Lentils with Shallots and Brown Rice

Tomorrow is an exciting day in my classroom.

After learning about the Ancient Roman empire for two semesters, we will celebrate the culminating activity with a Roman feast.

The kids are beyond excited.

They’ve created their togas and stollas, fashioned their jewelry and broaches, and even decided on special Romanesque hairstyles.

But who am I kidding, the party isn’t about the fashion or Roman games, it’s about the food!

Luckily I have an amazing group of parents who are providing most of the food for the feast.

The kids, however, will bake Roman bread.

I’m contributing a recipe of my own- Grape leaves stuffed with lentils and shallot cooked brown rice.

I’m not claiming that my contribution is an authentic Roman recipe, it’s more of a “What would Kendel make with the ingredients in a Roman kitchen.”

Whereas the Romans would have used cereal grains like spelt, I’ve used brown rice which has been cooked with shallots and vegetable stock. Although brown rice was unknown to the Romans, I thought it would help hold the leaves together.

I’ll top the prepared stuffed grape leaves with tomatoes tomorrow and bake them before serving.

 

Hopefully the kids will feel like they’re truly at a Roman feast.

I still had leftover lentils and brown rice once the leaves were all stuffed so ate the extra stuffing as dinner.

With a simple drizzle of olive oil, these two easy ingredients made a filling and fancy-tasting dinner.

Vegan ~ Vegetarian ~ Simple

Ingredients

For the lentils

1 can cooked lentils

2 bay leaves

For the rice

1/2 cup brown rice

1- 1 1/4 cups water

2 small shallots, chopped

1 tsp. vegetable stock granules

olive oil

fresh black pepper

Method

1. Cook the rice according to package instructions along with the addition of the shallots and stock granules.
2. Warm the lentils and bay leaves over medium-low heat until the bay leaves become aromatic.
3. Plate the rice and lentils together, drizzle with olive oil and season with pepper to taste.

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Israeli Couscous with Garlic Green Beans

Green beans have always been one of my favorite vegetables.

I attribute my green bean love to my grandparents.

Every spring, my grandpa plants an incredible vegetable garden. He plants lettuce, sweet corn, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, peppers, even peanuts, garlic and strawberries.

Although he was always on a careful planting schedule when I was young, he’d save green bean planting to do with me.

Green beans were always our special crop.

 

Together, we’d prepare the soil, plant the seeds, give them their first drink of water and mark the rows. Every time my family and I would visit between spring and summer, my grandpa would take me out to the garden and proudly announce, “Look how much our beans have grown.”

In my mind, they were our beans, Grandpa’s and mine.

When the green beans were ready to harvest, Grandpa would call me up and exclaim that it was time to pick our beans.

He always waited and let me pick the first bean of the season.

Once we had a bucket full of freshly picked green beans, we’d bring them into the kitchen and my Grandma would take over.

She taught me how to snap off the ends and cook the beans to perfection with a butter and bacon.

Years later, when I announced my vegetarianism, my grandparents made the ultimate sacrifice- they stopped cooking bacon with the green beans.

My brothers will be the first to admit that Grandma and Grandpa’s green beans just aren’t the same without the bacon, but they all lovingly made that change for me.

Even now, when I travel back to the US, my grandparents cook up green beans from the garden; specially saved and frozen for my next return.

As I opened my CSA delivery this week and found a brown paper bag full of green beans, I was instantly taken back.

Taken back to my grandparents’ garden, full of love, learning, gentleness and guidance.

Although I wish I could have shared this green bean meal with my grandparents, I’m happy I can share it with you.

Israeli Couscous with Garlic, Green Beans, Zucchini and Pine Nuts

Makes 3 servings ~ Ready in 15 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 zucchini, chopped into bite sized pieces

3 large handfuls fresh green beans

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 Tablespoons butter

1 1/3 cup Israeli couscous

1 3/4 cups boiling vegetable broth (or water with stock granules)

2 Heaping tablespoons pine nuts

salt and pepper to taste

Fresh parmesan cheese to garnish

Method

1. Clean the green beans, remove the ends and cut into 1 inch pieces. Steam until slightly tender. Remove from heat.
2. Place 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a medium sized pan along with the couscous. Cook over medium-high heat until the couscous begins to turn golden brown. Slowly stir in the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the liquid is absorbed, about 12 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil and butter in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat until melted. Add the garlic, shallots and zucchini. Sauté until the zucchini becomes slightly tender. Add the steamed green beans and continue to cook for a couple more minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
4. Add the pine nuts to the vegetable mixture and cook until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. To serve, place the vegetables over the couscous and sprinkle with fresh parmesan cheese.

Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful fathers and grandfathers out there… especially mine.

I love you all so much.

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Caprese Kebabs

Insalata Caprese always reminds me of my early days in Germany.

Something strange about Germany is that the homes and apartments don’t come with kitchens. Sure, there is a room for a kitchen with a water pipe sticking out of the wall next to a water heater and a high voltage plug for an electric oven, but that’s it.

My kitchen and me circa August 2008.

I moved to Germany on love and ambition.

I was so excited to have my very own apartment that I didn’t mind building and installing an entire IKEA kitchen.

I was in no hurry. I owned a bursting pot of basil and I had a grocery store beneath my apartment which sold fresh mozzarella and local tomatoes.

For the first two kitchen-less weeks of my new life in Germany, I lived off of caprese salad.

Simple, fresh, and full of summer taste, this salad needed no kitchen.

My kitchen has changed a lot in the last 3 years.

Although I eventually set aside the daily caprese feast, I still return to this dish with nostalgia induced warm fuzzy feelings towards the early days of my life abroad.  Worthy Caprese Salad circa August 2010

This weekend, I took my beloved caprese salad and put it on skewers to create Caprese Kebabs.

Shared amongst friends I could never have imagined back in 2008, these kebabs were a hit.

Grilled summertime vegetables and Halloumi cheese coated in fresh basil and parmesan pesto.

This recipe is easy to make yet wows with every flavorful bite.

To make the pesto, one needs a blender, basil, olive oil, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, garlic and pine nuts.

Once blended, the pesto is ready to go.

For the kebabs, halloumi and tomatoes would be enough, but I also included zucchini and green onions.

Soak the wooden skewers in water to prevent burning, then create the kebabs by alternating the vegetables and cheese.

Marinate the kebabs in the pesto sauce for 1hour before grilling or just brush it on when you’re ready to grill.

Since I took this dish to a friend’s barbeque, I decided to save the mess and just brush the pesto over the kebabs before grilling. 

Rotate the kebabs, grilling on each side until golden brown.

Serve immediately while the cheese is soft and the vegetables are warm.

Adapted from Schrot & Korn magazine

Basil pesto

• 250 grams fresh basil
• 150 ml olive oil
• 25 grams pine nuts
• 2 garlic cloves
• 50 grams Parmesan cheese, grated
• Salt
• black pepper

Skewers

• 250 grams halloumi, cubed
• 12 green onions, cut into 1 inch segments
• 24 cherry tomatoes
• 1 zucchini, cut into semi circles
• Basil leaves for garnish
• 8 skewers

1. Combine the basil ingredients in a food processor and blend until well combined and smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Soak the wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes. Alternate the halloumi and vegetables on the skewers.
3. Top the prepared kebabs with the pesto and set aside to marinate for 1 hour.
4. Before grilling, brush the skewers once again with the pesto.
5. Grill until golden brown.

Although a new spin on an old classic, this dish takes me back to my empty kitchen and caprese full belly.

I hope Caprese kebabs inspire your own special memories this summer.

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