LENTILS & HONEY-ROASTED TOMATO SALAD
If, as someone once remarked, August is the Sunday of summer, it’s a sure bet your Sunday was fast and furious. Remember Nat King Cole’s lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer? Here in the West, we’ve had crazy hazy days because of our 76 forest fires (latest figure). Last Wednesday, on the way to Rocky Mountain National Park, I drove through Colorado’s Byers Canyon 568-acre fire. A surreal moment. The canyon was open but with fires burning and smoke spouting while helicopters dumped water on hot spots. Instructed not to stop, I slowly passed through this charred 8 mile-gorge on the upper Colorado River.
My take-away from this experience? Every time you encounter firefighters, thank them profusely.
STUFFED PEPPERS WITH NEW POTATOES, FETA, AND PESTO
The month’s ending translates not only to re-visiting Mother Nature but also to my monthly Cottage Cooking Club post when we share vegetarian recipes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Veg cookbook. This month I made a delicious Green Lentil & Honey-roasted Cherry Tomato Salad, a unique (to me, at least) Stuffed Pepper with New Potatoes, Feta & Pesto and, for our cool mountain evenings, Cannellini, Spinach & Porcini Soup.
IN THE WILLOWS AT ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, MAMA AND BABY MOOSE
In addition, I spent the end of August in Rocky Mountain National Park taking classes offered by the Rocky Mountain Conservancy Field Institute. Three of my Forest Conservancy colleagues who are Master Naturalists joined me to take Birds of the Kewuneeche Valley and The Life & Times of Moose. Yep, we love this stuff. Enjoy these pictures from our latest adventure.
MOM MOOSE – SHE CAN WEIGH BETWEEN 1100 TO 1200 POUNDS.
Now, to some tasty vegetarian fare. In a word, French green lentils (preferably Le Puy lentils). “These lovely, speckled green lentils are an absolute mainstay of my cooking,” Hugh writes. “They get their distinctive earthy flavor from the volcanic soils around Puy in the Auvergne region of France. Their firm, nutty texture makes them great for adding to salads or jumbling up with all manner of companions.”
BABY MOOSE – THIS GUY IS REALLY A JUVENILE BUT WILL HANG OUT WITH MOM UNTIL SHE HAS ANOTHER CALF.
I chose to toss my warm lentils with honey-roasted cherry tomatoes and a handful of arugula topped with Parmesan shavings (Not sure that extra flavoring and calories of cheese is needed.) For the honey-roasted tomatoes, if you remember from a recent post, just halve cherry tomatoes and place them snugly, cut side up, in a lightly oiled dish. Crush 2 garlic cloves, 1 TBS honey with 3 TBS olive oil and mash together. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour over tomatoes and roast at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. I also tried this same recipe the next day using leftover cold lentils. Very tasty.
BIRDING BREAK. DONNA, FRANCINE, AND CAROL (L to R) THOSE SPINACH ARTICHOKE CHIPS ARE DELICIOUS. (I SHARED.)
Once you become enamored with French green lentils, you’ll want to dive deeper into Lentil Land, a healthy place to spend your time. Besides Hugh, many other cooks tout this legume and have wonderful lentil recipes to share: Visit Ina, Dorie, David and Martha.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/warm-french-lentils-recipe.html
http://www.foodlushblog.com/2013/01/dorie-greenspans-lentils.html
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2006/11/cheap-caviar-1/
http://www.marthastewart.com/1059139/french-lentils
CANNELLINI, SPINACH and PORCINI SOUP
Like me, you probably have stuffed peppers before. My question, did your filling include new potatoes, feta and pesto? In this recipe you get the smoky taste of roasted peppers without the messy peeling. The yummy filling is, well, yummy and filling. Substantial. And, for pesto, I visited my local market. Serve these with a green salad and artisan bread. May I suggest this dish begs for a nice glass of crisp wine?
THESE JUVENILE OSPREY WERE CHATTERING LOUDLY. ALTHOUGH WE THINK THEY HAVE FLEDGED AND CAN FLY, THEY CLEARLY DID NOT WANT TO TAKE OFF. MOM AND DAD ARE GONE, WE THINK.
Since I’m quite sure most of you readers are not lusting for soup right now, I’ll save my lovely Cannellini, Spinach & Porcini Soup with all its variations for a later Post.
