Lentil and feta salad - weekday lunch

I have always used canned lentils, but recently one sunday when i was planning on making my lentil and feta salad for a work lunch i noticed a half full bag of dried red lentils and though "Why not". I don't remember what i bought them for, probably some sort of slow cooker recipe or soup, but i obviously did buy them. (little known fact - lentil faeries have been extinct since 1923) Quickly scanning the directions, they didn't look any worse to make than rice. (which is not really one of my talents, i'm not good at cooking covered starches). I thought it must be better than the canned stuff!

I rinsed the lentils carefully as expected, followed the ratio and boiling instructions, and when i opened the lid it looked like split pea soup. The taste was okay, but the texture.... there was no way i could make a salad with this - it was basically already a soup!

Luckily i also had a can of lentils and decided to use those with the salad, which was already waiting. As for the other lentils, once they cooled down i took another look at them, they were still mush, and tasted, well, i guess very lentilly.... I decided to throw some spices in and see how that developed overnight. I shall keep you posted, but i don't have high hopes!

The salad with the canned lentil was great though. I added feta, tomatoes, green onions, carrots, salt, pepper and some crushed red chili flakes along with a generous amount of balsamic. I served it over mixed greens.

Above:

The lentil feta salad as it should look
Original ingredients
Lentils in a can
My cooked lentils

Winter Cottaging - Surf & Turf

Heading up north to cottages in the winter can be a lot of fun, as long as you have a good fireplace, good wine, good friends and most importantly good food. This weekend was Jarred and Victor's combined birthday, and what better way to celebrate it, but with a very decadent surf and turf meal up north. Heading up on early friday afternoon, we had discussed early that week to make surf & turf - of course all we did was talk, no one actually bought groceries.

We actually bought the crab and meat up near the cottage which was near Thunder Beach. The prices were really good, and i think inspired by that we went a little wild at the grocery store. The result was spectacular, and gut busting. I will officially be eating only salad for a week, if not i will be wearing pajama bottoms for the rest of the winter!!!

Victor was in charge of the meat. We had three different meats - some steaks, a couple fillets, and also a couple pork loins. He seasoned them, and had them out of the BBQ. I put the crab in bunches, wrapped in foil after letting them defrost in the sink, and heated them in the oven. I also made a clarified lemon-garlic butter for dipping. (i told you we were decadent). Unfortunately we did not really have the proper tools for eating the crab, and there was a lot of innovation, brute strength and a set of side cutters.

A few nice reds were drank with the meal, no real plan there. Mor topped off the evening with a flourless chocolate layer cake with cream-cheese icing and walnuts. It was addictive. (especially to Victor who had to have it taken away from him)

Above:

Crab in foil
Clarified butter
Cooked and ready to eat crab
Meat with spices
More meat

The Pulled Pork Experiment

Ever since i first tried pulled pork this summer at the truck stop i have been a little obsessed. This is in part of my love for all things porky, but the challenge of making pulled pork has always interested me. Luckily for me my friend Eric is always willing to help me out with my cooking, since i wasn't about the bust out the slow cooker for one person.

The most complicated thing about making it was actually getting the pork - most of the recipes i encountered recommended pork shoulder. Theoretically i understood what this was, but i'm a little unfamiliar with the meat counter, so this was daunting. Initially i went to loblaws to take a look at what they had - i didn't see anything called "pork shoulder" so i figured it was time to enlist a professional. The two times i've purchased red meat to cook myself i went to "Medium Rare" a really nice butcher in Etobicoke, i gave them a call and they were happy to help me. When i picked up the meat, they had already taken it off the bone, which is probably a good thing. The cute butcher was impressed with my idea of making pulled pork tacos and invited me back for meat lessons... (i didn't' know if this was a come on).

Wednesday morning i assembled the slow cooker ingredients: ketchup (which i've actually never owned), Worcestershire, apple cider vinegar, ground mustard, garlic powder, paprika, brown sugar, liquid smoke, red chili pepper flakes and salt and pepper. I then added the pork and a chopped onion, and set it to low for ten hours.

The best thing about the slow cooker is coming home to a wicked smelling house. Its such a sense of accomplishment. All i had to do in anticipation of the meal was chop the veggies i wanted to add and make coleslaw. (since i always associate pulled pork with coleslaw). The pork was amazing. It was super easy to shred (the part i had been dreading) and i put it back into the sauce to heat it up and coat it a little more, then we dined!

Above:

A taco prepared
The ingredients with Medium Rare's Berkshire Pork
"Pulling" the pork
The table

Monday & Tuesday Dinner - Tuna Cakes

I really love crab cakes, and have made them a few times on my own but the minute i see them on a menu i am a goner. Obviously crab is a bit decadent for a recessionary weekday meal, so i was flipping through this cookbook i picked up awhile ago called "Easy Everyday" and saw a recipe for "Easy Tuna Patties", it recommended tinned tuna and sweet potatoes - two of my favorites so i decided to give it a shot. They were pretty good.

First you peeled and diced the sweet potato, boiling it and mashing it, adding the tuna, chopped scallions, and an egg. Once you made the patties you dredged them in cornmeal. I'm not a huge cornmeal fan, but i have this huge bag from some thing i made once, so i busted that out. I think i might try next time to do it with panko breadcrumbs, i love their texture and i think that it would really compliment the dish. I simply pan fried them until they were golden, since everything was pretty much cooked.

