We are in the middle of a delicious heat wave in Toronto.  Oh sure, it's not my favourite thing but I'm damned if you find me complaining about it because before we all know it I'll be jumping on my bike in the middle of December cursing the cold and trying desperately to remember what it felt like to have the skin melted off of my bones.  Not one complaint.
There are however, some challenges when houses are built to keep in the heat rather than keeping cool.  We've managed to keep the air conditioning off during the day and use it only at night to ensure that we sleep and to cool the house down just enough for the next day.  Food becomes difficult though.  How do you eat and not heat up the whole house.  Canning hasn't even begun.  I can't imagine doing water bath canning in this heat.  I see all kinds of posts for jam and that kind of thing and I wonder where these people live.  My fruit is chilling out in the freezer.  Baking is absolutely out of the question.  We're not big BBQr's but we've resorted a time or two.  I've been working to come up with some things that we can eat and feel satisfied with but aren't just salads (which no one except me would eat anyway).
This is one of the things that I 'created'.  Almost no cooking required.  Just the couscous which is so barely cooking that it's hardly worth mentioning.


In other challenges...
Here is the food box contents for this week.  Decidedly green but a couple of colourful additions just to get my hopes up.



I am trying valiantly to not lose it in my own house but I swear if I here 'Hey Mom?' or 'Mooooom!' one more time... I just want to have space in my house to do my own thing.  I won't get into serious specifics but there comes a time in every day where I would like them to disappear to their rooms for the duration.  Oh to be able to watch a crappy movie or some trashy show with no questions.  To be able to eat some chips... or a whole bag... without anyone else asking to have some.  To get through the day without Kid #1 asking for money to do something with her friends and then trying to figure out what she can do to earn the money.  It's been all I can do to get them through two meals a day (they usually but not always take care of their own breakfast - thank jeebus)  Sometimes I just retreat to my room and just lie there on my bed with the fan going.  I've discovered that if the fan is going and I close the door then I can almost not hear anything downstairs.

Due to the heat I am working on shifting gears with my workout routine.  Running is a definite challenge in this weather but not just because of heat.  The air quality is more of an issue than heat.  Early morning or late evening are the only times when running for any distance is a possibility because it quickly becomes uncomfortable or even difficult to breathe.  Anything during daytime/rush hour times are that much worse because of the vehicle emissions as well as the temperature.  Fortunately up to now I've been able to find a day during the week that isn't sweltering in order to get my long run in.  The best news is that I'm up to 11k and no pain in either my foot or in my shin.


Corn, Black Bean and Couscous Tortilla's adapted from Food.com
makes 8 - 10 tortilla's

2 cups cooked couscous
1/3 cup onion, diced
1 cup (1 lg) red pepper, diced
1 lg can (1 1/2 cups) black beans, drained
1 1/2 cups corn (roasted would be nice but not necessary)
3 - 4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
dash of sugar

Combine diced onion and peppers together.  Add in the black beans and corn.  Mix well.
Add the olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, chili powder, chipotle powder, salt and dash of sugar.  Mix well. Add the cooked couscous and mix.  [Couscous - add 1 3/4 cups boiling water to 1 cup of dry couscous.  Cover and set aside for about 5 - 10 minutes (or whenever you need it).  Break it up with a fork and you're good to go]
Add it as filling to tortilla shells - a little cheese, sour cream, thinly sliced radishes and garlic scape sauce.

Garlic Scape Taco Sauce adapted from My Kitchen Addicition
makes about 1 - 1 1/2 cups

4 cups garlic scapes, diced very small
2 jalepeno pepper, seeded (optional depending on how hot you want it) and diced
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/3 - 1/2 cup water

Throw everything in a blender (start with just 1/3 cup of water though) and blend until it forms a thick paste - add a little more water to thin out as necessary.  I started the blender on chop and gradually worked up to liquify.

