Lentils with Lemon and Swiss Chard

I have not made this but it sure looks good. Nice twist to chard. Thanks Good Food.


1 1/ 2 cups green or brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
5 large Swiss chard leaves, washed well, dried, stems removed and sliced into thin strips cross-wise
2 Tablespoons tablespoons mashed garlic (about 8 large garlic cloves)
3/4 cup finely cup finely chopped fresh coriander (cilantro; leaves from about 1 to 2 bunches)
1 cup water cup water
1 Tablespoon tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons tablespoons pomegranate molasses (available in Middle Eastern markets and many supermarkets)


1. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and cook the lentils until tender, 20 to 45 minutes; check often because the cooking time varies depending on the age of the lentils. Drain and set aside.
2. In a medium-size nonreactive skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat, then cook the Swiss chard until it wilts, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove and drain off any liquid. Set aside.
3. In the same skillet, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and coriander and cook until sizzling, about 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to medium, add the Swiss chard, drained lentils, and water, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the lemon juice and pomegranate molasses and continue cooking until the lentils look mushy, about another 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and drizzle a small amount of olive oil over it before serving.



From Clifford A. Wright.

Pre Thanksgiving Dinner

On Wednesday before Thanksgiving my friend Kelli and I went to the Santa Monica Farmers Market to finish up our shopping. I had done most of my shopping already but was looking for the essentials. Carrots, celery (bought the hydro, amazing), rhubarb and whatever else I saw that was sparkly. Like some clams?

I'm sorry that I did not pick up his card but these clams came from a farmer (yes, you can still be a farmer if you are growing seafood) down in San Diego. He had a cute set up. Selling oysters by the dozen or you could stand there and shuck them yourself throw some of his provided lemons and Tabasco and have a little mid morning snack.

These clams I made with white wine, Portuguese sausage, shallots and lots of garlic. It was a little too salty for me. Not sure if it was the clams themselves or the sausage or what. But the Husband enjoyed them.

Either way it was a nice prelude to the upcoming turkey.

Happy holidays!

Fresh Pesto

It was so amazing. I used California Walnuts instead of pine nuts and Kessera cheese. YUM! It was so good I wanted to smear it all over my face. But I did not, we ate it instead.

Can it Sista!

I'm not sure how long my brother and his wife have been canning beans and pickles (okra next year please) but their batches get better every year. Oooo, now that I start thinking about it they made this spicy pear compote that was awesome and another time they made apple chutney, it is apple season. Can you grow asparagus in Portland? Hint-hint.

Anyway, I am finally getting into the game. Brother helped me pick out the Ball canning kit and I feel pretty good about it. It came with a cook book but I couldn't help but to also buy Well Preserved, Evan told me to. I just love her.






So my first lesson was that you cannot can pesto. So after all this excitement and hoopla I will still be freezing the huge batch I am going to make this weekend.

Perhaps apple chutney is in my future.

Now what?

Do we grow passion fruit vine? Cup and saucer? California grapes? WHAT?

Gardens Of Gratitude

Its not Long Beach but its super cool...

http://www.gardensofgratitude.org/howitworks.html

The Fence

Amazing how much difference a wall makes. No more barking dogs, no more worrying about creepy people watching me pull weeds. None of that no more. I can officially go outside in the middle of the night and kill snails in private.