It’s a real pleasure to have someone else around to cook for and eat with. Chimp called his parents at the hotel in the morning and said, “Come on over when you’re ready; Jocelyn’s making lunch.”
He had cooked some lentils the night before, and I figured it would be quick work to turn them into a simple soup with some garlic, olive oil, zucchini and lemon juice. I had planned to make another batch of chickpea-flour based fritters this week, too – I had cooked the carrots in anticipation of that – and then I realized that I also still had the beets I’d roasted. The cutlets became carrot-beet cutlets.
If I had blended the cutlet mixture less, I could have had an orange cutlet studded with red squares of beet, which would have been pretty spectacular. However, I think achieving that might have required something like the food stylist trick of placing the individual chocolate chips strategically in the specially-shaped ball of dough before baking.
The accompanying salad contains lettuce and cucumber from our CSA box and sunflower sprouts from Nueva Frontera Produce at the farmers’ market.
Lentil-Zucchini Soup
Olive oil for the pan
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 c. cooked lentils
4 medium zucchini
1 T. olive oil
2 T. lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil in a wide, deep soup pot until hot but not smoking. Drop in the garlic and sauté just a few moments, until it begins to color slightly. Add the zucchini and sauté, stirring frequently, until bright green and slightly browned in places. Add the lentils and bring to a simmer; at this point the zucchini should be tender. If not, simmer a few more minutes. To finish, add the olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.
Makes about six one-cup servings.
Carrot-Beet Cutlets
Oil for the pan
3/4 c. chickpea flour
1 t. salt
1 t. ground cumin
2 t. ground coriander
1/2 t. turmeric
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
pepper to taste
1 lb. carrots, cooked and mashed (about six or seven medium carrots)
3 beets, roasted, skins removed, diced
1/2 c. minced cilantro
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Combine the dry ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the carrots, beets, and cilantro and stir gently to combine. Heat oil sufficient to shallow-fry in a medium-size sauté pan. Make fritters about three inches long, two inches wide, and half an inch thick. Fry over heat about halfway between medium and medium-high for about two and a half minutes a side. Watch carefully; because of the beets, the outside of these fritters will darken very quickly. As the fritters are finished, place them on a paper-towel lined plate in the oven until all are finished.
Makes about 12 fritters; four servings.
Debbie
Hey, Jocelyn,
We made this soup/stew for dinner last night, and found it very delicious (and easy). Today we tried it out with Miss Baby, after giving it a quick spin in the food processor. A *huge* hit. Thanks!
Deb