Vegetables | Simple By Cindy

Lemon Lentil Salad

Jan. 23
2020

Move over chickpeas, lentils are the new legume on the block!

Growing up, most of us never knew what a lentil was. My mother used them only in her soups, which I remember being delicious. But times are evolving and lentils on their own are becoming more popular, especially in vegan dishes.

Given this, you would think they were just recently discovered, but they have been eaten since Neolithic times and were one of the first domesticated crops. In the past, lentils have been considered as the “poor man’s meat.” In many countries, people who couldn’t afford fish would eat lentils. Today, lentils are cultivated throughout Europe, Asia, and North Africa.

Due to changing dietary choices, lentils have seen a new surge in popularity. They have become a healthy, meatless protein source, and are included in many vegetarian and vegan dishes. As a rule, plant based foods provide a wide range of fiber, vitamins, and minerals, and they contain antioxidant properties. There are a great source of folic acid and potassium. Having these nutrients can reduce the level of LDL cholesterol, aka “bad” cholesterol. They have 38 grams of calcium per cup, proving how healthy they are for your bones.

Have I convinced you yet? If I have, then this salad is just for you. If not, try it anyway! It is packed with flavor and will keep you feeling satisfied, so you won’t be missing meat. It is also very versatile, so you can add or remove any other ingredients you would like. The bay leaf and thyme start the lentils off with a wonderful savory flavor that transfers beautifully into the salad. The onions and cayenne add nice heat, and the carrots give it gratifying crunch. Of course, the lemon juice dressing is perfect for this outstanding salad.

This recipe is my own and will serve 4 to 6 people who will enjoy this filling alternative to meat.

Ingredients for Lemon Lentil Parsley Salad:

2 cups green or brown lentils
6 cups water
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs fresh thyme, tied together with cooking string
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup finely diced red onion
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup good extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste

In a medium saucepan, combine the lentils, bay leaf and thyme.

Add enough water to cover by 1-inch.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered until lentils are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Drain the lentils and discard the bay leaf and thyme sprigs.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt, and cayenne.

In a large bowl, combine the lentils, carrots, red onion, and parsley.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.

Refrigerate for about 30 minutes before serving.

It’s that simple!

MMM, good!

Spanish Shrimp and Rice

Jan. 9
2020

Cooking on a regular basis can be an exhausting and stressful task, especially for parents who work full time, and come home to children who need their attention. When I was first married and had young children and worked full time, the last thing I wanted to do was come home and cook, not to mention clean up. I can remember evenings when I was finished working and first had to go to the grocery store to shop for the week. Yikes!

Going out to dinner every night like we did when we didn’t have children was not a possibility any more. I had to learn how to cook– there was no alternative. I did it step by step, just as you would learn a language word by word. Cooking is a process, it takes time, planning, skill, and desire. Cooking is putting yourself out there, and you can’t help but fear how it will be received. My younger son was a picky eater, so he did not have a big repertoire. That was tough to handle sometimes, especially when I made a nice dish that he did not like. On the other hand, my husband’s mother was a horrible cook, so anything I made for him was gobbled up instantly.

I admit, praise is an important part of learning to cook. If you know an aspiring cook, take care to find something to compliment. Tell them how much you enjoyed their meal– it might inspire them to continue to grow and learn as a cook. All aspects of cooking, from menu planning to table layout, are difficult, so be kind and plentiful with your praises, it really does make one feel better about anything.

If cooking seems like an intimidating task, keep it simple. Maybe some chicken with a vegetable, or a steak with some roasted potatoes. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need to. Assign clean-up tasks to your family and make them do it. Every little bit of help will lessen the stress.

Most of all, remember to enjoy what you are making. Pour yourself a glass of wine, put on your favorite music, and dance from the stove to the sink. We are all going to make mistakes, so let’s learn how to laugh about it and learn– a disaster one day is a funny story the next!

Making Latin food is not my forte, so I wasn’t sure how this would turn out. To my delight this dish is scrumptious. All the veggies blend beautifully together. The shrimp are moist and flavorful. The turmeric and garlic add delicious savory goodness and the peas are wonderful bursts of deliciousness. Dare to use the hot sauce, it adds an additional depth of flavor you shouldn’t miss.

Please sign up for my newsletter so you never miss a recipe. Follow me and like me on Facebook, and click on over to my website.

