When I arose this morning I had every intention of heading out for my walk before 6:30 a.m., having learned my lesson yesterday when out walking yesterday morning after 8 a.m. in the heat. Then I looked out the window. It was raining! When it ended there were still patches of dry pavement under the vehicles, so we did not receive a lot of rain, but some is better than none at this point. I would have gone walking in the rain, but when I looked at the thermometer it was already 25C, and the Humidex was over 30C. There would be no walk today, not in the outdoors at least.
As it turned out today, I didn’t stick my nose out the door at all. Instead I worked on my book.
The other activity that occupied my time today was cooking. Attila and I decided to give cooking a try during the mid priced hydro window, which is in the morning. I made a large batch of croutons in the oven, and cooked lentils with which I made a Lentil Salad. One thing always leads to another. My Lentil Salad called for raisins. The raisins we buy are bulk organic unsulphered raisins. It is a big, big box of raisins. To get just one cup I had to open up the entire big, big box. Once opened it needed to be repackaged. I filled four 1.5 litre mason jars, which made a small dent in the raisin supply. Not having any more large mason jars, I opted to seal the raisins in their plastic bag, seal that in a cardboard box, then store the box in a suitably sized tote which would keep out the mice, if we get any this fall. The Lentil Salad was so good that I felt it was worth all the kerfuffle to store the bulk raisins properly.
Lentil Salad
INGREDIENTS:
– 2 ¼ cups (1 lb.) Du Puy lentils
– 1 medium red onion, diced
– 1 cup dried currants (you could also use raisins or other dried fruit)
– 1/3 cup capers
– Vinaigrette:
– 1/3 cup cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
– 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
– 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
– 1 Tbsp. strong mustard
– 2 teaspoons salt
– 2 teaspoons pepper
– 1 teaspoon ground cumin
– 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
– 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
– 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
– 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
– 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
– 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
– 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
– Optional add-ins:
– Arugula
– Walnuts
– Goat cheese
– Fresh herbs: flat-leaf parsley, cilantro, basil
– Sprouts
– Crispy seasonal veggiesMETHOD:
1. Rinse lentils well, drain. Place in a pot and cover with a 3-4 inches of water, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Check lentils for doneness after 15 minutes, but they should take about 20 minutes in total. You will know they are cooked if they still retain a slight tooth – al dente! Overcooking the lentils is the death of this dish. Be careful! 2. While the lentils are simmering, make the dressing by placing all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake vigorously to combine. 3. Finely dice red onion – the salad is best if all the ingredients are about the same size. If using raisins, chop them roughly to make them a bit smaller, and do the same with the capers if they are large. 4. When the lentils are cooked, remove from heat, drain and place under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Once cooled slightly but still a little warm, place lentils in a large serving bowl and toss with dressing. Add other onion, capers, and currants. If using other add-ins such as herbs, greens, or cheese, wait until just before serving. Otherwise, this salad can hang out in the fridge for a couple days.
SERVINGS: 4
SOURCE: http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2010/06/the-best-lentil-salad-ever-2/===============
A telephone call was received to schedule the delivery of the dishwasher tomorrow. Another project! At least this project can be worked on inside the air conditioned house, which Attila will appreciate a lot. I dare not expect this job to be done any time soon, but I can dream!
Worldly Distractions
Weather
24°C
Date: 6:03 AM EDT Wednesday 10 August 2016
Condition: Light Rainshower
Pressure: 101.8 kPa
Tendency: rising
Visibility: 24 km
Temperature: 23.8°C
Dewpoint: 21.2°C
Humidity: 85%
Wind: SSW 21 gust 36 km/h
Humidex: 32 (This rose to 39 by mid afternoon.)
Quote
“You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.”
Eric Hoffer
1902 – 1983
[This is true of most people, but not all enemies.]
