed under a wool blanket! Not exactly "shake" weather out there, but you know...

Off to Orlando today! I'm feeling much better now than I have been--I hope it lasts. See you soon, and enjoy your week!

4 comments:

B said...

:) Glad to see you enjoyed it! I think it's the combination of red wine and mustard that really does something extra to the flavor without having to add spices. Usually I don't like a strong dijon mustard, but it was great here and I'll have to keep an eye out for more recipes that use it!

Nikk said...

What a yummy shake! Have fun in Orlando!

Candi said...

The lentils look great! I love cooking with wine!

Oh wow! A green tea shake! I'm in love! Lol! I can't imagine the ginger snaps in there though!? I assume it was good though, but I'd never even think of that!!! Such creative bloggers here!! Lol!!

Orlando!!! YAY! Have a great time!!

Anonymous said...

I'm having issues emailing out from my home computer (due to my daughter's laptop) so I couldn't email you but if you will email me your mailing address, I will send you the book. I also have a non-vegan book that you might like: William-Sonoma's Paris cookbook. Let me know if you would like that too, I'm at midwestveganbooks@hotmail.com.

I'm glad you had fun at Epcot.