Lentils and Quinoa in a Hurry

Black Lentils with Chopped Veggies and Quinoa with Summer Squash and Mushrooms.
Sorry there are no pictures of the meal. Somehow they were erased and now there are goofy pictures of me on the memory card instead. I’m going to blame my husband. (Because I can!)

{hehe.. her husband has hacked in and uploaded afore mentioned lost photos! Let's leave the cute picture of Sasha there shall we?}



RECIPES (For four servings)
Lentils:
1 cup of small black lentils
Follow cooking instructions on package. Or use slightly more than 2 Cups or water, bring just barely to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the lentils taste right. Should take no more than 20 minutes. You do not want the lentils to fall apart or become mushy.
You can also cook with a bay leaf, an onion that has been halved or a smashed clove of garlic. You would remove any of these items after cooking.

Cubed Veggies:
2 carrots
1/5 a head of green cabbage
½ a large red onion
1-2 Tbs. Vegetable Oil.
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut carrots on a bias to make very long, ¼” slices. Cut these slices lengthwise to make “matchsticks”. Cut the matchstick pieces into small cubes about ¼” on all sides. Cut onion into similarly small cubes. Slice off part of a head of cabbage and then cut into ¼” strips one way, turn the cabbage 90 degrees and then cut into ¼” cubes. Heat oil in pan on medium-high, add the onions first then the carrots and finally add the cabbage. Make sure all veggies remain crispy but get a chance to take on a little brown color. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve over the lentils.

Pan Fried Squash and Mushrooms over Quinoa
2 Cups Quinoa. 1 Cup white and 1 Cup red make a nice mixture.
Add Quinoa and four cups of water to a cooing pot. Cover on high heat until the water begins to boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is nice and fluffy. About 20 minutes.

2 yellow summer squash
1 package of tasty mushrooms (baby bellas, shitake or regular white mushrooms)
2-3 Tbs. Olive oil.
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh Parsley
*Optiona:l chopped walnuts or almonds to garnish and add crunch.
Cut the yellow squash on a bias into large pieces. Heat a generous portion of oil in a pan. If you have a cast iron pan or other favorite pan for cooking with hot oil, use it here. Fry the squash in the oil so that it has some nice browning on both sides, remove squash and place on paper towels or other appropriate blotting material. You don’t want to overcrowd the squash, cook it in batches. Slice mushrooms and add to oil from pan and sauté. If there is too much oil in the pan, remove some before cooking mushrooms. Place summer squash and mushrooms over quinoa and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley. Add ¼ cup chopped nuts if desired.

Serve both dishes with either a simple green salad (greens and cucumbers), sauerkraut or other pickled vegetables. The sauerkraut or pickled veggies make a better companion to this meal, but only if you like them.

STORY:
If you don’t normally eat meat and never eat dairy products, you eat a lot of grain and bean combinations. The longer I linger in the grain/dried bean section of my local health food store, or even in the “Healthy Harvest” section of my regular grocery store, the more options I realize are available. Next time you’re in a health food store, or even the dried bean section of your grocery store, check out how many different kinds of lentils! I think I have five different varieties in my cupboard right now. Of course I have a bit of a bean compulsion. What I’m trying to express here, however, is the idea that “rice and beans” can actually be applied to a huge number of possible combinations. It’s a probability math problem that I’m currently eating my way through.
The lentil/quinoa meal described above was the answer to a pressing need to get something on the table for dinner a.s.a.p. Both quinoa and lentils cook in about 20 minutes. Taking on the veggie chopping time the meal didn’t take more than 40 minutes to prepare. For the lentils, which are a very deep, dark color, I wanted some bright veggies to contrast. I also wanted to use up the carrots and cabbage in the fridge. Carrots, cabbage and onions are great veggies to have on hand all the time because they keep so well for so long. They’re also cheap. When I was in college I used to eat pasta with sautéed cabbage and hot peppers about four times a week. For this evening, I wanted to make sure that the texture of my veggies matched with the lentils so I cut red onion, carrots and the cabbage into small cubes. The veggies are somehow extra cute when they are cut this way. The purple, orange and green color combo was also a nice contrast to the dark lentils. For the quinoa, the mushrooms and the summer squash were a good hearty addition. I decided to give the summer squash the intense frying treatment in lots of hot oil in order to make sure the meal felt satisfying and filling. The chewy texture and earthy taste of the mushrooms added a sort of meaty satisfying dimension to the fluffy quinoa. Now I don’t know about other people, but I love sauerkraut. And not just on a sandwich (I actually haven’t had a sandwich in about 4 months)! I love sauerkraut as a side dish or in a salad, or straight out of the jar as a little snack. For a meal like this one that has so many dense food items, we were saved when I brought out the jar of sauerkraut. It lightens up the whole meal and provides some cleansing acidity in contrast to the dense lentils and quinoa. Pickled veggies or any kind are like a tasty salty crisp treat which will lighten up any meal. It wasn’t the most exciting, or even remotely gourmet meal we’ve ever eaten, but it’s nice sometimes to eat something hearty, simple and good for you.