In my post-school meandering I've spent a lot of time just sitting.  Getting my toenails painted...


reading, sending emails, Facebooking, you know... that kind of thing.  In my Facebook perusing I came across this article that one of my friends shared.
The article is by a contributor to the New York Times.  It's been all over Facebook and god knows what else.  It's called 'The Busy Trap'.  I loved it.  It hit home.  We've all had those friends... you know the ones who have to book you in.  The ones that say 'Yeah, definitely.  Once things slow down then we'll book something' when you ask them to get together.  We've probably all been those people at some time or other.  The thing is that I had just just read this post by one of my favourite bloggers.  Chandelle is writing about summer and simplicity and how she and her partner consciously chose to live differently, not as an experiment... but permanently.


When I was younger I would sometimes feel like something inside me was going to burst - in a good way.  Like there was all kinds of creativity in there, all damned up for some reason or other that I could never figure out.  I wanted to let it out.  I tried.  I felt frustrated.  I tried again.  I looked for support or belief or whatever you might call it from others.  I felt frustrated.  And then time happens.  Marches on or whatever the hell we say.  Stuff happens that distracts you and covers up all that 'feeling of bursting'. Stuff accumulates and before you know it you're surrounded.  By people.  By stuff.  By a job.  By multiple roles.  By all of these things competing for first priority.  At least that's how it's been for me.  I've talked things through so much with D (because he's kinda in the same boat as I am) and looked for reasons or causes or blame or whatever but the bottom line is that all of that creativity/thought/idea just isn't there... it's all cloudy.
After reading these two articles I've started to wonder if I haven't had it completely backwards.  What if the only reason that all that stuff never got out wasn't because of something that I did wrong or someone else did wrong to me but because of something that I didn't do.  I had lots of time to sit and stew when I was in university.  I had no tv.  I didn't really listen to the radio.  I remember times when my busy friends were all busy and I had no work and would just sit on my couch.  Occasionally, something amazing would happen like a great poem or awesome wedding vows or a kicking vocal lick but mostly I just sat there and felt sorry for myself because I wasn't busy like my friends were.
Now I find myself wishing for that time again... and more.  Who knows what could have been with more time like that.  Who knows what kind of person I would be with more of that time - idle, nothing, wasted (not) time.  What would it turn me into.  I fully intend to do my best to find out this summer.
This of course has absolutely nothing to do with Cauliflower risotto.


Cauliflower Risotto Bianco adapted from 'Vegetarian' by Alice Hart

4 1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 vegetable boullion cube
4 cups cauliflower broken into bite sized florets
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup garlic scapes, chopped (optional: use 2 cloves crushed garlic)
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
generous 1/2 cup parmesan cheese freshly grated
1/2 cup cream
salt to taste

Steam the cauliflower for about 7 minutes or until just starting to soften.  Set aside.
Heat the vegetable stock and boullion cube together until almost simmering.
Heat a heavy bottomed sauce pan over med/low heat and  add the butter.  Once the butter is melted add in the garlics scapes or garlic and cook for just a minute.  Add in the arborio rice and stir until the rice is coated.
Begin to add in the vegetable stock one ladleful at a time, stirring constantly and making sure that the mixture doesn't stop simmering.  You want to add in another ladle of stock once the liquid gets low but not low enough for the rice to stick to the bottom of the pan.  Continue for about 20 minutes or so.  The rice should be soft and not look more white in the middle - ie.  all one colour.  Turn the heat down to low.
Add in the parmesan cheese and the cream.  Stir well and check the taste.  Add salt if necessary.
Add in the cooked cauliflower.  Stir and serve.

I hate it when bloggers write this: 'I want to thank you all for waiting so patiently.  I know it's been hard.  I'm pretty sure that this blog has become a big part of what gives your life meaning.  You've probably been waiting with bated breath (for the meaning of that phrase check here).  I didn't mean to spurn you or to shut you out.  It's just, I was busy.'  Whatever people.  We don't really care that it's been 2 weeks since you posted.  We like it when you do but we're not dying when you don't.  Suck it up and move on.  Having said that, I have had posts to put up here but I just couldn't get to it... because, well...

