Moroccan Harira (p. 147)

I know, I know -- it's been forever since I've posted. I'm horrible. I'm trying to make a comeback, though, so wish me luck with that.

Raleigh has had pretty gross weather all week long -- cool and rainy -- so a thick stew seemed like the perfect thing, and this one fit the bill exactly; lentils, chickpeas, beef, and lots and lots of spices.

Start the recipe in the usual way, sautéing onion (both large, chopped ones as well as tiny whole ones) in olive oil with some salt. Add in the diced meat and cook, then add chickpeas, pepper, saffron, ginger, and a cinnamon stick.

Simmer with water and chicken stock until everything is cooked and tender.

A note about chickpeas: I normally buy the dried bag and soak them overnight. Fresh Market for some reason doesn't sell them like this, so I had to buy the canned kind in liquid, which I was wary about. What do you guys think -- which is better to use?

In a separate pan, cook a thick paste of chopped parsley, cilantro, and celery along with olive oil. Stir in tomatoes and lentils and some of the boiling water from the meat mixture. Spice it up with tomato concentrate, cumin, and a healthy dose of dried chili.

Finally, just combine the two contents of the two pots and cook them together for a bit, then serve.

This is incredible thick, which Matt and I both really liked. Also spicy, yum. I definitely enjoyed my leftovers.

And unfortunately, Fresh Market didn't give me my receipt, so no price update for this one.

Lentil and Green Olive Salad (p. 79)

It's very rare that I'm home during the day to make lunch for myself, but yesterday I was and wanted to make something light and healthy but also filling. The last time I made a light lunch I used the Lentil and Walnut Salad recipe, so this time I opted for a variation -- a lentil and green olive salad.

The preparation for this one was pretty similar to that of the previous salad -- the lentils are cooked in water with a whole onion and garlic clove, as well as salt and pepper.

Once the lentils are cooked (about half an hour) they are drained and the vegetables are removed and discarded.

While the lentils were cooking I sliced a red pepper into thin strips and tossed them with coarsely chopped pitted green olives.

These were mixed, along with olive oil and lemon juice, into the cooked lentils. The lentils are laid on a bed of greens and topped with some strips of lemon zest.

I served this with leftovers from a couple of weeks ago -- shrimp with garlic, lemon, and olive oil that I had frozen raw in its marinade. This time I just prepared the shrimp by sautéing them over low heat.

This was a lovely and light little lunch. The salad wasn't as good as the previous one I did, but it still had nice flavors and was enjoyable. I probably wouldn't make it again, but I don't mind eating the leftovers. And the shrimp was just as good (and messy) the second time around.

lentils -- $1.39 (3/4 of the bag is left)

garlic -- $.59 (just used one clove)

mixed greens -- $3.09 (most are left)

olives -- $2.08

red pepper -- $2.99

lemon -- $.46

Total Cost of Lentil and Green Olive Salad: $10.60

Egyptian Lentil Soup (p. 140) and Red Peppers with Garlic, Sausage, and Olives (p. 330)

Once again, I'm feeling overwhelmed by the number of soups I have left to make. I keep telling myself that once winter comes I'll  want to make and eat all the soups, but I know that's not really true. I'm going to try to start making at least one soup a week so that I can work through them.

Last night's choice was Egyptian Lentil Soup, which can be made either as a vegetarian soup or not. It's also all made in the same pot, which I love.

In your stock or soup pot, sauté onion and ground lamb (though just a small amount) until the onion is softened and the meat is very brown.

Stir in cumin and fennel and a dried red chili to add a little spice, and then mix in brown lentils, which make up the bulk of the soup.

Let the soup cook for about 30 minutes, until the lentils are soft. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper and serve.

Um, so, this broth is basically just water, and not interesting at all. The actual content of the soup, however, is really good. When we packed up the leftovers, I strained the water out and just packed the lentil/meat combination for lunches, which I think will be lovely. Still, I wouldn't make this soup again.

