lamb and lentil tagine

I had a crisis this week.

Most of the time I don't use cookbooks all that often--I love them as gifts and to read because I like looking at the gorgeous pictures and getting general ideas, but on a weeknight when I'm hungry I'm more of the type of person to type whatever I feel like into the search bar and ask the great wide internets about my recipe thoughts.

But there's one cook book that I have that I really love. And this past week I really wanted something from it, couldn't find it, and, in a moment of tearing apart my apartment, realized that it was back in California.

Reality crushes again.

That something that I wanted was a rich, lamb-y, lentil-y dish that I like to call a tagine. I don't have a tagine, so it's not really...authentic, but "stew" conjures images of something watery, and this is anything but. The internet tells me that covering is the main requirement of a tagine, to keep in the moisture; I cover this for most of its cooking time, so tagine it is. It is rich, it has body, and it will totally rock your world in a way that stews usually don't.

After some tinkering, I have finally recreated it, so I felt that it was my duty to share. Some of you may look at me like I'm crazed when you see how much cinnamon goes into it, but don't worry! This is what gives the tagine its great earthy flavor.

I made an inhumanly large batch with the intent of freezing portions for easy lunches--you can halve this recipe and still feed 4-5 people.

And with the smell that this will send down your hallway, you just might have to.

~*~

Serves 7-8
Total time: 1.5 hours

2 lbs lamb shoulder or lamb shoulder chop
1 whole onion
2 cups dry brown lentils
1 can garbanzo beans (optional)
3 tbsp cinnamon, 1tbsp set aside
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp red chile or paprika
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

Note: If you are using whole spices, so much the better! Aim for these amounts using a spice grinder (a grater for your nutmeg). Feel free to toast cumin and coriander first in a dry pan before grinding.

Cut your onion into manageable-sized pieces and place in food processor. If you don't have one, finely dice and set aside, then add it to the lamb with spices.

Onion!

Place all of your spices (except for the 1 tbsp of cinnamon you have set aside) in with the onion. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil--feel free to use more if your mixture is not grinding very well. Pulse until you have a fine paste.

An all-star cast of spices...turmeric not pictured. (He was late to the photoshoot!)

Dried mild red chile from Santa Fe--paprika will do fine in its place.

In a large bowl or container, cut your lamb into chunks, as close to bite-sized as you can get. There are bones, so be careful--I put them in, but you don't have to if you don't want to. Once your lamb is all cubed up, spoon the onion paste into the bowl and toss the lamb to coat. Sprinkle your extra 1 tbsp cinnamon over the lamb and toss again. Let the lamb marinate for at least 30 minutes, up to 1 hour.

Plain lamb.

Paste-y lamb.

In the meantime, rinse lentils very thoroughly (at least 3 washes) and pick through them for any stones or debris.

Heat some vegetable oil in a large dutch oven. Cook lamb and onion mixture, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Add lentils and 4 cups water. Bring back to a bubble, then cover, reducing heat to medium-low, allowing tagine to simmer.

Initial browning.

Ready for cover!

Uncover after 45 minutes, add drained garbanzo beans, and allow tagine to cook uncovered for a further 25 minutes. Stir frequently at this stage, as it has a nasty habit of sticking. Don't let it burn!

What it looks like when you've just uncovered it...

Taste and add salt as needed. Test lentils and lamb for doneness, then serve! Goes well with a side of hummus and lavash bread.

zucchini lasagna

A friend of mine has a large, green problem.

Apparently, the zucchinis just won't stop!

And what do you do with a 5lb zucchini? Zucchini thrives in fresh dishes like pastas, which don't last too long and won't use up too much of our yummy green friend.

This dish plays with that concept--replacing pasta with vegetable--and can be made in large quantities and frozen for lunches (I'd even contest that it's better the second day!) The zucchinis lose a lot of their volume through the grilling/sautéing process, and this is a great recipe for producing in bulk. Lasagna is also a flexible dish, and you can modify/add as you like!

A fun way to make it vegan and add a little protein is by making tofu ricotta. I found a new recipe that I absolutely adore, because it perfectly replicates the texture of ricotta, tastes really good, and is a great way to sneak in some protein to an otherwise not-so-filling dish. You could use regular ricotta if you want, but I encourage you to try it out if you're feeling adventurous--it's awesome.

My non-vegan food and non-vegetable-loving boyfriend actually ate this. If that's not a stamp of approval, I don't know what is!

~*~

Tofu ricotta adapted from here

Serves 3-4

Total time: 1.5-2 hours, but if you use a real grill or a larger griddle pan, it'll go faster!

1 1/2 lb zucchini (about 5 medium), sliced thin

sauce

1 can tomato sauce/pureed tomatoes

3/4 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic

tofu cheese

1 package tofu

3 cloves garlic

1/4 onion, diced

2 1/2 tbsp white miso

1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp tightly packed minced parsley

optional additions

1 can artichoke hearts, dried and rinsed

panko bread crumbs
vegan or regular mozzarella

Sliced zucchini!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grilling away...