I liked this one, i made four patties out of half a sweet potato and a tin of low sodium tuna. I ate two for dinner monday, one for dinner tuesday and had one left over for wednesday lunch. They held together really well and reheated in the toaster oven like a dream. I might try this one again with a dipping sauce or a little more spice, but they were quite good - probably better on day two.

Above:

Tuesday's dinner
Simple ingredients
Fresh patties
Patties being dredged

Tredwell - The Foreign Affair Winery Tour

Way back in July my family and i were invited by the Armstrong's on a winery tour in Niagara along with a wine-food pairing done by Treadwell. As i love both food and wine, this was an amazing trip. The started off by taking us to the fields to see where the grapes were, there were a few nice whites for tasting along with cheese and fruit. After a visit to the town, we went to the Foreign Affair Winery for dinner.

As we mingled around the table there was a Riesling served along with a few appetizers. there was a pea foam which i did not enjoy, an amazing roasted beet salad served on individual spoons, and prosciutto fresh shaved served on bread sticks. The first course was a pea and fava bean risotto with butter seared sea scallops and preserved lemon. This was served with their 2007 Chardonnay


The Second course was beef, i'm still new to beef, but i decided to try it and i'm glad i did. It was a Slow cooked "Cumbrea Farms" beef short rib with cauliflower puree, and "Koslick's" Mustard. I had never heard of Kolicks and its now my favorite mustard. This was served with two wines!! A 2007 Merlot and the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon.


The fruit dish was Whitty farms summer berries with chiffon cake, spiced basil sabayon and black olive caramel. I'm not really a desert person, and i enjoyed the berries and sauce, but the cake was made of Cabernet flour and i found it pretty dry. It was served with a 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Icewine. I had never had red icewine, and i don't really enjoy the white, but this was really good - almost a raspberry flavour to it.


Surprise, surprise, the cheese course was my favorite. This was 5th town Operetta with wild honey comb. Such a unique combo. The most interesting part about this course was that it was served with a barrel tasting of their 2007 Cabernet Franc which was exceptional.

Lime Peanut Noodles

I saw this recipe online and just scribbled down the dressing/sauce ingredients so i just kinda wing it. I'm sure its nothing like the original, but i enjoy it. This is also a decent one to bring to a pot luck, as the noodles and veggies are still good cold and you just need to assemble it on a platter. I actually brought this one to my office's United Way pot luck. When you work with mainly men, pot lucks are very interesting things, either their wives make them something, they buy things prepared by the grocery store (sushi, fruit or veggies) or in the case of my work they also bring in buckets of KFC (aka dirty bird) and Pizza. Seriously!

One of the things i think is really interesting about the peanut sauce is that you do it in a food processor. As i said i don't have the exact proportions, just experiment so that you get them to your liking.

Soy Sauce (1-2 tbsp)
Brown Sugar (1 tsp but check to see if your peanut butter already has sugar, if so omit)
Lime juice and zest (i like lime so two juicy ones and zest to taste)
Warm water (1/2 cup)
Peanut butter (1/2 cup)
Rice Vinegar (1 tbsp)
Scallion (one chopped)
Ginger (1 tsp)
Red Pepper flakes

Boil a pot of water, add whole wheat linguine, though the pasta is really whatever you have on hand, my fall-back is linguine. In the last couple minutes of cooking the pasta add broccoli and sugar peas. Meanwhile carefully cut some medium tofu into bite sized pieces. Drain the pasta and veggies. Toss the pasta with the sauce, reserving some. Plate the pasta, top with broccoli, peas and tofu. Drizzle more dressing on the veggies and tofu. You can add roasted peanuts or chopped cilantro if you like, i just don't always have them on hand.

A good quick dinner or potluck item. This lasts a couple days, so it also makes a good lunch. The lime zest really gives this simple dish a unique taste and as usual its also a good source of calcium.

Above:

Lime Peanut Noodles with broccoli, tofu and peas
Left overs!!!
Ingredients
Last bites...

More lunch ideas

Not being a fan of simple cold sandwiches lunches are a bit of a challenge. I try and make interesting, healthy and light meals for the office. In part i'm sort of trapped and it easy to force myself to eat what i've made for lunch. Salads always work pretty well. I generally bring enough for three days, and just dole it out day by day. I find actually putting it on a real plate or bowl, with cutlery makes it a lot more appealing, and i pay a bit more attention to what i'm eating. (a problem i have once its in front of me)

Luckily i have one of those offices where no one is going to steal my yogurt or spinach, so i'm free to store a few days or even a week's worth of food. I also find this easier than dreading what to make for lunch every night before bed.

Last week i made a black bean, corn, jalapeno and tomato salad. I served it over spinach with a sour cream lime dressing. It was really tasty and i used some of the salad as a topping for my potato tacos. Its all about the double duty.

This week i went with a really easy soup - Tomato and balsamic. I had read it on a blog a while ago and it was sitting around in my "Recipe" file (piles of printouts of recipes among cook books with lots of bookmarks). The Recipe called for a can of fat-free evaporated milk, and i just couldn't add something so gross, so instead i went with tofu to give it the creamy texture, plus it was fortified with calcium. You were supposed to make Parmesan crisps, but mine didn't really turn out too well, so i'll have toast and salad with it instead.

Above:

Soup Ingredients
Roasting the canned tomatoes in a broth, soy and balsamic marinade
Final Product
Black bean ingredients
Lunch ready for transport