This recipe is courtesy of Food Network and will serve 4 people who will offer their compliments to the chef.

Ingredients for Spanish Shrimp and Rice:

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 small carrot, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1-pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 1/2 cups converted white rice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
Hot sauce, for serving (optional)

Heat the vegetable oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat.

Add the onion, cook until edges turn slightly brown, about 5 minutes.

Add garlic and turmeric and cook, about 1 minute.

Add the tomato, carrot and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste.

Add the shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to turn pink, about 1 minute.

Add the rice, 2 cups water and 1/2 tablespoon parsley; bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to medium low, cover and simmer until the rice is tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove from the heat and sprinkle in the peas and the remaining 1/2 tablespoon parsley.

Cover and let stand 5 minutes.

Fluff the rice mixture with a fork and incorporate the peas and parsley.

Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with hot sauce.

It’s that simple!

Hasselback Butternut Squash Potatoes

Dec. 26
2019

As a child, my immediate family celebrated Chanukah, but my friends taught me about the Christmas spirit. They would invite me to decorate their trees, and I would go to midnight mass with them. I always thought the lights on the homes in my neighborhood were so beautiful and festive. The Christmas trees were enchanting, and I knew all the words to every Christmas song. How lucky I was to relive that this year on our vacation, when our hotel lit up the trees that lined their long driveway. What a magical enchanted forest it was!

I really felt like I celebrated both holidays growing up. I still do. Every Christmas I make dinner for my friends and family. My husband invites some colleagues from work and we all get together and celebrate. It’s kind of my Friendsgiving too. I use all the decorations from Thanksgiving and try to make it festive and beautiful. It gives me a chance to show them how much I love them and how important they are. It also gives my husband his chance at a very important job– bartender!

Working on my menu, I found this terrific side dish that looks much harder to prepare than it actually is. Lucky you! Half Baked Harvest suggests that if you cut the butternut squash in half and take out the seeds, each side will be easier to peel. She also recommends that you put two wooden spoons on each side of the squash so you do not cut through it.

This dish would be perfect for any holiday meal. The squash is roasted to perfection. The butter, maple syrup and chopped sage make a luscious dressing for the squash. Then it is topped off with a perfection combination baked breadcrumbs, sage and prosciutto which give an umami flavor that makes each bite perfection. It makes a beautiful presentation and tastes as good as it looks.

This recipe is courtesy of Half Baked Harvest and will serve 8 people who will of course want to compliment the chef on this festive and beautiful dish.

Ingredients for Hasselback Butternut Squash Potatoes:

2 small to medium butternut squash
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage + 8 sage leaves
1 cup finely torn ciabatta bread (I used fresh breadcrumbs)
3 ounces prosciutto

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Halve the squash lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a large spoon. Using a peeler, remove the skin.

Rub with 2 tablespoons olive oil, season with salt and pepper.

Place on a large baking sheet and roast until the squash begins to soften, 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the butter, maple syrup, and chopped sage until combined.

Grab the squash from the oven and transfer to a cutting board.

Using a sharp knife, slice through the rounded sides of squash halves, crosswise, going as deep as possible but without cutting all the way through.

Half baked Harvest suggests to position 2 spoons on either side of the squash to help prevent cutting all the way through (see above photo). It worked perfectly!

Return the squash to the baking sheet, scored sides up.

Spread half the maple butter over the squash, allowing it to drip into the slices.

Season with salt and pepper.

Roast the squash for 30 minutes, then spread with the remaining maple butter, spooning any melted butter in the pan over the squash.

Return to the oven and roast another 15-20 minutes, until the squash is tender.

At the same time, toss together the bread, 2 tablespoons olive oil, the sage leaves, and a pinch of salt and pepper on a separate baking sheet.

Lay the prosciutto around the bread.

Transfer to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until toasted.

Crumble the prosciutto into fine crumbs or pulse the mix in a food processor.

Remove the squash from the oven and transfer to a serving plate.

Drizzle over any maple butter left on the pan.

Top with breadcrumbs and sage.

Serve warm!

It’s that simple!

Streusel Sweet Potato Casserole

Nov. 25
2019

In all the years I have had my blog, I have never used the same recipe twice… until now. I am making an exception here because this recipe has become a family favorite. Out of all the dishes on our Thanksgiving table, this sweet potato side has become a healthy and delicious and a crowd pleaser. This amazing side has all the perfect Thanksgiving flavors, bringing to mind images of a perfect New England feast.

Sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows is yummy, sure, but also overdone. In this recipe, the sweet potatoes are combined with pecans, giving it a nice, crunchy texture. The rich, buttery taste of the sweet potato filling blends perfectly with the crispy topping. The welcoming aroma of the casserole cooking in the oven is enough to make you fall in love with it. When you taste it, it is so delicious and satisfying, you can’t help but look forward to Thanksgiving.

You can definitely use this as a side dish or dessert on that wonderful holiday (which is right around the corner)! This dish will absolutely be on my menu this Thanksgiving. I hope it will be on yours too.

I will not be posting on Thanksgiving, as I am preparing my home and my menu for 48 guests this year. With much love and thanks for all your support over the years, I wish you and your family a very happy holiday!

This recipe is courtesy of myrecipes and will serve 18 people who will love this delicious casserole with its crispy, crunchy topping.

Ingredients for Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole

14 cups (1 – inch) cubed peeled sweet potato (about 5 pounds)
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 tsp. salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375.

Place potato in a Dutch oven, and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer 12 minutes or until tender.

Drain.

Combine the half-and-half and next four ingredients (half-and-half through egg) in a large bowl.

Whisk ingredients together.

Add potatoes to egg mixture; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.

Spoon potato mixture into a 13 x 9 -inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Combine flour and sugar in a food processor; pulse to combine.

Add chilled butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Stir in pecans.

Sprinkle pecan mixture over potato mixture.

Carrot-Cabbage Casserole

Nov. 7
2019

My Aunt Esther loves to read cookbooks. So does my friend Beth. I never understood that… Until I started learning to cook. Turns out, once I got started, I never stopped– I now own hundreds of cookbooks that I use to find recipes to share with all of you.

I read every cookbook from start to finish and use a stickie to mark off the recipes I want to try. I know I will never get to them all, but it doesn’t hurt to try. While I also use the internet to find recipes, I will never stop buying and reading cookbooks. I love to see the covers, turn the pages, and look at the beautiful pictures that accompany them. I find the pictures especially intriguing because I am in awe of both the presentation and the quality of the photography. People are so imaginative and clever, I wish I were one of them.

Over the years, I’ve learned a thing or two about using cookbooks. I’m sure that many of you take the book and use it while you are preparing the recipe. I used to do it too, but I found that this is a one way trip to a dirty book with pages that are stuck together forever. Yuck! My advice to you is to make a copy of the recipe you are using. This way the recipes in your book will stay clean and crisp and will always look brand new, and you’ll never have to worry about peeling two pages apart.

When I find a recipe I would like to use, I also search the internet for similar recipes. Then I write down all the ingredients I want to add and make it my own. It takes time and effort, but I enjoy doing this and feel especially accomplished when my recipe turns out to be, as we call it in my home, “blog-worthy.” Sometimes it takes many tries to do this, and I have certainly made countless recipes that have ended up in the garbage. Only the best of the best make it to the blog for you.

This casserole is so easy to make and makes a beautiful presentation. The carrots and cabbage give it a little bit of crunch. It is topped off with lots of gooey cheesy goodness. The paprika gives it just the right amount of heat. This would be a great addition to any Thanksgiving menu.

This recipe is not my own, but courtesy of Allrecipes and will serve 6 to 8 people who will want the recipe printed to take home for themselves!

Ingredients for Carrot-Cabbage Casserole:

2 cubes chicken bouillon
2 cups water
2 pounds cabbage, sliced into thin strips
2 large carrots, grated
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
2 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese, or more to taste
1/4 teaspoon paprika, or to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Dissolve bouillon cubes in water in a large pot over medium-high heat.

Cook cabbage and carrots in the seasoned water until tender, 20 to 30 minutes.

Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

Transfer cabbage and carrots to an 8×11-inch casserole dish.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

Stir flour into melted butter until hot, about 1 minutes.

Pour reserved cooking liquid and milk into the flour mixture; stir until smooth.

Add cheese to milk mixture; cook and stir until cheese is melted and the mixture is smooth and thick.

Pour cheese sauce over cabbage and carrots; stir to coat.

Season with paprika.

Bake in preheated oven until hot and bubbly, 20 to 30 minutes.

It’s that simple!

Mitzie is too funny!