Spaghetti with beluga lentils

This is my version of a healthy marinara sauce with lentils. Lentils cook in no time in the pressure cooker. Surely by now, I've at least convinced you how awesome a pressure cooker is? I won't give up on you!

This recipe comes together quickly if you can think of it in 3 steps. Step 1, prepare the lentils in the pressure cooker. Step 2, prepare the marinara sauce, and Step 3, cook the spaghetti noodles. Most of the time, I start the pasta boiling water first, and then get to my tomato sauce, but you know your own ability to multitask.

This recipe is dedicated to my hubs. See hubs, now you know how I make it!

Spicy tomato sauce or marinara with beluga lentils

Yield: 4 servings, about 1 and 1/4 cup sauce per serving

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried beluga lentils or regular green lentils

1 and 1/2 to 2 cups water

2 cloves garlic

a generous pour of olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

1 large carrot, or 2 medium carrots, peeled and quarter diced

1/4 to 1/3 cup of white wine, enough to barely cover bottom of pan (I think red would be fine too; honestly, I've used whatever is in the fridge or pantry) - use vegetable broth or water if avoiding wine.

2 T dried oregano

1 tsp dried thyme

2 T dried parsley 

1 tsp dried red chili flakes

1 and 1/4 tsp salt

1, 28 oz can San Marzano style tomatoes either whole or in chunks * see my note below

1/2 cup water

freshly grated parmesan

basil or parsley to garnish

To boil spaghetti

4 quarts water plus salt to boil

1/2 package or 1/2 lb whole wheat thin spaghetti

Special tools: None besides a good knife, and cutting board. Use the small pressure cooker fry pan for the lentils. For the marinara sauce and the spaghetti, have 2 pots ready. The first should be a large pot to cook pasta, the second should be a wide stir fry pan with a sturdy lid. If you don't have a pressure cooker, cook the lentils in a large pot.

*My cooking note: If using whole peeled canned tomatoes, blend half or 3/4 of the tomatoes in a blender and leave the rest sort of roughly chopped. It is OK with me if you want no chunks, just blend all of it. Do this before you get started. 

Directions:

See my note above indicated with * above.

Step 1: Add the lentils to the small pressure fry pan pressure cooker. Add the water, stir, and set the cooker over high heat on the stove (these are the first two ingredients on the ingredients list). Close the lid to the pressure cooker. Bring to the first red ring (low pressure) and cook 10 minutes on low pressure. Once time is up, remove the cooker from the heat, and set aside to cool down using the natural release method. 

Step 2: Prepare the pasta cooking water. Add the water and salt to a large pot. Depending on your stove, you can begin heating up the water for the pasta. 

Step 3: In a separate wide enough skillet with a lid, heat up a few generous glugs of olive oil over medium heat. Once hot add in the onions and stir, and then add in the garlic and carrots. Cook until the onions begin to just brown slightly. Pour in the wine, and cook until half of the wine is evaporated. 

Step 4: Add in the herbs and spices and stir together. Next, add in the tomato sauce, water, and salt. Turn the heat down to medium low heat,  and cover with a lid so that the sauce doesn't splatter on the cooking range. The water for the pasta should be close to boiling. If not, wait. The sauce will just continue to cook and thicken up a bit. 

Step 5: When the pasta water is ready and boiling, add the spaghetti, or other desired pasta, and cook until ready.  Next, drain the lentils from the pressure cooker, and then add them to the tomato sauce. Stir and taste the tomato sauce for herbs and salt. 

Step 6: When the pasta is done cooking, reserve 1 cup of the hot pasta cooking water and then drain off the pasta in a colander. Toss a little olive oil and a few splashes of the hot remaining pasta cooking water to keep the noodles separate. This is my favorite trick to serving pasta hot.

When ready to serve, add about 1 cup of cooked noodles to a plate and top with 1 and 1/4 cups of sauce. Pass fresh parmesan and chopped parsley at the table. 

Week of Meals

I started off last week with food on the mind.  On Sunday, I put together a week of meals (five meals). 

It didn't take too much time, maybe an hour or so, and I was able to reward myself for the effort with a nice home brew. I tend to get sick of planning, but I was motivated this week, and so I'd like to share. First here's the list of meals, and I'll post recipes below. 

Day 1: Mixed beans with tomato bruschetta

Day 2: Spaghetti with zucchini and basil

Day 3: Taco salad

Day 4: Mushroom and wild rice soup with peach-bibb lettuce salad

Day 5: Quinoa stuffed tomatoes with Cajun oven potatoes

On Sunday evening, Allison and Nico, came over for some dinner. We had gone on a bike ride to Mechelen along the canal or Vaartkom just north of the city. It was warm and sunny and was a break from how cold it has been in August.  During dinner, Nico and Allison talked about their 25 favorite meals. It was pretty hilarious because I think they have a shared Google Doc to plan meals. Nico is a fabulous cook (see here).  I loved their idea of a fondue-TV-movie dinner night and was inspired by their list of favorites, especially fried brie.

Here are the recipes:

Meal 1: Mixed beans with tomato bruschetta on homemade bread (Karl baked the bread).  