I went with 89 boys (ages 9 - 12) on tour to Ottawa.  We did 3 concerts, 1 Mass and 1 national anthem in 3 days.  That's a lot of singing for these guys.  We performed at a national choral symposium called Podium - which is a huge honour for these boys.  We went to the Museum of Civilization in between.  We performed our National Anthem in the Rotunda of our Parliament buildings.  In case you were wondering, getting 89 boys and accompanying teacher/chaperones through security in one piece isn't nearly as stress free as it sounds.  We also managed to fit some mini-putt and go-carting in there too.  All in all it was a pretty big deal for these young boys.  They were happy and exhausted by the end of the weekend.  As fun as it all was it was beyond exhausting.  I've been finding that this week at work I'm fine for the morning but by the afternoon I hit a wall that it's really hard to peel myself off of.
To add insult to injury, D has left for 10 days off to Europe.  One of the bands he plays in is doing a tour of France/Germany/Holland.  Lucky.  I'm home with the kids juggling work and end of year concert craziness.


I've decided not to get stressed out.  I've told myself that it's just that easy.  If I tell myself that I'm not getting stressed out then I won't.  I'm not thinking about my garden and all the crap that I haven't gotten to yet.  I haven't freaked out that my tomatoes aren't planted or that I haven't gotten my potatoes started - a project that I really want to get into.  I'll keep you up on that one.  I'm just rolling with the rhubarb that is sitting in the fridge looking forlorn and the recipe binder that contains all those gorgeous rhubarb recipes is still closed and on the bookshelf.  It's all going to happen.  It's just going to have to happen on a different timeline than the one that I would like to have.  I've decided to stay positive.


I've looked at the computer.  I've gone through the motions of checking some things and doing some recipe research and all that but I haven't even had the energy to think about putting the fingers to the keys and getting some words out.  Until now.  This weeks food box brought me two beautiful bunches of locally grown asparagus.  Gorgeous.  It also brought some more stinging nettles, baby leeks, baby spinach and fiddleheads but we'll not go into all that just now.  I saw this recipe in my favourite BBC GoodFood magazine and decided to try it out.  I think that honestly I would add a little more flavour to the boullion/broth - maybe an extra cube of boullion or a little dijon or both.  That kind of thing - and a little extra parmesan.  The recipe though turned out well and it's beyond easy.  Just do a little saute, stirring, throwing in oven and stirring again.


Baked Asparagus and Stinging Nettles Risotto adapted from BBC GoodFood Magazine
serves 6 - 8

4 cups Stinging Nettles (or spinach), stems remove and coarsely chopped
25 or so asparagus (two small bunches) with the hard bottom part taken off
1/2 cup onion (I used baby leek) chopped or diced
2 rashers bacon, diced
2 1/4 cups arborio rice
4 1/2 cups warm boullion (I used veggie)
1 cup cream
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp oregano
2 tsp salt
pinch pepper
1 tsp pepper sauce (optional)
1 cup parmesan, shredded plus a little extra to sprinkle on the top

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Get a large, shallow baking dish out (I used a large 9x13 pyrex dish) and ready.
Heat a large pot over medium heat and saute together the chopped nettles, bacon and the onion in about 3 tbsp of the oil of your choice for about 4 - 5 minutes.  Turn the heat off.  Mix in the arborio rice, stir a little so that the rice is coated well.  Pour the rice mixture into the baking dish.
In another bowl mix together the heated boullion, basil, oregano, salt and pepper.
Pour the boullion mixture into the baking dish and stir well to combine everything.  Carefully place the baking dish in the heated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove the baking dish from the oven.  Give everything a good stir.  Add in the cream and the parmesan (reserving a little parmesan to sprinkle over the top) and stir again to mix.  Place the asparagus over the risotto mixture.  You can get creative here but I was in a hurry and went the easy route.
Sprinkle with the reserved parmesan cheese.
Bake for another 15 minutes.  Check that the rice is done.
Cool slightly and serve.