LOOKING FOR MOOSE WITH OUR LEADER, KEVIN COOK OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN CONSERVANCY FIELD INSTITUTE.
AU REVOIR, AUGUST
THE USFS RANGERS HEADED INTO THE WILDERNESS TO WORK – JUST DOIN’ THEIR JOB IN THEIR BEAUTIFUL OFFICE.
STUFFED PEPPERS with NEW POTATOES, FETA AND PESTO
by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
7 ounces small new potatoes
4 peppers, multi-colored
1 Tbsp olive oil
7 ounces feta cheese
1/4 cup of pesto (I used less)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bring a pan filled with salted water to to boil, add the new potatoes and boil for 8-12 minutes, until just tender. Drain and cool slightly.
2. Halve the peppers lengthways, removing the seeds and pith but leaving the stem. Brush the outsides with olive oil and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
3. Halve or quarter the new potatoes and place in a bowl. Cut the feta into 1/2 inch cubes and add to the potatoes. Toss both with the pesto until well combined. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. Spoon the filling into the halved peppers and bake for 40-45 minutes until browned on top. Scatter shredded basil over the peppers just before serving, if desired.
I love everything about this post good fresh vegetarian food, healthy strong ladies in the great outdoors surrounded by the most wonderful wildlife.
Fascinating happenings Mary and your nature shots are captivating, I so enjoy these up close nature photos each month. Sorry to hear about the fires, Thrilled on your diversions with friends, yes the ladies shot is a fun tie in with the whole big picture. Your dishes look nice, I did indeed enjoy the potatoes and pesto baked into the red peppers. Enjoy September and any warmth you may kindle before the chill resumes. Big Hugs inspirational lady!
Dear Mary, what a lovely August post! Full of amazing pictures, great food and wonderful stories of your adventures – I am also sorry to read about all those wildfires – how devastating that must be to be driving through one of the “fire zones” – I can only imagine how surreal that must feel.
Your food looks wonderful – love that you added one of my favorite recipes (the honey-roasted tomatoes) to the lentil salad – that sounds like such a wonderful idea that I will steal soon. The stuffed peppers look wonderful – I took the liberty of switching the homemade pesto fro a walnut tapenade instead. The soup is the only recipe that I did not make, it was just too plain hot around here – but I am quite eager to try the recipe.
Fabulous photography – love the touch of nature throughout!
Sending you many big hugs my dear friend!
Andrea – we thought about you yesterday when we visited an amazing country fair with so many talented people showing off their crafts and skills and great food and lots of plants and veggies and honey and fruits…
Looks like all of you had a great time on this trip. I am envious!
Cannot wait to try these recipes (minus the cheese) — especially the one with lentils.
Thank you for a very enjoyable end-of-August posting.
Great reading and pics! WOW- those are some big Moose! I guess all Moose are huge! Your photography is amazing! The stuffed peppers look fabulous! Adriana has made her own pesto – I will have to get some from her!
You lead such an exciting life! Can’t wait to see you soon!
Hi Mary, love all your nature photos, I am a big hiker and see that I need to visit your part of the state it is so, so beautiful. Would love a copy of the recipe you mentioned on my site. Take care…….
Gorgeous photos of both nature and food, Mary. I love your variation on the lentil salad. It uses one of my favourite and most-repeated recipes from the book, the honey roasted tomatoes. The peppers had such an unusual but tasty filling – yours look perfect. We had a few days of cool weather – by that I mean below 25C – of which I took advantage to make the soup (and risotto) which we enjoyed. Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Mary,
I read somewhere that Aussie firefighters are on their way to assist in the wildfires, correct?
Another fully packed monthly post from you, loads of fun nature wise. You enjoyed the leek toasties yet? I do have ingredients for the stuffed peppers too in my fridge! Thanks for your lovely comments on my new addition to the family!
Those fires make me very, very sad. My Uncle Bob used to do wilderness firefighting up in the ADK and I am pretty much in awe of people (and grateful for those) who are willing to put their well being at risk like that.
That being send – French lentils are the bomb and the world needs more moose.
XOXO
I love the photos you share of your wilderness adventures. It’s been a hard year for forests and I hope your area (like ours) is getting some much-needed rain.
Your choices for this month are fantastic and I’m with you on the lentils – I used to think Beluga lentils were my favourite, but there’s really nothing better than French green.