Slice zucchini into thin planks using a knife or a mandolin (cut off top and bottom and slice downwards with your knife). Using a grill, a griddle pan, or a skillet, sprayed with cooking oil, cook zucchini on medium heat until there are light brown grill marks on either side or until golden brown. Squidge each slice down with the back of a fork to coax out some of the liquid.

In progress!

While your zucchini slices are grilling, cook onions and garlic in 1 tbsp of cooking oil until translucent and just turning golden brown. Pour in can of tomato sauce and turn down heat to low simmer until ready to use.

Making sure to check on your zucchini and replace cooked planks with new ones, you can start on your tofu cheese.

Drain your block of tofu, and crumble it onto a paper towel. Pat dry, changing paper towels at least twice, removing as much liquid as possible. Place in food processor with miso, lemon juice, parsley, onion, and garlic, and pulse until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.

The basics.

Crumbled.

Pulsed.

Ready!

Once all your zucchinis are done, you can start building your lasagna. I used a 9.5 inch pie pan, but you could use a loaf pan, a square pan...use your imagination!

Building begins.

Spoon out a thin layer of tomato sauce. Lay down a layer of zucchini slices. Spread a layer of tofu cheese or regular ricotta. If using them, spread a layer of artichokes. If you want an extra-cheesy dish, feel free to sprinkle some layers of vegan/regular mozzarella down on top of your ricotta.

Repeat until pan is almost full. For the final layer, spread the rest of your zucchini. You can spray the top with cooking oil, salt and pepper, and bake as-is, or add some bread crumbs on top for extra flair.

Add some cheese.

Done!

Dems layers.

With crumbs!

Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbling. Let set for at least 15 minutes, or overnight in the fridge, before serving--or, if you're impatient like me, serve it in a bowl as soon as you're hungry.

All done!

roasted butternut squash and apple salad

This salad features two ingredients that are absolutely everywhere this time of year--squash and apples. While squash can look like a troublesome ingredient, it's completely worth the extra effort.

When you're tired of stuffing squash in pastries, pastas, and eating it as a side dish, a nice salad can be a refreshing new twist. This recipe is simple, but delicious, and really lets the ingredients shine through.

~*~

Serves 2-4

1 butternut squash, peeled and diced + seeds

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 apple, peeled and diced

juice 1/2 lemon or lime

3 cups mixed greens

pepitas (optional)
goat cheese (optional)

dressing

whole grain mustard

red wine vinegar

honey

olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Squash at the ready!

Cut off top and bottom of butternut squash. Stand it up and, using a sturdy chef's knife, peel skin off in downwards strokes. (This is a bit of a project, so enlisting someone else to do this part may be a good idea...) Once peeled, cut in half. Scoop  out stringy insides and seeds. Slice and dice squash into bite-sized pieces.

Peeled...

Gizmo being helpful, as usual.

Cut in half.

Getting there...

All cubed up!

Toss diced squash with ~3 tbsp of olive oil, a dash of salt, and 2 tbsp of brown sugar or honey to bring out the sweetness. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Ready to bake!

You could just use pepitas if you're in a rush, but squash comes ready with some awesome seeds, so if you've got the time, you can roast these too. Just sort the pulp from the seeds (it gets messy but just digging in is the best way) and rinse them. Lay them flat in a pan, toss with 1 tsp of oil or some cooking spray and a pinch of salt, and roast them in the oven for 12 minutes. Test for doneness--they should be crispy.

Squash, all baked.

Seeds, done!

Once your squash and seeds are done, pull out of oven and let cool. Peel, core, and dice your apple, then squeeze lemon over it to prevent browning.

Mix one tbsp mustard, one tbsp honey, and 2 tbsp honey. Mix together and taste, adjusting proportions if needed. Whisk in 1/2 cup of olive oil.

Dressing.

Combine ingredients in salad bowl, crumbling goat cheese in if desired.

Toss everything together, and serve.

bacon pancakes

Martha is the grand authority on so many things--and it appears bacon pancakes is one of them. I love using yogurt in pancakes (because honestly, who has buttermilk just lying around in their fridge?) and the fact that I had maple yogurt? It was like the world made sense. You could even boost the flavor a little more by adding another spoon of maple syrup to the batter.

Aren't they just gorgeous?

If you needed any more reason to make these immediately, the pancakes come out like fluffy, decadent clouds. And they're pure genius! I mean, it takes the best parts of breakfast--eggs, yogurt, bacon, pancakes, jam...and puts them together. It almost makes you think there's a glitch in the matrix or something, because it's so overwhelmingly awesome.