I'm making up for lost time.  It's been a while since I've posted two savoury recipes in a row.  But here it is... number two.


Speaking of number two, let me tell you all a little bit about my third half marathon experience that happened last Sunday.
You see, the night before we had dinner guests which in retrospect might not have been the greatest of ideas but hindsight is always 20/20.  I made this squash stuff.  I also made the baked beans and sweet potatoes in my previous post.  I also made some asian vegetables (remember my Hoisin Sauce fetish of late???)  I was pretty hungry and I also knew that I would be doing this big run the next day.  So I decided to really let myself tuck in.  I ate a lot.  A lot of baked beans.  And squash... which is delicious by the way. Like so good that I had seconds.
I didn't have a good night after that though.  I stayed up too late (I didn't drink too much this time though... learning my lesson there at least).  Kid #2 got up twice during the night.  And I felt awful.  Like I had basically given myself a baked bean enema.  So not cool.
When I got up the next morning... race day... I didn't even feel like eating.  I did though.  I ate two eggs.  Not bad at all.  I also drank my favourite cider vinegar and honey concoction.  I drank too much of it though.  I felt so bad and I thought it would help.
I pee'd a lot before leaving for the race but by the time I got there I had to again.  Well, there was just nowhere to go.  I determined to get through the race fast.  Which I did... for the first 16 km.  But then I really needed to pee.  There were only 3 cans at the place where I stopped... and there was a line-up.  Oh Jeez.  I waited about 4 minutes (maybe more... I was in distress at that point and was having trouble keeping clear).  4 minutes is a long time in a race.  A LONG time.  I really pushed it again after that but I was angry with myself and then I started to feel kinda sick (from pushing it probably) and then I couldn't go on... I hit a wall at about 18 k.  Fortunately, at about 20 k (remember the race is only 21 k) my BFF KT was waiting at the side of the course and was cheering me on.  - How blessed am I?  She was also waiting at the 4k and 6 k mark as well.  THE BEST - If she hadn't been there I just might have walked the rest of the way... or walked straight to the subway station and gone home, who knows.  At the end of the day even though I lost all that time I came in at 2hrs 3 min.  I really wanted to crack the 2 hr mark and I would have if I'd been smarter, if my head had been clearer and if I hadn't been up all night dealing with the baked bean enema.  I'm focussed on keeping going though - next one in May.


Eat this squash.  Squash is good for you and delicata squash is so pretty and the skin is so tender that you can eat everything skin included.  I like the sweetness of the squash being offset by the savouriness of the filling.  It works for me.
The moral of this post... if you are running for an extended period of time (say longer than 10 minutes) then you might want to hold off just a bit on the baked beans, or any beans really and also not drink too much an hour before you start running.  Live and learn and pass it on.


Stuffed Squash
serves about 6

4 squash (I used acorn and delicata) cut in half and de-seeded
butter

4 cups cooked rice (could be brown or white - or even another grain)
4 med pork sausage (I used honey/garlic), casings removed
1 med onion, diced
2 lg cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tbsp bouillion (about 1 cube)
dash of Worcestershire Sauce
1/8 cup each parsley and chive
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 med carrot shredded
1 small green pepper diced
1/2 cup cheddar cheese shredded (plus a little extra for the top of each squash)
1/3 cup parmesan cheese shredded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place the squash cut side up on a baking sheet.  Slather each piece with some butter.  Bake for about 20 minutes uncovered.
Meanwhile,
Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
Add in some oil (of your choice) and throw in the onion, garlic, green pepper and shredded carrot.  Cook until the onion is just becoming golden (about 5 - 7 minutes).  Add in the sausage and cook until the sausage isn't clumped together anymore.
Add in the bouillon, Worcestershire, parsley, chives and salt.  Mix well.  Add in the cooked rice and stir to combine.  Check the taste and adjust as necessary.  Add in the cheddar and parmesan and mix well.
Fill each squash half with the rice/sausage mixture until it's a little more than filled (I like mine piled just a bit).  Sprinkle some remaining cheddar on the top of each one.
Bake for another 20 minutes.
Remove and cool for about 5 minutes.
Serve.

