Lentil Soup with Walnut Gremolata and a Simple Salad

Thursday night was another collaborative effort. I began cooking, then went out to shuttle D back and forth to her dance class, and returned to help complete the meal.

Thursday dinner:
A salad of lettuce and thinly sliced red onion, lightly dressed with lemon juice, McEvoy Ranch olive oil, salt and pepper. And a bit of pecorino.

A version of the Mediterranean Five Lentil Soup with Walnut Gremolata from The Artful Vegan, which is the second book to come from the Most Excellent crew at the Millenium Restaurant in San Francisco. We only had 3 kinds of lentils, but all the makings of this dish (except the ginger) were already in my pantry/refrigerator/freezer. While many of the recipes in both Millenium-generated cookbooks are very time-consuming, because of the multiple components involved in getting the layered, textured results that are a Millenium signature, the soup recipes generally are not. We were pleased to discover this one a couple of years ago, and have made it on many weekdays since. A bit of miso is whisked in at the end, which lends the broth a certain round sophistication. But it turns out the ginger is pretty crucial because without it, the mild sweetness of the light miso goes unchecked. I compensated with generous amounts of ground black pepper. Although the soup can stand on its own, the herby, citrusy swath of goodness we call gremolata is not to be missed.

Other observations:
Drawback of collaborative dinner-making: No one "owns" the dishwashing and cleanup, and no one wants to do it.

Summer Squash Gratin with Brown Rice

Last night I was running around, so Matt made dinner. I had emailed him early in the day with a menu suggestion. This was my attempt to encourage Matt to get dinner on the table before 7 (or 8 or 9) pm. By determining the menu ahead of time, insisting that we pick up a couple of grocery items on the way home, and cleaning up the kitchen as soon as I got home, I thought I was setting him up for a well-timed meal. Not so.

Wednesday dinner:
Brown rice. Note: Brown Basmati is our all-occasion rice. The scent alone is enough of a reason; it is intoxicating and satiating and makes the house smell good. Exceptions are made when I am making sushi or really craving the texture of short-grain rice.

With this, Matt served our adaptation of this recipe, from 101 cookbooks. We use much less butter/oil for toasting the bread crumbs, and we tend to vary the sauce. This time, it was arugula-based.

We used up our arugula, summer squash, and a few potatoes.

update: I just wanted to mention that it was a very good and satisfying meal, even though it was not served til after 8pm. Everyone was content. Matt does a lot and I totally appreciate that.

This Week from the Farm (September 22)

Our half of a full share included:
1/4 pound salad mix
1 head lettuce (I chose butter leaf)
1 pound summer squash
1 pound beets
1/2 large bunch basil, but I gave our half to my mother, so she would have a whole large bunch
1/2 large bunch rainbow chard
1/2 bunch scallions
1 pound beets
1 pound eggplant
1 1/2 pounds potatoes
1 acorn squash
1 butternut squash
3 bell peppers
1 watermelon
PYO: 15 stems assorted flowers, small bunch parsley, 5 habanero, 5 jalapeno, 5 cayenne. I didn't take any other herbs because I still have quite a bit left over from last week.

Tuesday dinner:
Thai-ish takeaway

Then off to the Princeton Regional school board meeting, where my nervous comment and questions about board ownership of school lunch standards and food education were met with blank looks and patronizing smiles. No responses.