Mediterranean Dinner

Inspired by Amy of Runs with Spatula, I decided a few weeks ago to try making hummus again. To round the meal out, I made mujadara (a lentil and rice dish) and homemade pita.

It turned out pretty well. I'm starting to realize that when I compare my versions of certain dishes with the ones I get from stores and restaurants, they're disappointing, but if I approach them as a new and different food, they can still be good. This happened with the mujadara - it didn't taste like what I get from Aladdin's or Sultan's, but Chris doesn't remember those versions and thought mine was perfect.

Recipes after the break -

Ethiopian Lentil Stew

Last night I was cold and tired, so I wanted something that was a) warm and heavy, and b) made with ingredients I had on hand. Some Googling led me to this recipe from Isa on PostPunkKitchen for Ethiopian Spicy Tomato Lentil Stew. I have never been to an Ethiopian restaurant, much less Ethiopia, but I had an Ethiopian Chickpea soup last month at the Soup Spoon Cafe and it was fantastic. The stew turned out delicious as well.

I didn't have every single ingredient, so I did some substituting, and I tweaked the recipe as I went along. The following recipe is a combination of what I did and what I will do next time. The main differences are: I cooked it a lot longer, used more spices, and substituted some ingredients. It's probably less authentic than the original, but I can't confirm. :) Feel free to try either one. This takes 45 minutes to make if you're organized, fast, and like things crunchy. I recommend letting it cook an extra hour if you have the time. I'll try it in the slow cooker next time and report back!

Lentils with Mushrooms and Spinach

The other night I was feeling creative, and I wanted to take advantage of some ingredients I had on hand: fresh spinach from the farmers market, white mushrooms, French lentils I picked up in the newly discovered bulk bins at the local food co-op, and the end of an open box of vegetable broth. I used this recipe from Closet Cooking as inspiration and got to work.

The result was delicious, if a little overcooked (I watched a whole episode of Star Trek: Voyager while waiting for the lentils to cook and found out that 42 minutes is too long). The dish was dark, sort of earthy tasting; the flavor was subtle but strong. It was the first time I'd tried French lentils, so I'm not sure which flavor was coming through the most.