You know things are changing for you when the above becomes your idea of fast food... but there it is.
We had a crazy saturday at our house last weekend.   Kid #1 had a dress rehearsal in the north end of the city.  Then she had a music theory exam downtown.  Then we picked up my mother-in-law and we all went to Kid #1's Choir concert back in the north end of the city.  Then we collapsed.
Fortunately, Mom-in-law provided dinner for us but lunch... well that had to be on the road.
Here is where I could have just gone to a drive thru and gotten it done, right?  Wrong.  I thought about it and decided that:
a.  We have perfectly good food that will go to waste here if it doesn't get eaten.
b.  I don't actually like fast food (except for Taco Bell... there I said it)
c.  Kid #1 needs to have something better than fast food in her belly before this exam and to get her through the rest of her afternoon.
d.  I don't want to spend the money.
So, I cooked up a mean stir fry, threw in some chick peas, tossed it with some rice, put it into containers and we took that with us for lunch.  You know what?  It was good... really good.  Nobody missed the fast food, nobody asked for the fast food and we felt better nourished.  The cash we saved with our lunch went to treat ourselves to this after the theory exam... and I'm not sorry for it one bit.  I'm not giving you that recipe yet though... sorry.
What I've got here is another example of fast, good for you and tasty.  It's a kitchen sink kind of thing.  Whatever I've got in the veggie drawer goes in.  If you have some leftover meat, throw that in too.  Don't have any rice?  Use some orzo or couscous... whatever.  I added in some saffron because I thought that it would taste out of this world... yeah it makes a big difference.


The better the stock you use the better the dish will taste but honestly it's not a deal breaker.  I did happen to use some wicked-ass stock that I made last week out of 4 chicken carcasses but dang, I'd use bouillion cubes in a pinch.


So if you are wondering whether to pick up the phone or get in the car to get yourself some fast food... at least give a thought to what you've got in the fridge and pantry.   Think of the benefits.


Kitchen Sink Saffron Rice
serves 4 - 6

3/4 tsp of saffron (soaked for 10 - 15 minutes in a little water)
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
3 cups broccoli florets
1 small onion, diced
1 cup (or so) pepper, diced
3 cups mushrooms, quartered
3 cups spinach, stemmed and diced
3 cups good quality stock
3 tbsp of mixed herbs (your choice)
2 tsp salt
pepper sauce (come on, you know I gotta throw that in)

Heat a large pot over medium heat.  Throw in a little oil or grease or butter (whatever you got) and add in the veggies.  Toss that around for a few minutes, letting the veggies begin to get a little soft.
Turn the heat down a bit and add in the rice.  Toss the rice with the veggies until everything is well mixed.
Add in the stock, saffron, herbs, salt and pepper sauce (optional).  Stir well.
Cover and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked.  Check and make sure that you don't need to add more liquid half way through.
Cool slightly and serve.  Feel good about what you've done today.