Luckily, I made a slightly more substantial dish to go with this -- a mixture of sweet red peppers, garlic, olives, and spicy Italian sausage.

This was my first time opening sausage skins and removing the meat, which is a kind of gross process. Once the sausage is removed, the recipe calls for it to be crumbled and combined with olive oil to be sauteed. Have you ever crumbled a wet meat? It's not really possible. I smooshed it up as best I could, but really I just continued to break it up as it heated.

Once the sausage was thoroughly browned, I set the meat aside and discarded the fat.

Meanwhile, roast red peppers over the stove. Between the sausage, the soup, and the red peppers, I had a very full stove top!

When the peppers are thoroughly roasted, let them cool for a few minutes and then peel the peppers and slice them into thick strips.

Using the same skillet the meat was cooked in, add more olive oil and stir in thin onion slices and garlic. Once the onion is throughly cooked, stir in dry sherry and let it cook for a few minutes until it begins to bubble. Then add the pepper strips, black olives, and slivered orange zest.

Cook briefly and stir in the sausage meat.

Serve and eat! This was lovely, and we both really enjoyed it. 

The sweet red peppers with the spicy sausage were a great blend, and the olives added a salty punch. This will also be great cold for leftovers.

onion -- $.98 (half is left)

lemon -- $.79 (half is left)

lamb -- $1.96

lentils -- $1.79 (tons left)

Total Cost of Egyptian Lentil Soup : $5.52 (with leftovers for several days)

orange -- $1.58 (only the zest was used)

red peppers -- $6.09

sausage -- $2.79

olives -- $4.10 (plenty left for eating)

onion -- $.97 (half is left)

Total Cost of Red Peppers with Garlic, Sausage, and Olives : $15.53 (with leftovers for several days)

Crispy Shrimp Fritters from Cadiz (p. 97) and Lentil and Walnut Salad (p. 80)

I never make nice things for lunch. We're generally not home, or if we are we wake up late and laze about until mid-afternoon. Yesterday, however, I was in a cooking sort of mood and wanted to throw together something fabulous for lunch. And so I did.

Crispy Shrimp Fritters, or Tortillitas de Camarones are surprisingly easy to make. In a bowl, combine eggs and salt with water and beat together to create a creamy mixture. Then add semolina or, if you have it, semolina and chickpea flour. Fresh Market didn't have chickpea flour, so I just used additional semolina. Beat these together to form a batter and then fold in onion, parsley, and cilantro, and shrimp, all chopped coarsely. Stir in olive oil and paprika and make sure the shrimp pieces are evenly distributed.

Separately, heat oil in a frying pan until it has reached about 360 degrees. I decided mine was ready when it was all ripply looking and some steam was coming off the top. Spoon little batches of the batter into the hot oil and cook, flipping once, until the fritters are golden on both sides. Each fritter may need to be patted down a little after being flipped to ensure that it cooks evenly. 

When each fritter is done, remove them from the oil to drain on paper towels. My pan could hold about 4 fritters at a time, and there was enough batter for several batches.

I thought that these would be really nice with a salad, so I chose the Lentil and Walnut Salad to make. I had the lentils cooking over medium low for about 20 minutes while I was making the fritter batter. Once the lentils were cooked, I drained them and combined them in a bowl with chopped scallion and parsley, diced red pepper, and chopped walnuts.

Mix these all well, and then add a dressing made of mustard, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. Stir these up in a separate bowl until well combined and then mix thoroughly with the salad. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Scoop the lentils onto a bed of bitter greens and serve.

