Couscous, Lentil, and Arugula Salad

Honestly, I'm not a big salad fan, though over the years I've honed my preferences. I like salads with lots of stuff - a variety of vegetables, cheese, and nuts. I like my salads pre-tossed with the dressing so that it's evenly coated. And I prefer a flavorful vinaigrette to something creamy and gloppy. If I'm going to eat a salad for a main course, it's also got to have something else besides vegetables and dressing. Most people solve this by adding grilled chicken or steak or even cottage cheese or tuna. But this salad adds couscous and lentils.

The recipe for the dressing makes plenty, so feel free to halve it if you don't want the leftovers. Seeing as our first CSA delivery was this past Saturday, I made the whole recipe. This salad was very filling, but it also felt good on a hot evening to eat something so refreshing. I loved the peppery bite of the arugula with the sour tang of the lemon juice and the flavor of the Dijon mustard. I definitely found a salad I like.

Couscous, Lentil, and Arugula Salad with Garlic-Dijon Vinaigrette
source: Eating Well
Yields 4 large servings

Ingredients

Vinaigrette
* 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 1/2 cup lemon juice
* 1/2 cup red-wine vinegar
* 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
* 4 small cloves garlic, minced
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Salad
* 1 1/4 cups vegetable broth, or water
* 1 cup whole-wheat couscous
* 2 1/2 cups water
* 1 cup French green lentils, or brown lentils, rinsed
* 4 cups arugula, any tough stems removed, or mixed salad greens
* 1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
* 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
* 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Preparation

1. To prepare vinaigrette: Combine oil, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard and garlic in a blender, a jar with a tight-fitting lid or a medium bowl. Blend, shake or whisk until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
2. To prepare salad: Bring 1 1/4 cups broth (or water) to a boil in a small saucepan. Add couscous, cover, remove from the heat and let stand until the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes.
3. Combine 2 1/2 cups water and lentils in another saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook until just tender, 15 to 25 minutes. (Green lentils will be done sooner than brown lentils.) Be careful not to overcook the lentils or they will fall apart in the salad. Drain any excess water and let cool for about 10 minutes.
4. If arugula leaves are large, tear into bite-size pieces. Toss arugula (or greens) with 1/4 cup of the vinaigrette in a large bowl, then divide among 4 large plates. In the same bowl, toss the couscous and lentils with another 1/4 cup vinaigrette; divide the mixture among the plates. Top each salad with cucumber, tomatoes and feta and drizzle each with 1 tablespoon vinaigrette. (Cover and refrigerate the remaining 1 cup vinaigrette for up to 1 week.)

Nutritional Information

Per serving: 549 calories; 18 g fat (5 g sat, 10 g mono); 17 mg cholesterol; 79 g carbohydrates; 22 g protein; 15 g fiber; 579 mg sodium; 630 mg potassium.

Lentil-Goat Cheese Burgers

When I looked at my plate on Monday night, I realized that I had made everything on it: the burger, the pita bread, the hummus, and the salad dressing for the salad. It was a rare feeling of accomplishment, and I enjoyed it. I had been meaning to make these burgers for quite a while, and I am now regretting the time when they were not in my life.

I thought about eating these as a real sandwich, but I kind of like it without the bun. My mom used to serve us plain hamburger patties when I was a kid, and we would dip them in ketchup. So it's kind of like that but vegetarian. It also reminded me of falafel patties in a salad. I served this with a spring mix salad with black cherry vinaigrette, whole wheat pita, and hummus.

The goat cheese makes these seriously flavorful. Plus I love lentils. So the combination is killer.

Lentil-Goat Cheese Burgers
source: Cara's Cravings

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup dried lentils
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 ounces goat cheese
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Preparation

Place first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until tender; drain. Discard bay leaf. Place lentils in a large bowl; partially mash with a fork. Cool slightly.
Heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 5 minutes or until tender. Cool slightly. Add onion mixture, cheese, and remaining ingredients to lentils; stir well to combine. Cover and chill 45 minutes.
Divide mixture into 3-4 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.
Heat a grill pan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Cook patties 5 minutes on each side or until done.

Lentil-Walnut Burgers with Mint Yogurt Sauce

In planning our meals for the week, my new goal is to have at least one vegetarian meal on the menu. The trick is to have Joe not necessarily notice that it's vegetarian so no giant piles of vegetables. It's not that Joe is particularly picky because he's not, but he is a big guy and needs his protein. Cue lentils. Containing high protein levels, dietary fiber, vitamin B1, and minerals, lentils are a great meat substitute. When I saw this recipe on Liz's Cooking Blog (side note: Liz's blog is awesome and has so many great, quick, and tasty weekday meal recipes that even a baby cook like me can master) I knew it would be a perfect veggie night recipe.

Plus, I would get to break out this baby for the first time:

Originally, the recipe calls for a cilantro yogurt sauce, but when I went to the grocery store there was no cilantro to be had. That was fine because I was looking for an excuse to use my latest purchase:

Please give a nice warm welcome to my mint plant, purchased at the Nashville Farmers Market. We're still working on coming up with a name for him. Suggestions are welcome.

Okay, enough of that. On to the recipe.


Lentil-Walnut Burgers with Mint Yogurt Sauce (from Everyday Food via Liz's Cooking Blog)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup toasted walnuts, cooled
• 1/3 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
• 3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes (We prefer things on the spicy side, so I used a touch more)
  
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3/4 cup lentils, cooked, drained, and cooled
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large egg
• pita bread (I used whole wheat)

For the sauce:

• 3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves (I used mint leaves.)
  
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions:

1. In a food processor, combine walnuts, breadcrumbs, garlic, cumin, coriander, pepper flakes, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; process until finely ground. Add lentils and 1 tablespoon oil; pulse until coarsely chopped (some lentils should remain whole).
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg. Add lentil mixture; mix well. Divide into 4 equal-size parts; roll into balls, and flatten with the palm of your hand into 3/4-inch-thick patties.
3. Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add burgers; cook over medium-low heat until crisp and browned, turning gently with a thin-edged spatula, 8 to 10 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.
4. Prepare sauce: in a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, cilantro, and lemon; season with salt and pepper.
5. Serve lentil-walnut burgers in pita bread; drizzle with sauce.

I served this with red onion and fresh tomato slices and a spinach salad. This was a very tasty dish. It's similar to falafel and could also be served in lieu of chicken or lamb on top of a Greek salad. Next time I will make the patties slightly thinner and not over-process the ingredients, which I think I did trying to get the hang of my food processor. It was still delicious though!