Cranberry Lentil Salad with Dill & Toasted Walnuts

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This combination of flavors and textures popped into my head one day when I was thinking of a way to make a lentil salad but also wanting to use Dill. For years, I've enjoyed cold lentils with a squeeze of lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. Just the way my Uncle Gerardo made it for family when we journeyed to Spain to visit my sister.

It's scientifically proven that scent builds strong pathways to memories. I argue food is the second strongest. Food sets the mood. The smells. The experience. The previously mentioned cold lentil salad made its way into my cooking repertoire, not because it was super fancy, but because it was super simple and tasty. And because of the strong correlation I had between it and some very relaxing and fun moments in Spain. I wanted something to brighten the recipe, make it a little more fancy with unique flavors and this was born. This salad is a wonderful combination of both taste - tart, savory, herby bright, nutty and texture - crunchy walnuts, popping cranberries and soft and chewy lentils.

And I thought it's either going to be really good or really weird.

But I liked it. My neighbor liked it. My sister enjoyed it. Just like the sweet potato fennel soup, she even called asking for the recipe and made it twice within the following week.

 

 

Dill is a bright and flavorful herb. It's normally seen baked on fish, stirred into cold potato salad (I guess lentil salad doesn't seem as strange now), and used as pickle seasoning. This herb helps to relieve gas, lack of appetite, and headaches. In Ancient Greece, athletes made an infused oil with dill and rubbed it all over their body to help tone muscles. Quite intriguing, indeed.

Although I'm not going to tell you to rub dill all over your body like some Ancient Greek athletes, I will encourage you to make this salad. Fresh dill is imperative to the salad's flavor. It's tasty with dried dill but FRESH is where the Wow factor steps in. Also leave the fresh cranberries whole. They will soften in the pan a bit and then pop in your mouth when consumed.

 

For a non-vegetarian side dish add cooked and crumbled breakfast sausage. Otherwise the recipe is vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free and can be nut-free if walnuts are omitted.

Cranberry Lentil Salad with Dill & Toasted Walnuts
1 cup lentils, small green
1 cup shredded frozen carrots *
1 1/2 cup fresh cranberries, whole
1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped
bunch of fresh dill
1 cup toasted walnuts**
2 cups broth, sodium free (or use water and add Rapunzel vegetable bouillon with herbs to pot after lentils are cooked)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Lemon, for serving

1. Soak lentils in hot water for at least four hours (or overnight).
2. Add lentils, frozen grated carrot, and water (or broth if using) to pot. Boil then simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, chop dried cranberries, fresh dill, and toasted walnuts.
4. Once lentils are cooked, add bouillon (if using instead of liquid broth), whole fresh cranberries, and dried cranberries. Cover and let sit on medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes. This is will soften cranberries (which will pop in your mouth!).
5. Plate 3-4 servings. Add toasted walnuts, fresh dill, and a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice.

Serve hot or cold! And more importantly - Enjoy!

*If using freshly grated, add to pot halfway into cooking.
*Toast walnuts in a pan on medium-low heat, stirring every minute for 4-6 minutes. Remove pan and let cool.

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Cubed Tofu and Beet Salad aka "Pink Fufu"

This throw together salad is easy - Chop. Chop. Drizzle. Drizzle. Marinate if you wish!

 

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For a more developed flavor, marinate the beets and tofu in the vinegar for a couple hours in the fridge.

This is great to bring on picnics. I made it one evening for a girls night in and I've craved it almost every night since.

Yummy for toddlers too - plus, it turns pink! My toddler calls this "pink fufu" - she loves her "fufu."

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I've been buying the organic Love Beets from Costco this summer and they are wonderfully easy to add extra nutrients and antioxidants to any dish. They make this dish a breeze to prepare all for a wonderfully doable price. If you are in need of another beet recipe, try my red velvet cake smoothie.

The directions are very simple, all detailed in the pictures below!

Tofu and Beet Salad
1 package extra-firm or firm organic Tofu ( I used Wildwood)
4 beets, steamed, cooled and peeled (love the organic Love Beets now sold by Costco - this makes it even easier to prepare)
3 TB Extra Virgin Olive oil
2 TB Seasoned Rice vinegar
Fresh ground black pepper and chunky sea salt

Fresh Thyme (totally optional but a plus for antioxidants - keep in mind, some kids may not like this flavor)

1. Chop the tofu lengthwise 3 times and then across 3 times. Then through the tofu like you are slicing a sandwich bun. Cut large cubes down into preferable size.
2. Chop the beets into 1/2" chunks (or smaller if feeding children).
3. Drizzle with olive oil, rice vinegar, salt, pepper and thyme if you wish. Enjoy!

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Which sounds better: Tofu and Beet or Beet and Tofu?

Looking for more easy summer salads?
Try last year's Refreshing Garbanzo Bean Salad

and Zesty Red Quinoa Salad with Mango and Cucumber

and this year's Cold Brown Rice and Garbanzo Bean Pesto Salad

Cold Brown Rice and Garbanzo Bean Pesto Salad + Moving

My short Memoirs of Moving:

Moving can be ugly. A reminder of how much unnecessary stuff that's accumulated over the years. A reminder of how often you didn't clean the bathroom. Tears and growls of frustration over long hours and very little sleep.

But in this ugliness, there is this wonderful opportunity to purge, to start a new. A fresh start. And that's where moving can be a wonderful blessing. Struggling comes with an opportunity to lean evermore on God's grace and glory.

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So as I put my books on my bookshelves, hang clothes in our closet, art on our walls, and cook in my new kitchen, I thank the Lord for this blessing, whether our time here be short or long. There may be two dozen things wrong with our house but when God is in our lives and in our hearts there is nothing wrong with our home... our sweet, sweet home.

