Lentil, Lemon, & Tuna Salad with a Garnish Bonus of Tomato & Pepper Salad. It’s French Friday with Dorie X Two.
My repertoire of salad recipes, those I mix together often, totals three: Tossed, Caprese and Marshall Field’s Wedge. I’m not particularly proud of this and don’t usually admit to it. So glad I’m among friends.
This year I’d already decided to turn over a new lettuce leaf (Just had to do that.)and make this my Summer of Salads. Each week I am going to create a delicious and nutritious melange, using ingredients outside my comfort zone. By the end of August I will have added fourteen salads to my repertoire of three bringing me to a more respectable seventeen. Blast Off!!!
That’s why I was especially pleased to kick off my Salad Summer with this week’s FFWD choice, Lentil, Lemon, and Tuna Salad. To be honest, I made two salads this week because I also made Dorie’sTomato and Pepper Salad. Little credit, please. She suggested we use this as a garnish for flavor and color. A good idea.
Mise en Place. All my ingredients are set out on my table.
The Snob of the Legume Family, Green Lentils from LePuy A.O.P.
The salad gives birth as lentils du Puy (from the Auvergne region of France) which I found at my local Whole Foods. After putting the lentils in a strainer and rinsing them under cold water, I brought them to a boil and let simmer for forty minutes. The lentils cooked quite happily in a chicken broth filled with onion, carrot, celery, garlic, clove and bay leaf. At the last moment, I even sweetened the pot with a tablespoon of Cognac. After draining the liquid and removing the softened vegetables (my choice), I added a minced shallot and salt/pepper.
The veggies and herbs are ready to be added to the chicken broth.
After the lentils were cooked, I drained the liquid off and removed the mushy vegetables.
It was simple to add a tasty dressing of mustard, tapenade, red wine vinegar and Lemon Blush olive oil to the warm lentils. Instead of using a preserved lemon (which I didn’t have), I substituted lemon zest, capers and scallions. Once everything was blended, I used a fork to flake drained tuna over the salad. Salt. Pepper. Toss. Done.
While the salad was chilling, I put together halved grape tomatoes, diced raw red pepper as well as roasted red pepper with some olive oil and a dash of cumin. I think it was a colorful garnish, perfect for the rather dowdy-looking lentils. What this dish lacks in color, it makes up in flavor. It is delicious and can be served on a bed of greens or plain, chilled or at room temperature. LLT can be a starter course, a luncheon dish or spread over crackers for nibbles with cocktails. Versatile. Delicious.
If this Lentil, Lemon and Tuna Salad appeals to you, go here. The Tomato and Pepper Salad, a colorful garnish or accompaniment, is great to have in your arsenal for its many uses. To see what others mixed together this week, stop by our FFWD Site.
I was delighted to learn Kathy who writes http:/www.bakeawaywithme.com/ has nominated my blog to receive The Food Stories Award for Excellence in Storytelling. Since Kathy and I share the belief that serving good and well-prepared food to family, friends, colleagues and even hungry strangers, creates life’s memorable moments, I am especially honored to have been chosen by her. I have been interested and inspired by her participation in Gourmet’s 50 Most Influential Women in Food. Merci beaucoup, Kathy.
Now I get to share this award with 5 fellow bloggers!
1. The nominee should visit the award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/food-stories-award/) and leave a comment indicating that they have been nominated and by whom. (This step is so important because it’s the only way our judges will know who is being considered for the monthly presentation).
2. The Nominee should thank the person that nominated them by posting & including a link to their blog.
3. Share one random thing about yourself in your blog post.
4. Select at least five other bloggers that you enjoy reading their stories and nominate them for the award.
Food Stories will put together a team of judges to review all nominees and to select a Food Stories Award Winner for each month. More information to come on what fabulous opportunities await for those lucky winners!
MY STORY:
1. Done
2. Thank you Karen! I have been smiling all evening.
3. For more years than I will admit to, I have been a Volunteer Wilderness Ranger, representing the United States Forest Service in Aspen’s Rocky Mountains. The job of a volunteer ranger is to help restore, monitor and manage the wilderness that we Americans are “loving to death.” I hit the trails two or three times a week in my”fashionable” Ranger outfit and Stetson (no gun) to help those seeking the solitude of the wilderness have a good experience. My office is the beautiful outdoors. The best job I’ve ever had. That’s why it feels especially good to be back in Aspen, after an eight-year hiatus due to family health issues. Back on the trail again.
