Ok I confess. The reason I cook so much is...I love eating good food. And I love the satisfaction of making something really delicious. So many rewards - great flavors to savor, a sense of "hey I actually have something tangible to show for my efforts" (we don't get that a lot in my line of work - counseling), and of course the "this is awesome" commentary from my cameraman. I found this recipe about a month ago in MSL, and because I'm constantly on a search to try new grains (and legumes) and then work them into our regular diets, I bought myself a bag of red lentils. Tonight was the second time I've made this dish - and made some adjustments that made the meal come together really exquisitely. Yes, I said that. I made something that I feel is exquisite. The link below shows the recipe. I followed it for the most part with a few changes. I did not have feta but instead used regular goat cheese (I crumbled it from a log of really good but not pricey organic goat cheese I found at WH), and instead of using the green part of the scallions for the slivered green lines you see nicely crusted into the cakes - I used chives. Better flavor. I also didn't use a non-stick pan. The surface of mine is starting to flake off - and I've banned it from use until I do some research about its potential carcinogenic properties. So I used the always excellent but horrible to clean All-Clad skillet and a fairly generous (for me - I'm stingy with the stuff) amount of safflower oil. The recipe calls for mint and I think watercress. Not a mint lover. (Unless the leaves are crushed with sugar and lime and floating about in a pool of rum and ice and whatever else makes mojitos so damn good.) I tossed some red leaf lettuce with my new favorite (store-bought) vinaigrette (pictured) and no, it does not have any strawberry juice in it. But it tastes like it does - and its sweetness was the perfect counterpart to the somewhat creamy tartness of the yogurt sauce (to which I added a little olive oil because it needed a little more of a buttery quality and less tang, and a little salt because, well, it needed that too). I threw in some sliced avocado and meant to add cucumbers for some crunch - but alas, the naked cucumber (I did manage to peel it) sat on the counter until I discovered it at clean-up time. Sorry little guy.
I implore you to try this meal. Pardon me if that smacks of bravado. It's not tricky. Mind you, I have no real cooking skill or technique - just some whacky (that word so needs an "h" - am I right?) internal drive to make good eats. (Thanks Alton Brown for stealing that phrase so that now as I say it I have to 1. feel kinda weird about it and 2. give you some kind of credit for making it a thing. Geez man.) One thing - harissa is not a type of flour. That's something else whose name I can't recall right now but that sounds like harissa. It's a red hot pepper paste used in North African cooking (yes, I googled that). Totally worth the 3 or so bucks at WH. Or, just come get some of mine. As good as this meal was I'm guessing I won't make it again for awhile, and making use of the rest of the jar of harissa could be a challenge. Most of you know where I live. I'll leave it in the milk box.
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