May God bless your home!

And before I continue on to the recipe, I must apologize, my dear sweetlings for my absence and the absence of my posts. We have moved (you might have guessed from my short blurb up there) and we have been internet-less for two weeks. I have a lot of recipes stashed which I hope I get to share with all of you very soon!

In the process of moving and the heat of summer, I've created several quick, easy and tasty salads with very few ingredients. Today I'm sharing with you a garbanzo bean and rice pesto salad. I made this and brought it with me to a multi-family garage sale to snack on. It was a hit alongside some iced Zhena's Gypsy Lemon Jasmine Tea (which my toddler also sold instead of lemonade at her little stand - she's an entrepreneur in the making). Also we were treated to my new neighbor's salsa which I must say was amazing! Maybe I can wrangle the recipe out of her eventually and share it with you all.

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I used my nettle basil pesto with basil from the farmer's market and dried nettle from Mountain Rose Herbs. This is a great time to make homemade pesto as basil is super fresh! It's a little late for fresh nettles but the dried, organic herb adds a nice earthy touch that pares nicely with brown rice in this salad. You can use any homemade pesto (be cautious of store-bought as it usually contains cheese).

Also if you have a lot of pesto leftover from making a batch, use an ice cube tray to freeze small serving sizes (I use these leftover from my endeavors in homemade baby food - love that they are bpa free and have lids!).

Brown Rice and Garbanzo Bean Salad
2 cups leftover cooked brown rice (preferably cooked with a little extra water so it doesn't dry out)
1 1/2 cup cooked and cooled garbanzo beans (= one 15 oz can drained and well-rinsed)
3 TB nettle basil pesto (or pesto of your choice)
3 TB olive oil
2 TB white balsamic vinegar (rice vinegar would work as well)
Sea Salt and Pepper

Chopped walnuts to top, optional

Directions: With a spoon, break down the large clumps of rice if any and mix with remaining ingredients. Refridgerate until time to eat. Enjoy!

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Great for picnics! Garage sale-ing! And moving!

Question of the Day: What are you bringing to on your picnics?  Last year we were really into bean dips like this vegan spinach and artichoke dip. But now this salad and a few others have been starring on the picnic menu.

Vegan Mother's Day Brunch (dairy, gluten and egg free)

To mothers everywhere....
We appreciate you.
We love you.
We cherish you.
We adore you.
Treasure you.

And we want you to have a wonderful, relaxing day where you know we appreciate all those times you swiped our dirty noses, woke with us in the middle of the night, filled our bellies with hearty, nutritious foods (and we appreciate those nights where you broke down and let us eat hot dog mac & cheese), and most of all, we appreciate you encouraged our hearts.

YOU are special.
YOU are unique.

And we want to take this day to celebrate you, MOM!

And this Mother's Day celebrate Mom with an easy yet nutritious and tasty lunch.

What's on the menu, you ask?
Sparkling Lemon Hibiscus Tea
Quinoa and Arugula Salad with Roasted Lemon and Asparagus
and Vegan Lemon Mousse with Vanilla and Cardamom

Most of the prep can be done ahead so Mother's Day can be relaxing and easy. Great for mothers with toddlers who want something special but not a lot of time.

 

 

Sparkling Lemon Hibiscus Tea
1/3 heaping cup Hibiscus petals (I buy from Mountain Rose Herbs)
2 cups water
Sparkling Water or Lemon Sparkling Water (I used Pellegrino)
Limoncello *for virgin version, use notes below

*Juice of 2 Lemons with 2 Tb agave

1. Boil water and hibiscus petals then simmer for 15 minutes. Let cool.
2. Fill glasses with 2 parts sparkling water, 2 parts strained hibiscus infusion, and 1 part limoncello

Quinoa and Arugula Salad with Roasted Asparagus and Lemon (serves 2)

1 cup pre-cooked quinoa
1/2 cup pecans (or other nuts/seeds)
2-3 organic lemons, sliced 1/4"-1/3" thick
1 lb asparagus
Handful of craisins and goji berries
Dress with extra virgin olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, and red pepper and salt

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Toss asparagus with oil and spread out with lemon slices on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, turning halfway through. Add pecans and bake another 3 minutes.
3. Layer plates with arugula, quinoa, pecans, asparagus, lemons, and dried craisins and goji berries. Sprinkle with extra virgin olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, sea salt, and red pepper (or black).

*Steps 1 & 2 can be done ahead of time and are delicious served cold if prepping beforehand.

 

 

 

 

I just love cardamom and I think it really makes this mousse have a little more pizzazz. If unfamiliar with this spice, try using the seeds from three pods. Cardamom and vanilla bean pods are available to order from Mountain Rose Herbs.

 

This mousse also happens to dole out a nice size of protein, making it all the more appealing as a dessert... or maybe for breakfast by itself.

 

Vegan Lemon Mousse with Vanilla and Cardamom (serves 2-4)

 

14 oz package extra firm tofu

Juice of 2 Lemons

Gratings of 1/2 lemon

1/4 cup agave nectar

4 cardamom pods *  (available from Mountain Rose Herbs)

Seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean (I purchase my vanilla from amazon)

Assorted Fruit of Choice

2 TB tapioca starch

 

*If you don't have cardamom pods or don't like them, it still tastes delicious without.

 

1. Crush cardamom pods with flat blade of knife. In mortar and pestle, crush the seeds from pods.

2. Add all ingredients to a blender and blend til smooth.

3. Refridgerate until ready to serve. Serve with fresh fruit like sliced banana, strawberries, and mango.

Enjoy!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day! What are your plans for this weekend?

 



I buy my herbs from