The beans are a simple recipe from my Deborah Madison cookbook.  It's a good way to use the small quantities of leftover dried beans. 

For the beans:

1 cup mixed beans, soaked and drained (any variety of beans will do, I used adzuki, chickpeas, white beans, and kidney beans)
6 cups water
1 bay leaf
few sprigs parsley and thyme
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp olive oil

Directions
1. Bring the beans, water, oil and aromatics to a simmer. Cover the beans slightly and simmer for 1 hour or until tender.
2. Season with salt, and serve with shredded parmesan, black pepper and fresh chopped parsley or other herbs.

Meal 2:  Spaghetti with Zucchini and Basil

This also came out of my Deborah Madison cookbook. I've made it a few times because the zucchini just melts in your mouth and the fresh basil is very tasty.

Spaghetti with Zucchini and Basil 

2 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise, then in bits across

1/3 cup olive oil (use much less on a non-stick skillet, 3 T is fine)

2 garlic cloves, sliced

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup milk or half and half (I used milk)

1 lb of spaghetti (or enough for 4-6 persons)

fresh parmesan

1/2 cup of basil, torn into chunks

1. Heat up olive oil  in a wide skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Start heating up the water for the pasta

3. When olive oil is hot, add in garlic. When garlic is fragrant add in zucchini. Cook over medium heat until the squash is soft and brown (about 20 minutes)

4. When pasta water is boiling, cook pasta.

5. When squash is done cooking, stir in milk, salt and pepper. Adjust for seasoning. 

6. Combine the spaghetti with the squash and top with basil and parmesan

Meal 3: Taco salad with chips

I substituted lentils for the smart grounds featured in the recipe.

Meal 4: Mushroom and wild rice soup with peach butter lettuce salad

The soup comes out of my Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals. It's a pretty good collection, although I found many recipes to be very meat heavy. 

Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

1 T olive oil

2 cups mushrooms, sliced (any mix of mushrooms will do)

1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped fine

1/2 cup red onion, chopped fine

1 package boil-in-the-bag wild rice blend

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

2 T basil

2 T parsley

1 tsp dried garlic

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups milk (I used 1 cup soymilk, 1/2 cup water, and 1/2 cup milk)

1. In a soup stockpot heat olive oil and add bell pepper and onion.

2. In a separate sauce pan heat up 2 cups water. 

3. Mix together ricotta, dried garlic, herbs, and salt and pepper in a bowl and set aside. 

4. Add mushrooms to soup stockpot and cook 7 minutes. 

5. When the saucepan full of water boils, add in a boil-in-the-bag wild rice blend, and cook according to package directions. 

6. When mushrooms have cooked down, stir in cheese and milk. Add more salt if needed. Bring to a boil until the soup thickens a bit. 

7. Stir in wild rice and heat through. 

For the salad (serves 2)

1-2 cups washed Bibb lettuce

1 peach, sliced

2 T pumpkin seeds

Dressing:

1.5 T fig or other flavored vinegar

1 T olive oil

1 T water

salt and pepper to taste

Mix together dressing and toss with the salad. 

Meal 5: Quinoa stuffed tomatoes and Cajun oven potatoes

I made this when Nico and Allison came over. It looks like a lot of work, but if you prep things in order everything comes together in about an hour.

For the potatoes:

8 small-medium waxy potatoes, washed and scrubbed

3 T olive oil

For the tomatoes:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained

2 and 1/2 cups water

1 T olive oil

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

1-2 cups chard, chopped

6 ripe medium-large Roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise and pulp removed in a bowl

1/2 cup ricotta

1/4 cup basil

1/4 cup parsley

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp red chili powder

1/2 (or more) mixed beans (leftovers from earlier this week), omit if you don't have

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Quarter the potatoes in wedges and toss with 3 T olive oil. Set in a casserole dish and place in oven once hot. Ignore the potatoes while you prep everything else. These will take the longest to cook so get to them first. 

3. In a small sauce pan combine 1 cup quinoa and 2 and 1/2 cups water over medium-high heat.  Stir every 10 minutes. Quinoa will take 15-20 minutes to cook.  The quinoa is done when the water is evaporated and the quinoa looks light and fluffy. While the quinoa cooks you can prep the tomatoes and stuffing. 

4. In a wide skillet, heat up olive oil over medium heat. When oil is shimmering, add in garlic and onion and saute for 3 minutes, or until onion is soft. Add in chard and continue to cook until chard is wilted. Turn off heat and set aside. 

5. In a greased oven casserole dish set tomato halves up.  Break apart the tomato pulp by chopping it up. You can mix it in with the stuffing or stir it with the chard-onion mixture

6. Mix ricotta, herbs, quinoa, salt and pepper and red chili powder together, stir in beans if you have them. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Fill the tomatoes with the mixture and then set them in the oven.  The tomatoes will cook for about 30 minutes.  Turn the potatoes to ensure they are getting nice and roasted. 

You can serve the roasted potatoes in any way, these are my 2 faves:

Rosemary with coarse salt and fresh pepper

Cajun seasoning

Just sprinkle over the potatoes once done and serve.