Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving weekend to my Canadian readers. :)
The warm beautiful weather continues!
Yesterday was a madhouse up in here.
I was busy with work when I found out that I advanced to Round #4 of Project Food Blog. Thank you so much for your votes!!! I realized that yesterday was my only chance to bake up my recipe submission because we are going away for Thanksgiving this weekend. The submission is due Sunday! Cue major panic. ;)
Let me just say that I didn’t get to bed until after midnight and my kitchen now weeps!
Last night, I needed a quick dinner and I also made enough of dinner so there would be leftovers to bring to my in-laws this weekend. Whenever I go away I always try my best to bring one vegan dish along.
I started by cooking a bunch of lentils on the stovetop and then I grabbed these CSA veggies from the fridge:
Have you ever seen a cuter green pepper?
I wanted to pickle it so I could stare at it forever, but ultimately I ended up chopping it up. ;)
I also threw in some chopped celery when I noticed that we had some to use up.
Dressings don’t get any easier…
After draining and rinsing lentils, add into bowl with veggies…
Now make your dressing!
Black Pepper Balsamic Vinaigrette
Spicy Herbamare:
and oil + minced garlic. I used Sunflower oil and 1 clove of minced garlic.
Switch into a bigger bowl when you start spilling things everywhere… ;)
Taste!
Mmmm.
and adjust seasonings as needed.
Delicious, nutritious, and ready in a snap. :)
The perfect high-protein take-along side dish to supplement lunch or dinner.
Check out, what I picked up this week…
I decided I wasn’t going to ever have coffee if I had to drag out and clean our huge coffee maker each day (the last thing my kitchen needs is another appliance in use!), so after reading all your rave reviews, I took the plunge and got a French Press.
I also think I want to grind my own coffee beans fresh. Does anyone recommend a good coffee grinder?
I’m off to squeeze in a workout, shower, pack, and then we are off to the in-laws! Have a great day.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I love lentils and this salad looks amazing, I think ill make something similar to take for lunch this week :) You always have the simplest, most clever ideas!
Why do you guys celebrate thanksgiving before the US?
Cooking at midnight? What? I hope you had a good rest though. I’ll def. will be voting! :)
Safe trip and enjoy your weekend Angela.
Reka
Yum!
Enjoy your family time!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL YOU CANADIANS!
Yum, love lentils! What a quick and easy recipe….might have to incorporate this one!
My sister and brother-in-law do not live w/o their French press, they take it everywhere they go, camping, traveling,etc. Have fun with that!
Enjoy family holiday!
The salad looks delish:)
As for coffee beans, I used to grind my own, but a coffee obsessive I work with told me it’s no different to buy them ground, because they’re ground as soon as they’re roasted and sealed in the bag, and then you keep them in the freezer- no point in going to the expensive of a decent grinder when it doesn’t make your coffee any fresher. The only downside, if you want to get really fussy, is that ground beans are usually just a tad too fine for a french press- you can find them ground to the right size if you keep an eye out. I use my coffee grinder now to grind seeds and whole spices. Happy coffee drinking! Just remember to not drink coffee for at least an hour after a mineral rich meal, it’ll impair absorption (although I’m sure you know that:) )
Canadian Tire sells a little white colored coffee grinder, brand name ‘Lancaster’. It is tiny (yay for saving storage space), retails at about ten bucks (don’t be tempted by the ridiculously overpriced ones that try to outshine this one on the shelf), and works perfectly – you control the grind on the beans by shortening or lengthening the amount of time you press the button. I have two – one for grinding spices, and one for grinding coffee!!
happy thanksgiving!
The lentil salad looks awesome. I almost made soup with lentils in it yesterday, sorta like your soup in a pumpkin soup, but passed on adding the lentils.
Anyway the french press…congrats! I will be the lone dissenter and say I find that cleaning up a french press is MORE work than simply chucking a paper coffee filter in the trash from a regular coffee pot simply b/c with a French Press, there is nothing “containing” the grounds so they are just free flowing everywhere and you will have “coffee grounds soup” either in your trash can, in your sink basin, and everywhere in between. To me, that’s more work than just making a pot of coffee but hey girl, rock it. We can chat about all my coffee tips…I have a coffee maker, a total pimp espresso and cappucino maker that set me back a few pennies, a french press, about 4 coffee grinders, yeah, I take my coffee seriously :)
You’ll love having a french press! So quick & easy to use!
I’ve had this coffee grinder for about 4 months and I think it’s great .
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SPEU/ref=oss_product
Congrats on round 4!
We use a Cuisinart coffee grinder. It’s been through 4+ years and is still going strong, so I’d recommend that. Also, my sister-in-law adds a dash of cinnamon to her French Press coffee – very tasty!
OK.. I return to work after 10 months, don’t check in for a week and what is this I see? You’re drinking COFFEE?? (or CAWFEE) as we say in Brooklyn :-) I really thought i”d never see the day! haha!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
xx
Stephanie
Yay! I’m so excited about your french press. I’m a little bit obsessed with mine. May I inquire where you got the “shatterproof beaker” version? I have broken a few of the glass carafes so this is right up my alley.
Oooooo this looks sooooo good- so simple yet so tasty and healthy!!
Angela, do you think you would be able to post a little more about your road to running/jogging/fitness? I would love to read more about how you came to be running half marathons such as how you stay motivated and how you trained to be able to run those kinds of distances!
You’re spreading some seriously positive foodie vibes here- keep it up!!
:)
You might enjoy my post called ‘from 1 minute to 10 miles’ on my running page:
www.oohsheglows.com/run
oops correct link might help: www.ohsheglows.com/run
Ah perfect- I totally overlooked this!
Thanks so much! :)
looks yummy! congrats on project food blog!!
i just grind my coffee beans in my (small) food processor. works fine for me! (and you want a little coarser of a grind for french press!)
That salad look so healthy and refreshing!
Whatever grinder you get, I recommend that you get a burr grinder – thats the only kind that will ensure that your grounds are uniformly ground. With magic bullets and spice grinder style grinders you get variable sized grounds. Not terrible if you’re using a paper filter and making drip, but for french press you need uniformly coarse grounds. Also, if you ever got a Bialetti Moka pot for making espresso you’ll be prepared to make super fine grounds that are required for that :)
The burr grinders are more expensive and a little bigger than the blender kinds, but I think its worth it! http://tinyurl.com/25hg6gj
Happy Thanksgiving Angela!!! We are enjoying a chilly one here in the maritimes! This lentil salad looks yummy!!
Happy thanksgiving! Congrats on the French press. I use a small Capresso grinder and it works really well for smaller (<10 cups worth or so) amounts.
Love that idea! I also love recipes that are quick and easy, you have so many of them!
Happy Thanksgiving Weekend Angela!