Simple Mushroom Curry...Simply Full of Tomato

Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 1...2 if you have a tiny stomach
Overall Rating: 5...read on for suggested improvements

I am lucky to have a husband that knows his way around the kitchen well. After a little encouragement (okay, nagging) on my part, I was able to convince him to make me dinner on Friday. Ryan chose Simple Mushroom Curry from VegWeb.com, which was indeed quite simple; he commented that the most time-consuming part was chopping the onion.

Seeing as I sat back and enjoyed a glass of pinot grigio, while Ryan cooked, I don't have too many insights as to how to craft this meal. It did smell mighty delicious in the short time it took to prepare.

However, the final product did not taste like a curry. While still tasty, the recipe simply tasted like a mushroom marinara sauce. Due to its ease, we will likely make a variation of this of this meal again; however, Ryan and I both agreed that we would add a lot less tomato paste and more of the spices (cumin, chili powder, turmeric, etc.).

My deceptive cook serving up the curry

Okay, PAUSE. Ryan just confessed that he left out both the coriander and the cilantro. He has some strange aversion to buying spices. Well, that tanks the credibility of this entry. I suppose I will have to do my blog cooking by myself moving forward...

But I can still advise you to make at least a double batch of this recipe if you're looking to feed more than one person. We served the curry over big portions of quinoa with sides of asparagus. Despite the sides, we were both left hungry.

Simple yet Satisfying: Lentil and Quinoa Salad

Time: 40 minutes 
Servings: About 2 for Dinner
Overall Rating: 6.5...but lots of potential!

On my way home from work today (Boston to southern New Hampshire-yuck!), I was despairing a bit about the lack of food in the fridge for dinner. I thought about stopping to pick up a Cedar's Black Bean Salad and some brown rice, but I really didn't want to go to the supermarket. So I took my chances and went home to rummage through the pantry.

I was lucky enough to find some lentils, quinoa and various veggies (mostly thanks to my brother, Jimmy, who is staying with us for a few months). The resulting salad, served over baby spinach, was nothing outstanding, but it was certainly healthy, satisfying and pretty yummy.

In addition to great nutritional value, the beauty of this salad is its flexibility. Choose a base grain (such as quinoa, brown rice or wild rice), choose a protein (such as lentils, black beans or chickpeas), add veggies (such as peppers, onion, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumber, etc.), oil (such as olive or sesame), vinegar (such as balsamic, white wine or rice wine) and seasoning. As you can see, there are many options to make a hearty grain/protein salad.

Tonight's version is as follows:

Ingredients

This is what I found through my rummaging efforts.

• 1 Cup Uncooked Quinoa
• 1 Cup Uncooked Lentils (your choice of color; I used brown)
• 1/2 Red Bell Pepper
• 1/2 Red Onion
• 1/2 Jalapeno
• Handful Cauliflower
• 1 Large Tomato
• 1.5 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
• 1.5 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Ground Pepper to Taste

Cook the rinse both the quinoa and lentils and cook according to directions. I mixed 1 cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water, covered it and brought it to a boil, reduced the heat to low and simmered about 10 minutes--cook just until the water is gone. For the lentils, I also used about 2 cups of water for 1 cup of lentils, but I had to add another cup toward the end because the existing water was almost gone and the lentils were still a little hard. They took about 22-23 minutes to cook.

While the quinoa and lentils are cooking, finely dice your veggies, or, to make things so much easier, throw them in the food processor for a few pulses.

Mix the cooked quinoa and lentils with the chopped veggies. Add the oil, vinegar and seasoning. Voila! Serve over baby spinach or other greens for some extra nutritional value.

Check out these other grain/protein recipes for some more inspiration. You'll notice that most of them are a variation of the grain, protein, oil, vinegar, seasonings guideline.

Black Bean and Quinoa Salad
Cherry Quinoa Salad 

Let me know what combinations you come up with in the comments :).