This was pretty much the perfect summer lunch time meal. Even though the shrimp fritters are fried they still manage to feel light and flavorful, and the dressing on the lentils gives it a great kick. I'd never thought of serving lentils on top of greens before, but they really combined well. I'd make this exact same meal again in a heart beat.

shrimp -- $7.83

parsley -- $1.69 (tons left)

cilantro -- $1.69 (tons left)

Total Cost of Crispy Shrimp Fritters from Cadiz: $11.21 

(I only made half the recipe, and we each had two fritters for lunch. There are probably about 8 left. This would be a great party appetizer to make really small ones, since it makes a lot.)

scallions -- $.99 (tons left)

red pepper -- $1.64 (only used half)

mixed greens -- $2.50

Total Cost of Lentil and Walnut Salad: $5.13

(I made half of this recipe as well and we probably have three servings left over.)

Pellegrino Artusi's Lentils with Aromatics (p. 258)

I love it when I find a recipe that I already have almost all of the ingredients for in my cupboard. I'll admit I left a few things out, such as a bay leaf (which I'm no longer buying because so many come in a package and I can never use them all) and a carrot (which I'm sick of eating cooked.)

Rinse the lentils and put them in a saucepan with water. Add a small onion (whole), a garlic clove, and salt and pepper. Also add a bay leaf if you haven't taken a moral stand against them. Cook the lentils until they are tender -- mine took about 25 minutes.

While the lentils are cooking, chop onion, parsley (I used flakes) and celery, and sauté them in olive oil. Once the veggies have softened pour in chicken stock (I used veggie stock because I had some in my fridge) and continue simmering.

When the lentils are ready, drain them and mix with the vegetables. Continue simmering for about five minutes and then serve.

I think I preferred the flavors of the  Cumin-Scented Lentils that I did in April, but Matt liked this one better. The celery added a nice mellow taste to the dish, and I liked how the whole onion fell apart into small pieces throughout the lentils.

celery -- $1.09

Total Cost of Pellegrino Artusi's Lentils with Aromatics: $1.09

Braised Pork with Sweet and Hot Peppers (p.435) and Cumin-Scented Lentils and Rice (p. 259)

Matt and I enjoyed the pork roast I made last week so much that I decided to try out another pork dish -- this time made on the stove instead of in the oven.

In a skillet, I sauteed onion and garlic for about 15 minutes before pushing them out of the way and adding pork tenderloins to the pan. The pork is browned on both sides in the pan, and then flavored with salt, pepper, and rosemary.

Once the meat had been seasoned, I added a mixture of water, red wine, and balsamic vinegar to the pan, and placed thin strips of sweet and hot peppers (I used jalapeno, anaheim, and a bunch of super tiny colorful sweet peppers) over the whole mixture. Cover the pan for about 20 minutes, until the peppers are soft, and then serve.

Meanwhile, I was also working on Cumin-Scented Lentils and Rice, or Mujaddarah. I have never done anything with lentils before. Including eating them, I think. In fact, when I went to the store, I first looked in the produce section. Whoops. Next time I know, rice aisle.

The rinsed lentils are added to a cup of boiling water, along with a couple of bay leaves. These cook until all the water has been absorbed, and then another cup of boiling water and rinsed rise is added. The whole mixture simmers with salt, pepper, and cumin for another 20 or so minutes, until the water is again absorbed.

In another pan, I very slowly sauteed thin slices of yellow onion for about 15 minutes.

The onions are poured (along with any extra olive oil in the pan) over the lentils and served immediately.

Both of these recipes turned out really well. The pork was delicious -- you could really taste the wine and the outside was beautifully browned.

The lentils were really flavorful as well. We both added a little extra salt and pepper to them, and I enjoyed them mixed with a little of the sauce from the pork.

Both of us agreed that this is one of the best complete meals we've had from the book so far. Both parts were great individually, but they also paired together nicely.

pork tenderloins -- $1.93 (on super sale at Harris Teeter)

red wine -- $9.99 (plenty left to drink)

peppers -- $4.75 (a few left over)

Total Cost of Braised Pork with Sweet and Hot Peppers: $16.67

lentils -- $1.49 (most of the bag is left)

rice -- $2.39 (most of the bag is left)

sweet onion -- $.96

Total Cost of Cumin-Scented Lentils and Rice: $4.84 (with tons of leftovers)