OMG the lentil salad sounds so good! Send the rain south to the midwestern US please. We need some rain before we all melt or die from the humidity. O.k. I’m exaggerating a bit 🙂
Sandy, I love this Lentil Salad!
We are in a Level Three drought now, highest level, supposed to cut water consumption to 50%. We didn’t get much rain, but it might keep some of the trees alive! The humidity is really intense here too. It would be great if the plants could suck the humidity right out of the air. Keep cool!
Maggie, in my world we’ve had a sufficiency of rain this summer and the grass is growing like crazy right now, but I have had plenty of summers like yours and they are really taxing. To have it be humid all the time but never raining is hard on everybody and everything. Here’s hoping you get a break soon.
Maggie,
Glad you got some rain and hope you get more. We get plenty here though in 2008 when we moved here there had been a draught for 7 years. In 2008 it started raining again…like crazy. The thunder and lightning storms scared the bejesus out of me. I thought it was always going to be like that but luckily I was wrong.
The lentil recipe I thank you very much for sharing. Love lentils. Sounds like it will be delicious. Also sounds like you won’t be needing raisins for a while!
Take care and I hope you can get out to walk. Too hot here too.
Has the construction started?
Hurray for rain and dishwashers!
We weren’t even forecast for rain here, so good to hear you got some. It’s a start, and with the extra moisture on the ground you have a better chance of getting more.
Hope Attila finds your dishwasher an easy addition.
This lentil recipe sounds delicious! I’ve never made lentils before, though I’ve eaten them numerous times. I like the idea of expanding out to a new and different side dish. Thanks!
Thank you for that recipe. These days, if a recipe has more than 6 or 7 ingredients, I tend to pass it by! I’ve resorted to making the same old things over and over, with only the basic ingredients just because it takes too much time in the kitchen for me. I need a quick-n-go meal to prepare. You are so industrious!
Wendy, glad to hear that some parts of the continent are experiencing a green summer! This weather is very taxing, but better than the howling winds of winter 🙂
I think we got a sprinkle overnight, because I observed a darkness or dampness at the sides of the road this morning when I was out for my walk, just after 6 a.m.
Nora, this is as dry as I have ever experienced, although as a child I wouldn’t have thought anything of the weather, just accepted it as it came, so there might have been droughts of this magnitude that I failed to comprehend. Severe thunder storms can be quite nasty, I don’t like them either when they become extreme.
I found the Lentil Salad recipe when I was trying to use up some old lentils last summer (old as in over 25 years old). We liked it even with the old lentils, so this time I made it with lentils that are only a few years old and it was even better! I think we have enough raisins to last for years!
I did get out for a walk very early this morning, it was warm and humid, and stinky, but I managed quite well.
We have seen no sign of the dump trucks this week. The company that is going to do the construction also installs pools, so I think they were excavating for a pool, and bringing the soil in for future use in the new subdivision. We are hoping the new construction won’t use our street for access, but another road off the highway. Fingers crossed!
Teri, LOL, rain and dishwashers!
We are hoping for rain this weekend, enough to give the trees some relief. We have decided that if any of our trees appear stressed, we are going to water them. Shade from trees is essential in our book.
I am not optimistic about the dishwasher going in easily. I am confident that it will go in though, so the disruption will be worth it. Luckily Attila uses the kitchen a lot, so he will be motivated to work through the project expediently, so that he can get back to his food preparation and snacking… he eats a LOT.
I like this Lentil Salad a lot, it is filling and a lot of the ingredients are very healthy. I always feel a little burst of energy after I eat it.
Bex, I am like you in that I don’t usually go for recipes that have lots of ingredients. The Lentil Salad recipe is very fiddly, so I am considering placing three bowls on the counter and measuring the herbs and spices for one recipe into each of the bowls, then bagging them so that when I want to make this salad all I have to do is measure the liquid ingredients and dump in the spice mix. To be honest it takes me quite a while to actually locate all those ingredients in the cupboard, I even have to get the stepladder out to find some of them!