4.Not an easy task. I’d like to nominate and share the good work of the following:
Trailhead of the Storm King Mountain Memorial Trail. Plaques honoring the fallen firefighters.
Each Spring, when I’d return for a few days to Colorado, my first hike was always the Storm King Mountain Memorial Trail. This year, although my stay is more permanent, was no different. The trail, which is located seven miles west of Glenwood Springs, is dedicated to the fourteen wildland firefighters who lost their lives battling the South Canyon fire. It is a journey of grief and gratitude through a charred and aching landscape that is slowly recovering.
On July 2, 1994, lightening sparked a fire near the base of Storm King Mountain. Early efforts to get the fire under control failed and more help and assistance were needed. On July 6, a dry cold front hit the area, causing high winds and increased fire activity. The fire jumped beyond the fireline and twelve firefighters were caught, unable to outrun it. Two other helitack firefighters were also killed as they tried to flee in another direction.
Trailhead Sign-In Box showing decals and stickers representing firefighters from around the USA and the world who have visited this memorial.
Firefighters from around the world hike the trail, honoring their fallen brethen.
According to Go.Colorado, this relatively unknown trail,, “was built by a community literally walking through the grieving process. It began as a footpath made by families of the firefighters and others as they hiked the mountain to pay their respects to those who had died, and to try to understand what had happened. In response to the community’s need, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and volunteers built the trail.
Signage on the Trail tells the story of the South Canyon fire of 1994.
The fire, which started at the base of Storm King Mtn., was threatening to Interstate 70, nearby homes and West Glenwood Springs.
Over 100 volunteers from the Glenwood Springs area built the main trail and water bars in October 1994. In April 1995, 60 cadets from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs installed wooden and stone steps, hauled mortar to the observation point for stone benches, dug holes for interpretive signs, and developed an area for reflection at the base of the hill where 12 of the firefighters fell.”
The trail shadows the journey of the firefighters. “The main portion of the trail is about one-mile long and leads to an observation point with good views of the memorial sites. Beyond the observation point, a footpath leads to the sites where firefighters died. The footpath, marked only by rock cairns, is not maintained. Its rough condition is intended as a tribute to firefighters and the challenging conditions under which they work.
The barren landscape left by the South Canyon Fire of 1994.
The Storm King Mountain Memorial Trail.
The trip from trailhead to memorial sites and back is about four miles. It climbs 700 vertical feet to the observation point and another 450 feet to the top of the ridge leading to the memorial sites.”
Today we honor all of those young men and women who have given their lives to protect us and our country. It is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. Therefore, it’s especially appropriate to honor the Storm King 14.
Those who died:
Prineville Hotshots: Kathi Beck, Tamera Bickett, Scott Blecha, Levi Brinkley, Douglas Dunbar, Terri Hagen, Bonnie Holtby, Rob Johnson, Jon Kelso. Missoula Smokejumper: Don Mackey McCall Smokejumpers: Roger Roth, Jim Thrash. Helitack: Robert Browning, Jr., Richard Tyler.
Cervelle de Canut, created in Lyon when it was the center of a thriving silk industry
(Translation: LYONNAISE GARLIC & HERB CHEESE (aka boursin’s mama))
For the past seven years I’ve been taking leçons françaises. While I don’t speak the language well (really, I’m awful), I do possess an amazing vocabulary, know 13 of the 17 different verb tenses and can understand everything that is asked of me in a boulangerie.
That’s why I knew this week’s recipe involved cooking someone’s brain. Probably a duck. Cervelle means brain. Although duck translates to canard, the French do absurd things with word endings so I just assumed canut, canard, duck. If I thought Sardines Rillettes (April 13, 2012) was a culinary stretch for me, duck brains might be an impossibility.
Quack. Quack. Quack.
photo by greengabbro.net
Imagine my surprise when I realized canut meant silk weaver. Literally, this week’s FFWD recipe: Brain of a Silk Weaver. Pas de panique. Fortunately, there are no brains involved in the creation of this recipe.
Trust me on this.
After spooning the ricotta in the strainer, I placed it over a pan, covered it with plastic wrap, allowing it to drain and rest in the refridgerator overnight.
The next morning, I assembled the ingredients for the cheese spread.
