Beans, not thrift (Butter bean dip)

There was this plan. A Food for Five plan, I seem to remember dubbing it. There were rules about not spending too much money on food. Being budget conscious, pinching pennies and using all my left-overs. Good stuff to teach me thrift and save me Euros.

Yeah, so that didn’t happen.

I’ve been cranky lately. Wanting to bite people’s heads off for doing perfectly normal things like pulling on their coat before getting off the train (missing my face by an inch, but still) or clearing their throat (though, really, if you have to cough, do it and don’t sit there sounding like a mad porcupine before – surprise surprise – spreading the germ love anyway).

I blame the lack of light. Leaving the house in the dark, working all day in an artificially lit office and then making your way home in the dark again cannot be healthy for a person.

Also, these below-zero temperatures are seriously pissing me off. Every morning before I get on my bike, I pull on arm warmers, a thick, heavy coat, wrap my throat in a scarf and hide my hands in a pair of gloves. Then I scrape the ice off my saddle, cover it with a seat cover to prevent icy left-overs from soaking my trousers, install lights and fight three frost-bitten locks. It takes for-ever. I miss miss miss the days when I slipped on a jacket, bounced downstairs in flip-flops, had no troubles opening my locks and was good to go in seconds. Okay, so maybe “bouncing” is not an accurate description of my early-morning movements any time of the year, but still.

Being cheap about my food in these dark, cold times is not going to happen. It is ticking me off. Plus, it is causing blog-block, which I loathe. So here’s my towel- I am throwing it in.

Luckily, it is not just the desire to be thrifty that keeps me from handing over my entire income to food vendors. I also have a money-saving lazy streak. Yesterday, for instance, I couldn’t be bothered cycling to the supermarket when time for dinner came. Instead, I pulled a few cans from the pantry and combined them with bits and pieces floating around my kitchen. Was I glad I did. Not only did I save on groceries, I stumbled upon the first legume preparation I want to make again and again because it is so good (and not just because it is good for me). Served over a spicy tomato sauce with a fried egg on top, it was a great Sunday supper. I imagine it would be even better served as a dip, with some finely chopped cilantro as a garnish and crunchy vegetables to dunk in it. In fact, it is so good that I am putting it on the Legume Love List. That’s right: one down, nine to go.

Butter bean dip

Makes about 1,5 cups

1 can of butter beans, drained and rinsed
4 tbsp of a mild yogurt
2 small cloves of garlic, pressed
large pinch of crushed chili flakes

Place the beans in a food processor and add the yogurt. Pulse until it is a coarse puree, then add the garlic and the crushed chili flakes. Process until it has the consistency you like in a dip. I like mine smooth, but chunks may be good too. Taste, and add more yogurt, garlic, chili flakes or salt as needed.

Serve with vegetables or a nice bread to dip.

Learning to Love the Legume, part 1 (Lentil Salad)

As you may recall, I am not fond of legumes. As in, I won’t eat them. Unless someone has cooked them for me and even then it is usually because I don’t want them to think I am rude and stop inviting me. This, however, is a sorry state of affairs. I am a grown woman and should really be able to embrace such an elementary food group. If whole continents survive on little else than rice and beans, then surely I can learn to like, even love, some of them?

With that in mind, I have set myself a challenge. By the end of this year, I must have a list of ten different recipes with legumes that I love. Not just like, love. As in: if these were human, I would consider moving in with them. Or write them a love song. In fact, it would be perfect if I found a bean-recipe that inspired me to write a love song. Because the world needs more songs about beans. Won't someone get on that?

As a first step on my way to meeting the challenge, I made a lentil salad, based on the lentil dish I describe here. And while it isn’t love, I liked it enough to save the leftovers and eat them the next day. Not a bad start, eh?

Lentil Salad with Cilantro and Grilled Peppers

Serves 2 as a side, 1 as a main

½ cup of Puy lentils
2 roasted red peppers from a jar, in strips (or freshly roasted)
crumbled feta to taste, optional

For dressing:

1 bunch of cilantro, leaves only
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp of tasty olive oil
pinch of salt
1 tsp of vinegar, if you are using freshly roasted peppers or peppers from a jar that don’t have vinegar

Put lentils in a saucepan, cover with water (lentils should have plenty of water to dance around in) and bring to a boil. Boil for about 20 minutes, or until tender.

