Lentils, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, and Red Quinoa

This is the epitome of Healthy Vegetarian Dinner, but it is also really tasty and makes your body feel nice after you eat it, so we have it kinda frequently. My friend Anastasia, however, does not have it ever, so when she heard what I was making for her visit, she was a little hesitant. But after helping me make it and a little wine, she was very excited and even put the meal on her tumbler (http://whatsonyourplate.tumblr.com/), so hooray!

I started with the red quinoa, which I buy at Trader Joes. We have a rice cooker, so it can just chill (or warm, I guess) in there until the rest of the meal is done and it won't get cold or dry or anything. 2 cups water to 1 cup quinoa :)



I looks like I also added some herb, but I'm not sure what it is... sage maybe? Try it out, lemme know if it tastes nice.

Next, I started the Brussels sprouts. I preheated the oven to 400 and preped the sprouts by cutting off the icky end bit, slicing them in half, and then rolling them around in a bowl with some olive oil.



Then I sautéed them with plenty of brown sugar and more oil so they could get soft and sweet.



While they sautéed (for about 5 minutes), I cooked the lentils. First I cooked 1/2 an onion and 2 carrots (both chopped) in a pot with some oil for about 5 minutes. Then I added a couple cloves of minced garlic and cooked another minute. Then I added 1/2 of white wine, 2 cups of vegetable broth and 1 cup of the lentils, plus a bay leaf. The mixture simmered away and I left it partially covered for about 25-30 minutes, stirring whenever I needed something to do in order to look like a Busy and Important Chef.



By now, I had put the Brussels sprouts on a baking tray and had moved them into the oven (I did that while the onion and carrot were cooking, keep up).



They were meant to stay in there for 30 minutes and I was distracted by Anastasia's charming company and so didn't check on them enough - they were darker than I like when I took them out, but still sweet and good. So check on them. Speaking of which, you should probably check those lentils right about now, they might be soupy. You don't want that. Anyway, make sure you flip the Brussels sprouts and know that 30 minutes is a random estimate. Just take them out of the oven when they look a little toasty and brown and like something you would want to eat.



This is why my Brussels sprouts burned.



Finished product!



And, look, the quinoa is done too!

So I know I talked about reading Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond last time, but that was a whole two months ago and due to work and busy-ness and all the reasons I have for blogging about something I ate 6 weeks ago, I haven't finished the book yet. Another reason is that reading it is like taking a full college course in the history of all civilization. So I am going to recommend it again, this time based only on the sheer volume of interesting and relevant things I learned - things that, in fact, I frequently had to stop reading for a few minutes and take in and review in my mind, so I would remember and understand it all fully and use it to understand and explain societal phenomenon in my daily life. Seriously, read the thing.

Spiced Lentils with Spinach and Apples and Indian Pulan

This is a delicious recipe (or, rather two recipes that I am combining so you can cook both at once a bit easier because they compliment each other so well) that is (are) time and chopping intensive but super fun! It took about an hour and a half from start to finish so if you have that amount of time and find cooking things relaxing (which is maybe why you are here?) you can make this and relax by the warm, spicy stove.

First you chop so many things into very small pieces! Like 2 cups of onion, 2 stalks of celery, 1 tbsp of ginger, 3 cloves of garlic, 1/2 lb fresh spinach, and 2 tart apples for the first dish (lentils) and 1 cup chopped onion, 1 tbsp of ginger, 3 carrots, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 bell pepper for the second (pulan). Also, put 2 cups rice on to cook (this is especially nice if you have a rice cooker. Get one, you can ignore it completely!).

...


30 min. pass and everything is chopped! Hooray! I promise you will be so happy you did this step all at once later.



Now, put 2 cups of dried lentils and 5 cups of water in a big saucepan, bring it to a boil and then simmer it for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, you wanna get two skillets out and put a tbsp of oil and a tbsp on butter in each (mine were the same size, but for you one can be a bit smaller because I will be referring to them as "big" and "small" - big is for pulan and small is for lentils, if you just wanna make one of the dishes). When everything is nice and hot and melted, put the 2 cups of onion in the smaller skillet and the 1 cup of onion in the larger along with the 1 tbsp ginger, 3/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp turmeric, 2 tsp coriander (in the larger). Saute the onions in the smaller skillet for about 10 minutes, and the onions and spices in the larger for 5-8, adding a bit of water to the large skillet to avoid sticking.



Add the celery, 1 tsp cumin, 2 tbsp dry mustard, 1 tbsp ginger, 1 tsp coriander, and 1/2 tsp turmeric to the small skillet and let it cook for 10 minutes or until the celery is tender. Put the carrots and 2 cloves of garlic into the big skillet and let that cook for 5 minutes, then add the bell pepper, cover it, and let it cook for five minutes more.

While you are waiting, stick a tray in the oven with shredded coconut and almond slivers on it (a cup of each). Keep an eye on it! 10 minutes at 350 degrees is plenty.

Back to the skillets! Scrape the contents of the small skillet into the saucepan of lentils along with 3 tbsp lemon juice and 3 cloves of garlic. Still it all together and let it all simmer 10 more minutes. As for the larger skillet, add 1/2 cup raisins and the cooked rice. Turn the heat all the way down and cover until you finish up the lentils.

The larger skillet:

Back to the lentil saucepan! Add some salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste, along with the chopped spinach and apple bits. Let it cook just a few minutes longer until everything gets soft and nice. You can put your toasted coconut and almonds on the rice dish while this is going on.

Here's the lentils finishing up:

Now eat it all! Hooray! Robbie and Jessica and quite excited for dinner!



Also, Robbie made chocolate chip snicker-doodle cookies for dessert! What!? Bridget couldn't eat them fast enough, we needed to help her.



Here are more pictures of our dinnertime, courtesy of Bridget!



I am astounded by the dinner topics we cover! Palace intrigue!



Eve is pretty!



Eve has found something of Utmost Importance in the paper!



Robbie is pensive.



Bridget is also pretty!

The End!