crispy lentils with walnuts and za’atar
This week, I finally caught up on my blog feed after getting horribly backlogged over the holidays. I couldn’t bring myself to “mark all as read” because I have serious FOMO, but honestly I’m glad I took the time because my favorite blogs killed it – wrapping up 2014 and starting off 2015 right. I also just read Lean In, so I’m either two months or two years behind, depending on your yardstick.
Bearing that in mind, today’s recipe is not Valentine’s Day themed, as that would require the kind of forethought I can only applaud others for commanding. I dream of being that kind of writer one day. Except not really because I’m too busy dreaming about a full night’s sleep.
(But rest assured I will not miss Pi Day, partly because pie and partly because this.)
What I have for you instead of a chocolate dessert or romantic dinner menu is something more unassuming – I think “humble” is a good word for lentils – but no less rousing to eat. I love lentils’ earthiness but sometimes their texture is lackluster, so for this dish they get a little makeover via a fry in a hot skillet to become satisfyingly crispy. For extra crunch, I add chopped walnuts that become aromatic as they cook alongside the legumes. Everything is coated in a generous sprinkling of za’atar, an herbaceous and tangy spice blend of sumac, sesame seeds, and thyme. The sesame seeds also toast up in the pan, deepening their flavor. Oh, and I threw some kale in there for some extra goodness, to find it also became delightfully crisp at the edges.
I’d been coming back to this dish for a while, especially to use up leftover lentils, but didn’t find it notable enough to share until I began adding lemon zest. See, there are a lot of hearty flavors going on here, and they needed a little uplift. The zest brings a brightness to the meal that simultaneously balances and boosts it. Topped with a fried egg, I’ve been relishing it for breakfast, although it could just as easily stand in for lunch.
So there you have it, your non-Valentine’s Day recipe. It’s not glamorous, but it’s really good.
Crispy Lentils with Walnuts and Za’atar
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
1 c julienned kale
1 c cooked lentils, cooled and patted dry*
1/2 c roughly chopped walnuts
1 tsp za’atar
2 tsp lemon zest
2 eggs
olive oil
salt
Add a splash of olive oil to a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and saute until translucent. Add the kale and saute until bright green. Stir in the lentils, walnuts, za’atar, and two big pinches of salt and continue to saute until the lentils are crispy and walnuts are fragrant. This whole process takes 7-10 minutes.Stir in the lemon zest.
At this point if your skillet is large enough you can move the lentil mixture to the side, otherwise divide it among two plates before frying the eggs. Add another big splash of olive oil to the pan, crack in the eggs, and sprinkle each with a little salt. Cover and cook until the edges are crispy, whites are just set, and yolks still runny. Plate the eggs over the lentils and serve warm.
Serves 2
*I like to keep my lentils in a mesh strainer overnight in the fridge to cool and drip/air dry.The drier the lentils are, the more easily they’ll crisp up.
kimchi breakfast pizza
I look to numerous sources for recipe ideas, but one of the more unusual is…myself. Or, my previous self. Sometimes I scan the archives of my old (deleted) blog to see what we were eating half a decade ago, and I’m always kind of impressed by the creative, vegetable-centric meals I was cooking up back then.
Case in point: kimchi breakfast pizza. This recipe is just lightly adapted from one I posted years ago and it’s just as good as I remember. Of course, when I originally made it the kimchi was homemade using cabbage from a local farm, and this time around it’s from FreshDirect and put me back ten dollars for about two cups’ worth.
I often put kimchi in my scrambled eggs. It’s like hot sauce but more sophisticated – spicy, yes, but also tangy, savory, and almost a little effervescent. This breakfast pizza takes that concept up a notch by adding salty-crisp bacon and assembling it all atop chewy-yet-light carbs (always a good idea).
After a lot of hit-and-miss attempts to achieve a cooked egg white with a runny yolk, I’ve finally settled on separating the egg and adding the yolk at the end of the cook time, assuring it will be the warm, saucy deliciousness I adore. In the future, I’m interested in trying A Couple Cooks‘ method (found via Molly Yeh) of reducing the baking temperature to get the eggs right.
Kimchi Breakfast Pizza
1/4 lb pizza dough
1/4 c kimchi, roughly chopped
2 strips bacon, fried and crumbled
1 egg
olive oil
salt
flour for rolling
Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 525 degrees F. (If your oven doesn’t go that high, set it to its max temperature and increase cooking time slightly.)