While the lentils are cooking, make the dressing. Put cilantro leaves in a mortar and add a pinch of salt (this makes grinding them easier). Grind with a pestle until all the leaves have been reduced to a pulp. This shouldn’t take long; a minute or two should do it. Add garlic and pound that to a pulp too. Add vinegar (if using) and olive oil and stir to mix.

When the lentils are tender, drain them and immediately pour over the cilantro mixture. Mix thoroughly and leave to cool to room temperature. When cool, add strips of roasted pepper and toss gently. Serve with feta crumbled on top, if you like.

Cooking for the heart

I've had a few days off work (sort of), so I can be found in my kitchen even more regularly than normal. On Tuesday, I cooked and baked for the two women who raised me (not by themselves, my dad, for one, was intimately involved- but I wouldn't be me without them). There were stuffed portobello mushrooms and grilled asparagus for my mother after a day of hard work. And there were lemon sables for my great-aunt, who is in a home while she recovers from hip replacement surgery. Vegetables and cookies to show I care- food from the heart.

Today, it was just me and dinner wasn't so much from the heart as for the heart. I got " Cooking for a Healthy Heart" from the library when my ever-tightening pants told me it was time to Stop. Eating. The. Wrong. Thing. Right now. It's got quite a few lovely recipes (in spite of a tendency to consider vegetable spread an acceptable ingredient)- in fact, the caponata I described earlier as the first thing I cooked my man is from this book. Today, a recipe for salmon with lentils and dill caught my eye.

I've had a box of lentils sitting in my pantry since we got back from a holiday in France last year, stumped as to what to do with them. (Also, a little scared I wouldn't like them. They are Puy lentils, that everyone always loves and I don't like legumes in general. These were like a last-ditch attempt to teach myself to like this good-for-you food group. My experiment a few weeks ago to do the same with home-soaked chickpeas ended in a pan of inedible, black soup. But, uhm..., that might have had something to with the use of black pantyhose to make a bouquet garni. Nigella said nothing about using colorless pantyhose...) This recipe was my keep-my-fingers-crossed attempt at making something delicious from pulses.

And, boy, was I relieved. Even though the lentils had a bit of that mealy-ness I dislike so much, this dish was a keeper. Lentils brightened by a herby dressing, pieces of sweet roasted pepper and juicy salmon all mixed with a good dose of dill and spring onions. Tasty, healthy, lovely.

Lentils with salmon and dill
Adapted from " Cooking for a Healthy Heart" by Jacqui Lynas

125gr filleted salmon
1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
50 gr of Puy lentils
handful of dill, finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely chopped (reserve a little to use as garnish)
lemon juice for sprinkling

dressing
small clove of garlic, peeled
handful basil leaves
handful dill
1 tsp mustard
1 pickled Turkish green pepper
juice of half a lemon
small glug of olive oil

Boil lentils according to package instructions (mine said to start with cold water, bring to a boil and cook for 25 minutes- but they were a bit mushy and could have used a little less time in the pot). In the mean time, make dressing by pounding all ingredients except oil together with mortar and pestle. When ingredients have turned to a bright green paste, add enough olive oil to make thick dressing.

Poach salmon until almost-done (please don't overcook). Drain lentils when done and immediately mix with dressing, bell pepper, dill and spring onions. Leave to stand for a while to allow lentils to soak up flavors. Add salmon, toss. Serve with a little extra spring onion on top.

Serves one

Grilled asparagus
Adapted from "Het Basiskookboek" published by Albert Heijn

Bunch of green asparagus
Olive oil
Lime juice
Nice, crunchy salt for sprinkling

Wash asparagus and break off bottom 2cm or so (no need to peel). Pat dry and sprinkle with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Toss asparagus to coat with the oil.

Heat a grilling pan to hot, put asparagus in pan. Turning them occassionally to brown on all sides, cook asparagus for eight minutes, or until tender when pierced with a fork.

Mix a good glug of olive oil with lime juice to taste to make a dipping sauce for asparagus. Sprinkle asparagus with a little salt and serve with dip on the side.