Cervelle de Canut is a soft and creamy herb cheese that is part mix, part spread and part salad dressing. It is said to be the inspiration for the popular Boursin cheese that is easily found in any American grocery store. I was invited to a 70th birthday celebration last week-end and I knew it would be a wonderful addition to the appetizer table. Since it would be my first food contribution to party fare since returning to Aspen, this was a “Dorie, please don’t fail me now” moment.
photo by boursin.gif
The night before the party I spooned ricotta into a fine-mesh strainer, covered it with plastic wrap and refrigerated it overnight. The next morning I put the drained ricotta in a bowl, adding shallots, garlic, chives, parsley and tarragon, salt and pepper. After pouring red wine vinegar and olive oil into the ingredients, I mixed everything together and let it chill in the fridge for the entire day. Just before plating Trader Joe’s Raisin Rosemary Crisps with the cheese spread, I tasted the mix again and felt it needed more salt. Much more. Then it was perfect.
Mix all the ingredients lightly with a rubber spatula. Don’t overbeat the cheese and risk thinning it.
Luckily my food offering stood tall with the other delicious fare including crab won tons, Chinese shrimp-snow pea skewers, spinach-cheese squares, paté mousse and smoked salmon-neufchatel spread in filo cups. Did I mention that all my friends are fantastic cooks? And, there was some mention and mumbling that it appeared ‘Mary had not lost her touch.’
Thanks, Dorie. Soooooooo much. Merci beaucoup.
The Groaning Table
Every bite was well-worth the calories! Happy Birthday, Dear Friend.
Peter’s wife, Ruth, an author and writer, lighting his cake. The birthday boy stands nearby.
Although we urge you to buy Dorie’s inspiring cookbook, Around My French Table, you will find the recipe here. To see the brainy versions created by other Doristas, go here.
“Resilience and fortitude are required to preach hard choices to a profligate nation. But Governor Richard Lamm has been the dean of the school of hard choices for at least two decades.”
—Gary Hart, Former Senator and Presidential Candidate
former Colorado Governor Richard Lamm (photo speakers.com)
Shortly after arriving last Wednesday in Aspen, I received a telephone call from longtime friend, Karen Kribs. “Mary, Dick Lamm is speaking at the Thunder River Theatre on Friday night. I think we should go.”
What was surprising about this suggestion was the person making it. Karen, an astute business woman and local building contractor, is as Far Right politically as I am Left. Lamm, the former three-term Democratic Governor of Colorado. (1975-1987) is Co-Director of the Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver and, to my mind, very liberal. Like most of my female friends, Kribs is no shrinking violet, so if she wanted to hear Lamm’s views on immigration and health issues, I was game.
She bought the tickets. I bought dinner.
On Friday evening, Governor Lamm, the author of such provocative books as “Immigration Time Bomb: 2” (1985), “The Brave New World of Health Care” (2003), and ”Condition Critical: A New Moral Vision for Health Care” (2007), reminded a standing room-only audience that “articulation” and “the art of conversation” can still occur. He spoke of sustainability, immigration policy, end-of-life issues, and the many topics contained in his “I have a plan to destroy America” speech.
He talked and answered questions about unpleasant topics, hot button issues and critical problems. He made me uncomfortable. I squirmed in my seat. Cleared my throat. Wished I had ordered that glass of wine at dinner. He started to move a concerned and attentive audience, primarily boomer-aged, politically left/right, to middle-ground. When is the last time that has happened? He even answered one question with, “I really don’t know very much about that.” A politician that doesn’t know everything? Whoa.
When we were driving home, I asked Karen, “What about his entire presentation did you not agree with?”
Her answer, “Nothing.”
My answer, “Nothing.”
Please understand, the pathway to hot issue solutions is fraught with IEDs but middle ground is the starting point. So, here’s the SNAP, which, this week, is for every elected official. Can you just stop annihilating and defaming each other and concentrate on the current events that require innovative ideas to invigorate and replenish this country? I don’t care if Barack Obama is white, black or purple. I don’t care if Mitt Romney is Muslim or Morman. If John Boehner wants to suntan and smoke, fine. If Hillary Clinton has gained weight, sprouted wrinkles and let her hair turn gray, she’s earned the right. Heck, it no longer even bothers me whether Bill Clinton’s zipper is up or down. I just want our elected officials to think and care as much about the American people as they think and care about themselves.
I caught a glimpse of that last Friday evening. Thanks, Governor Lamm.
Ten years ago, my friend, Karen Kribs shared this Eleanor Roosevelt quote with me. (Etsy.com)