I needed something interesting to go with my beans, that's where this started...
I've been reading and hearing lately a lot about rising food prices worldwide.  Earlier this year I read a book called 'Empires of Food'.  The book follows the history of many major world civilizations and the congruence of their demise with the failure to keep up with food demand.  I know it makes me sound a bit like a geek but it was a really interesting book and one that keeps popping back into my mind as I'm reading and hearing about our own looming food problems.  The difference this time, as I read in the book as well, is that we are affected worldwide because of the intricate web of import/export.  Can we afford it?  Most of us probably can, especially in the western world.  However, not all of us can.  Many of us are already spending a large percentage of their income on food and in non-western economies (ie. not friggin' rich) the percentage of income spent on food is significantly larger again.
As I've been reading and hearing this stuff, I've been thinking again about the things that we can do to help change the system... all Matrix style.
There is still so much that I can do.  For example, I don't can my own food (except for the occasional jam and the two baskets of peaches that I did last summer), I don't buy organic milk and eggs (because - I tell myself - it's expensive and we use a lot of it right now), I still don't buy local bacon (yeah, I buy bacon) for the same reason.  There is a lot that has changed over the past two years but still so far to go.  Rather than feeling depressed at the thought of food costing more, I feel challenged and even inspired by it.  For me personally, it inspired to eat and prepare more meatless meals, to take more care about where I purchase my food - especially meat - and to take more advantage of seasonal foods.  I HOPE that we as a society can learn to use our food dollars to purchase whole foods that truly FEED us rather than fill a hole and that we can get even better about donating that healthy food to food banks or places that need healthy food to feed and support people that live in our own communities.  I'm always looking for new ideas and adaptations that I can make practically that will impact the way that we all eat... if you have some cool ideas then I would LOVE to hear them.


So... I made bean stew.  Then, I needed rice to go with the bean stew.  I also needed to use some things up so that they wouldn't go bad and subsequently go to waste (that's another thing I'm working on).  So, I gathered up some ingredients and tried my hand at 'throwing' something together.  It worked... I think.  Simple, healthy and tasty... yeah, it worked.


Kale and Rice Casserole
serves 6

2 - 2 1/2 cups rice cooked al dente (just under-cooked)
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 rib of celery, diced
1 lg bunch of kale (about 4 cups) or spinach or mix it up
1 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt or ricotta or... you get it)
1 cup milk
3/4 cup shredded cheese (I used medium cheddar)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 tsp salt
3 good dashes of nutmeg

Ok...
Get a big, oven-proof pot heated up on the stove-top.
Put some oil or grease or something in the pot.  Add in the onion, garlic and celery and swoosh it around in the pot until the onions get clear and wilty looking.  Add in the kale and let the kale cook down for a couple of minutes (might need to turn the heat down just a bit).
Turn the heat down to low.
Add in the sour cream and milk.  Let that heat up a little bit.
Add in most of the cheddar and the parmesan.  Add the salt and the nutmeg (throw just a little pepper sauce in there if you like as well).
Add in the cooked rice and mix it all up.
Sprinkle the rest of the cheddar on top.
Bake it for about 25 minutes.
Serve... maybe with some beans....

I am married to a Trinidadian.
I lived in Trinidad for well over a year - close to a year and a half (and 'No, I did not miss snow or the seasons.  Even at Christmas!).
I love Trini food.  I thought that I had died and gone to food heaven.  Everything tasted so good.  I mean everything.  Even at homes where we might just show up out of the blue made us fantastic food.  Pot Lucks - something that fills me with fear here in Canada (true confessions) - were fantastic.  Most people aren't afraid of cooking and don't rely on prepackaged food to get there.  The problem is that I don't cook  Trini food often enough.
The food looks straight forward, even on paper but when you try to make it you realize how difficult it is to get those flavours and textures just right.  I've watched D's Mom cook, I've watched D's Granny cook (she was famous for her cooking).  In fact, I've watched them cook this particular dish.  I've made this dish many times myself AND STILL I find it hard to get it 'right'.  I don't know what it is exactly but something comes out wrong.  When you do get this right though, it's one of the single most satisfying dishes in the world and any Trini will be happy to confirm it.


Rumour has it that a few years ago when Jay-Z was in Trinidad for Carnival, somebody's Mom got paid $700 US for a pot of pelau.  Restaurants don't stay open late in T&T (like really late I mean) and Jay-Z and entourage were hungry.  One of the contact people called his Mom, got her out of bed and she cooked up a pot for the lot.  I'm sure that Jay-Z and co. were happy to pay for it too - it's that good.
You can throw anything in this stuff... chicken, including feet (yeah, haven't actually seen that one yet), pork, carrot... you get the idea.
Don't let me put you off trying this though - it's well worth it.  The taste is great.  I'm officially resolving to cook more Trini food.


