Tarragon couscous red lentil salad

 

Soup and salad weather goes on a long time in Minnesota. This is a good make-ahead option for a weekday lunch.

Tarragon couscous salad
From “Whole Grains” by Betty Crocker. The recipe called for whole wheat couscous, but that isn't readily available at stores where I shop, and I wasn't about to venture further on ice-rutted roads to go looking for it. The recipe suggested that if you didn't like tarragon -- and I understand there are some of you out there -- that you could just add more parsley.

Ingredients
3⅓ cup water, divided
½ cup red lentils
1 cup couscous
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 carrot, chopped finely
4 green onions, chopped
¼ cup chopped walnuts, toasted
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

Method
In a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add lentils, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until lentils are just tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Cool and drain into a large serving bowl.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring remaining 1⅓ cup water to a boil along with 2 teaspoons olive oil and the salt. Add couscous, remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes with the lid on. Fluff with a fork and cool. Add to lentils in serving bowl.

Mix remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil, rice wine vinegar, mustard and garlic in a small bowl. Toss with lentils and couscous. Stir in carrot, onions, walnuts, parsley and tarragon.

Rating: This would make good picnic fare. Can be made ahead and not much in it that's going to go bad if it's at room temperature for some time. Made of lots of things you're likely to have on hand, except possibly the tarragon.  Nice mix of texture with the soft base and crunchy add-ins. Reasonably filling as a main course when paired with a cup of creamy soup. When made ahead, I'd suggest upping the dressing ingredients a bit as the couscous absorbs it as it sits.

Sweet potato and squash soup with chipotle

 

Sweet potato and chipotle soup
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living Everyday Food. I used half sweet potato and half butternut squash because that's what I had in the house. That's it for the farmers market sweet potatoes and butternut squash that we bought last fall. Does that mean spring can happen? Please?

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds peeled and chopped sweet potato and/or butternut squash, about 1-inch cubes
1 chipotle chili in adobo, chopped
7 cups broth

Method
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium low. Add onion and cook until it begins to soften. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Add cumin and garlic and cook until fragrant. Add sweet potato and squash, chipotle and broth. Let cool slightly and purée. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. 

Rating: I'd make it again. Fast, flavorful. Thick enough to be a barrier against winter without being sludgy.

This is like a pureed, stripped down version of this butternut squash chipotle soup with beans and corn. Both serve their purposes. Initially I thought maybe I liked this new one a little less, but this is one of those soups that benefits greatly from being made ahead. I thought it was just fine to begin with, but once the flavors had time to settle in I was quite taken with it. A bit of heat, but not radicalized levels by any means.

Red lentil pumpkin chili

 

I'm told there's a Super Bowl coming up soon. While I could only name one of the teams* playing in it if pressed to answer the question on the spot, the food portion of the event is something I fully comprehend. Chili is a Super Bowl party staple for many people; this one is an option if you're looking for a meatless variety for some of your guests.I made it because it uses pumpkin and there are still several lurking in the basement to cook through. Go Team Pumpkin!

* The only reason I could name one of the teams is because their local newspaper came up with Birdle, an Eagles-related twist on Wordle. I can attest that you can successfully complete it with no actual football knowledge so it's one more potential bad habit to add to my Wordle/Quordle/Worldle daily addiction, but at least it's presumably temporary.

Red lentil pumpkin chili with zucchini
From “Purely Pumpkin” by Allison Day, a compendium of recipes using pumpkin, broken down by course type. I'm going to have to do a deeper dive into this one to make inroads in the pumpkin supply.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 or 2 small zucchini, cut into ½-inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika or chili powder
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon oregano
1 (28-ounce) can crushed or diced tomatoes
1½ cups pumpkin puree (about a small pumpkin's worth)
1½ cups water
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups cooked black beans, drained
1 cup uncooked red lentils
1 teaspoon salt

Method
Heat olive oil in a large deep pot. Add onion, zucchini, garlic, cumin, paprika, red pepper flakes and oregano. Cook until vegetables are soft and just starting to brown. Stir in tomatoes, pumpkin, water, vinegar, black means, lentils and salt. Cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until lentils are tender. Adjust seasoning as needed.

Rating: A fine enough vegetarian chili option. It has the basic flavor profile; the red lentils give it some meatiness and the pumpkin puree gives it that thickness. If you've got the ingredients on hand, it's not a bad option for a family dinner. It reheated nicely, although it's not one of those recipes that necessarily gets better when made in advance.But this recipe for fully loaded vegetable chili is a more deeply flavorful vegetarian chili, one that makes you not miss the meat, so I'd definitely give that one the edge if company is coming.