Whole Grains, Lentils and Greens

¾c basmati brown rice

⅓ yellow pepper-chopped

5 cloves of garlic-minced

2T black truffle EVOO

¾-1t Penzeys California Seasoned Pepper

3c fresh cold filtered water

½c quinoa, millet, buckwheat mix

½c brown or green whole lentils

2t Better Than Bouillon soup base

1 bunch of dinosaur kale

Sometimes I revert back to my vegetarian-vegan ideals and all I want is some really good grains and greens! Today is one of those days. Sauté the first group of ingredients, adding just a little water at the end, when everything starts browning, to prevent it from sticking. Next add the quinoa mix, the rest of the water, lentils and the BTB soup base - I always have several flavors, but for this, mushroom sounded good.

Wash the kale first in warm soapy water, then in cold water until the water is clear. De-vein the leaves by pulling or cutting them away from the center stalk and throw that away or out for your bunnies and squirrels. Bundle the leaves together, slice them and cross-cut the slices if they're too big. Add them to the pot. Stir this, cover and let it simmer slowly until the water absorbs, the grains are tender and the kale is nicely cooked.

Add the sliced cilantro leaves and stems, cover to keep everything warm. Fluff it up and check the seasonings just before serving.

Mmmmm, Grains and Greens! 😊 Lin

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Quinoa (millet and buckwheat)

I was putting together my Quarantine-Florentine Meatloaf, and kept looking at that pile of leftover spinach leaves.  Hmm, I have a really good mix of nuts, I have strawberries, green onion, even feta cheese.  And bacon!  And a balsamic vinaigrette I made a while ago... Okay, when the meatloaf is put together and baking, I'm gonna make a BIG salad.

a BIG handful of fresh spinach

4 big ripe strawberries and tops

2 very large green onions

¼c quinoa--mine was a quinoa-buckwheat-millet mix

½c+ water for cooking it

½c chopped mixed nuts--mine were macadamias, cashews and walnuts

for even more crunch, you could add sliced celery hearts or chopped water chestnuts

Slice or chop all the fresh ingredients into a big, BIG bowl.  I saw something on a cooking show or read an article by a chef recently - can't remember which - where it was mentioned we should be eating strawberry greens.  That they're like a little mini fruit salad that way.  Okay, I'm game!  Rinse the quinoa, then combine it with the water in a little pan, bring to a boil, cover and simmer on low until you hear that the water is gone. Add another drizzle of water, along with the chopped nuts, stir, cover and remove from the heat for another 5 minutes.  Combine in the big bowl with the fresh ingredients, toss, dress, top with crumbled bacon, feta cheese and some good black pepper to wake it all up!  Mmmm!  Salad!  I ate half of this, then later came back for the rest.  It seemed to need more acid and fruit.  I grated in some orange peel and cut up a CaraCara orange into what was left. Perfect! . . .Lin