Beef Pelau (adapted from 'Naparima Girls School Cookbook' and my Mother-in-law)

1 1/2 - 2 lbs beef chuck

herb seasoning:
2 tsp each - thyme, chives, parsley
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp salt
2 - 3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp ketchup

1/3 - 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tin coconut milk (about 2 cups)
2 cups water
1 packet of beef bouillion
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 slices bacon, sliced
1 tin pidgeon peas or kidney beans
2 cups of long grain rice, washed

In a bowl, season the meat with the herb seasoning.  Set aside.


Heat a large pot or Dutch oven.  Add in the brown sugar.  Let the brown sugar melt but not start to turn black (this will take a few minutes - be patient).  Add in the onion and the bacon.  The sugar will seize up a bit but be patient and keep stirring it.  Once the onion and bacon cooks down a bit and the sugar starts to liquify again, add in the seasoned meat.  Let all of that cook over med/high heat until the liquid cooks down.


Mix together the coconut milk, water and bouillion and set aside.
Once the liquid in the meat cooks down, add in the pidgeon peas or beans.  Again, cook down for just a few minutes.  Add in the rice and mix briefly.  Finally, add in the coconut milk, water and bouillion.  Mix well.  Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer until the rice is cooked and the liquid absorbed (about 30 min. or so).

A cool thing happened the other day.  I was cooking away and the doorbell rang.  B, our new next door neighbour was at the door.  She was holding a quiche.  A couple of months ago when they moved in next door with their adorable little J, we took over some cupcakes.  A little something to welcome them to the area and also to butter them up so that they can check in on our house if we're away... ;-) You know how it goes.  So, B decided to reciprocate by bringing over this yummy quiche.  So Sweet!!!  And Yummy!!!


So, B and I were chatting about life and cycling (they are a big cycling family - like BIG) and food and parenting and running and... stuff.  I was kinda smelling something funny but D was sitting right in front of the stove and I thought that for sure if something was burning then he would catch it.  Well, he didn't catch it.  I would say that I lost about 1/3 of this recipe because I let it burn.


Dumb.  However, it was burnt over a great conversation though, so... silver lining? 
Here's another bit of silver lining.  This recipe is HUGE.  Like way too huge.  If you want to feed a large gathering of people maybe.  Say, like a wedding reception, family reunion or large birthday party.  We honestly could never have eaten it all.  If you'r family is like mine (and aren't necessarily in love with anything containing green lentils then I would cut this recipe significantly.  However, even burnt the taste was decent.  I think that it's a nice side.  Truth be told, there is supposed to be a tomato sauce served along with but I didn't bother with that.  Don't think that you need it if you are serving this along with some other things that are in a sauce.  Delicious and nutricious and, in my case, BURNT!


Kosherie adapted from 'Ottolenghi: The Cookbook'
serves 10 - 12 at least
300 g (2 cups) green lentils
200 g (1 1/3 cups) Basmati rice
50 g (1/2 cup) vermicelli (or spaghettini/capellini) noodles, broken into 4 cm lengths
400 ml chicken or veg stock
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp sugar or honey (my addition)
2 white onions, halved and thinly sliced
lots of unsalted butter or olive oil

In a seive, rinse the lentils under cold water and then simmer in salted water for 25 min.  Drain and set aside.
While the lentils are cooking:
Saute the onions (over medium/low heat) in butter, let them take their time adding butter a tbsp at a time only as needed.  Once the onions are caramelized remove from the pan and set aside.


In a large bowl cover the rice with cold water.  Drain the water and set the rice aside.
Melt a couple of tbsp of butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the vermicelli noodles and heat until they are just turning golden brown.  Add the drained rice and mix well, everything should be coated with the butter.  Add the stock, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, pepper and honey.  Let it cook, covered for 10 minutes.  Add in the drained lentils and finish cooking, covered, for about another 10 min.  Keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn (duh!)