~*~

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes about 5 medium sized pancakes (I like littler ones, but you could feasibly make two giant ones)

5 half-strips of bacon
1 cup flour
2 tbsp brown sugar

1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 & 1/4 cup maple yogurt (full fat) (plain would work too)

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 large egg

strawberry jam (optional)

Mix your flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, trying to whisk out any lumps in your flour. Whisk in yogurt, egg, then butter.

Batter up!

Fry up your bacon in a skillet until golden brown. Remove from skillet and drain off excess fat. Add a little bit of canola oil if you need to to keep your pancakes from burning.

Pour in your pancake batter to desired size. Lay a strip of bacon down on the surface. Flip when bubbles erupt through to the top and the bottom size is a light golden brown.

Flipped.

Flip again when there is no more gooey batter oozing out and the bottom side is also golden brown.

Enjoy the glory. (Don't forget your jam!)

white miso grilled salmon + pear and sorrel salad

As much as Bobby Flay irritates me (am I the only one?), I have to admit that he does have some good ideas. He introduced me to the idea of grilling peaches--if you haven't done this, you need to--and he cottoned on to poblanos and tomatillos long before I did (and now they are almost always in my fridge!) And, my greatest confession--I don't really know my way around the grill too well. But he does.

So...this recipe was inspired by one of Mr. Flay's, who I begrudgingly admit is pretty awesome at cooking stuff on a mesh of bars over fire.

White miso may be an expensive ingredient to buy initially, but it quite literally can be used anywhere--marinades, salad dressings, soups, sauces, noodles...when I was traveling recently I even went to a bakery that had red miso bread. (Yes, it was fabulous!)

It's savory, salty, and almost indescribably delicious. 

And when whacked around with a few other choice ingredients and allowed to meld into some fresh PNW Coho salmon...well, it doesn't really get much better than that.

~*~

Adapted from Bobby Flay

Serves 2

2 filets salmon (I used center-cut coho--really the only requirement is that it be a piece of relatively equal thickness so it cooks evenly)

3 tbsp white miso paste

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tbsp honey

~1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

1 grated garlic clove

1/3 cup white wine or mirin (optional)

1 tbsp butter (optional)

pear & sorrel salad:

2 ripe pears

1 bunch sorrel (arugula would do fine, too)

juice of 1/2 a lemon

whole grain mustard

rice wine vinegar

honey

olive oil

In a small dish, spoon in your miso, soy sauce, vinegar, and honey. Cut a piece of ginger about the size of a ping-pong ball from your branch and peel it (small knife works best). Using a microplane, grate your ginger and your garlic in. Stir it all up.

The raw materials.

Place your salmon in a container--a medium-sized tupperware does fine--and pour the marinade over it. Make sure it coats the fish on all sides. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 day.

Salmon takes a bath.

In the meantime, prep your salad. Slice pears in half, cut off stem and bottom and slice out core with a small knife. Slice and place in bowl, then juice 1/2 lemon over slices to keep pears from turning brown. Chop sorrel into bite-sized pieces over top of the pears.

Pears getting the citrus treatment!

Sorrel...snappy, lemony, and perfect for cutting through the fattiness of the fish.

To prepare vinaigrette, mix about a tbsp of mustard and honey. Add about 1.5 tbsps of rice wine vinegar. Adjust the proportions to your liking. Use a tbsp of hot water if needed to facilitate mixing. While adding 1/2 cup of olive oil, continue to stir vigorously until everything is well mixed. Pour over salad at last possible moment, and toss well before serving.

Dressing at the ready.

Once you're ready to cook your salmon, pull it out of the fridge. You can salt and pepper your fish if you'd like, but be careful since miso is a little salty on its own. I didn't bother.

If you've got a grill, grill your salmon skin side down first, with the cover closed, for 4 minutes, then flip and finish it in another four.

If you've got a griddle pan like me, or a regular non-stick pan, get your pan nice and hot. Add in a tablespoon of oil so your salmon doesn't stick. Start your salmon skin-side down and let it cook for 4 minutes. Scrape in your remaining marinade on top of your fish. Turn over (you can use a fish turner if you have one--I just delicately use a spatula and a fork) your fish and let it cook for another 4 minutes. Turn it back onto its front side, let the skin crisp up for one more moment, then lift it onto your plate.

Now, you could serve up your salmon and salad and eat it as it is, but if you're like me and you looked sadly at your pan thinking it's a shame to waste all that caramelized miso, follow these next steps:

Pour in 1/3 cup of wine and stir up the juices at the bottom of the pan--in a griddle pan it's a little hard, but try to gather all those tasty bits together as best you can. After letting the alcohol cook for about 30 seconds, add the butter. Stir until butter is melted, then pour your sauce into a small bowl. Serve up your fish with salad and sauce either on top or on the side. (It packs a big flavor punch, so drizzle sparingly. If you're a miso fiend like me, go crazy!)

Delicious!