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pizza dough to 1/8th-inch thickness. Transfer the dough to parchment paper and brush lightly with olive oil. Spread the kimchi and bacon around the dough, leaving space in the middle for the egg.
Separate the egg, add the white to the center of the pizza, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Move the pizza, on the parchment paper, to the oven and bake until the white is almost set, about 5 minutes. Add the yolk to the middle of the pizza and cook another 2 minutes. Serve immediately.
Serves 1
january freelance links
Since entering 2015 in a bit of a funk – recovering from the flu and feeling a major work-life imbalance – I took January pretty easy. I had a couple articles from last December go live and didn’t stop work entirely, so I do have some tasty links to share with you. This month of rest and reflection was just what I needed, so February is off to a much brighter start than last month. I’m finally feeling that energy that usually comes with the new year. I owe this space an update and a new recipe, so I’ll be checking back in later this week with a blog post.
This kale and quinoa salad for Hellobee is, without a doubt, my favorite recipe from January. The zesty vinaigrette softens the kale and gives it a lovely gloss, while the quinoa adds texture and makes it filling enough to serve on its own for lunch or a light dinner. The almonds, oranges, cranberries, red onion, and romano cheese add sweet and savory flavors as well as gorgeous jewel tones. Make a big batch and eat it throughout the week – it only gets better after time in the fridge.
This month’s cold weather (and faux blizzard) called for warming, cozy meals, like this sausage and lentil soup for the Recipe.com blog. The original recipe is executed in a slow cooker, but I made mine in a Dutch oven – I don’t think you can go wrong either way.
Also on the cozy side of things is this Greek baked pasta. I doubled the recipe for this casserole of penne, spiced lamb, and a clever substitute for a bechamel. I froze half to reheat on nights I didn’t have time to cook. This was a big help toward our goal of cutting back on our Seamless orders and was so delicious that no one minded the repetition.
As far as seasonal produce goes, January doesn’t have much new to offer, with the very notable exception of citrus. The clementines, oranges, and grapefruit have been so delightfully sweet and tart I’ve mostly eaten them straight up, but this citrus upside down cake was also an excellent choice. The secret to the outstanding cake batter? Cardamom. The warming, floral spice matches brilliantly with the caramelized citrus slices.
Do I even need to write anything to convince you to make these butterscotch sticky buns?
We’re currently on a nacho kick, and while Ben is partial to the more traditional ground beef and cheddar cheese version, I loved these Mediterranean nachos for Recipe.com. They’re briny, herbaceous, crispy, and light yet filling. I included instructions in the article for homemade roasted red pepper hummus and oregano marinated feta.
Last month for The Kitchn, I kicked off a new series on the site for weekly meal plans that includes a shopping list and Sunday prep instructions. Mine was a nourishing way to welcome 2015 that boasts a LOT of sweet potatoes, starting with sweet potatoes topped with a chickpea tomato sauce.
The first recipe is slightly sweet and spicy and makes for a satisfying meal, especially when paired with this green salad with orange, avocado, and red onion. This green, orange, and purple trio isn’t just beautiful to look at; it’s also a sure-fire way to a delicious salad.
As part of the meal plan, I suggest using leftover sweet potatoes to make whipped sweet potatoes – They’re velvety and rich and almost like eating dessert as a side.
Another way to use up all those sweet potatoes I had you bake on Sunday? This miso sweet potato soup. The recipe is Faith’s, not mine, but I made it to update the photos so I can attest to how amazing it is. In fact, we’ve made it twice more since the beginning of January.
And to serve atop the leftover sweet potatoes or chickpea tomato sauce I made a simple pan seared salmon. I love making this meal on busy weeknights, because it feels like a luxury but only takes 5-10 minutes.
I’m really loving this series on The Kitchn and was pumped to contribute the inaugural set of recipes. Check out some of the other meal plans that have published since:
A Day of Sunny, Mediterranean-Inspired Meals by Andrea Bemis
A Week of Healthy, Make-Ahead Meals by Joy Manning
A Day of Thai Cooking by Michelle Peters-Jones
And lastly, for SheKnows I have an article tangentially related to food: a nourishing avocado face mask. It’s a simple, natural way to treat your skin during the cold weather months. I’m betting I’m not the only one who felt like she needed to treat herself this time of year.