M'jeddrah--or Jacob's Mess of Pottage--or Esau's Guile!

I remembered this delicious dish from my farm years, 40 years ago, but lentils didn't fit my current and longtime Paleo/Primal lifestyle--lectins can be bad news.  But recently Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, author of The Paleo Approach, suggested they may be worth reconsidering, for several reasons.

Okay!  Instant reconsideration for me, because I've been jonesing for M'jeddrah for a couple of years!  I found my old recipe again, thanks to a friend, along with several spicier ones from Middle Eastern sites.  We were ON.

(The Middle Eastern recipes call for Avieh, which is a Persian word that simply means "spices," but it refers to a lovely mixture of a variety of spices.  I'm just listing them separately--and I didn't have cardamom but didn't seem to miss it.)

Served with a green salad on top, as well as crisp-fried onions. Half and half, here...

It's a bit beige in the pan, but oh the aroma!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of lentils, whatever color you prefer--mine were regular brown ones
1 cup of rice (I usually use brown rice, and may cut the amount next time--we normally avoid grains)
1 large onion and 2-4 cloves of garlic, sliced
2-3 T. olive oil
3 cups of water
1 t. salt
black pepper to taste

Ground spices (my own version of Avieh):

1 t. Cumin
2 t. Coriander
1 t. Cinnamon
1/2 t. Cardamom
1/2 t. Ginger

1/2 t. Turmeric
1/4 t. Cloves

(Many Avieh recipes often call for dried rose petals, but I'm not a fan and neither is Joseph.  Roses are for admiring and sniffing, at our house!)

Salad greens, whatever you prefer--with tomato, cucumber, radishes, whatever...

Salad Dressing:
   Lemon
   Olive Oil
   Salt and pepper

Or a tart dressing you prefer...we liked Primal Kitchens Green Goddess the first night because I didn't have any lemons!


INSTRUCTIONS:

Soak lentils in water at least 4 hours before cooking.  Pour off soaking water--that removes many of the lectins as well as speeding your cooking time.  (Some people even sprout them for 24 hours or so to increase digestibility and nutritional value, and I may try that next time.)

Gently saute' chopped onions and garlic in olive oil until transparent.

Remove from pan (I used a heavy, deep enameled cast iron chicken fryer), and put the rice in.  Parch, stirring, until it becomes opaque then transparent again.  (This also speeds cooking time.)

Put drained lentils and onions back in the pan with about 3 cups of water.  Some say boiling water, but I didn't see any difference.  Add spices and salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, if you're opting for crisp onions on top, chop more onion and start to frying.

Simmer with a lid for about a half hour or so, until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice and lentils are cooked; keep an eye on the pan.  If lentils stick, add more water.  (The original recipe called for simmering for an hour...I would have had a burned mess!)

Make a salad of greens, cucumber , radishes, tomato, whatever is crisp and cool. Toss with a lemon and olive-oil dressing.







Put a generous dollop in a bowl, top with the salad and crisp onions.  You'll likely want seconds and STILL have leftovers, this is enough for 4 people at least.

Oh, my...savory cream cheese onion pie!

I tweaked a recipe that turned out to be just the basic inspiration for this dish...the original was in Diane Mott Davidson's novel, Prime Cut, but I took off (wildly!) from there. 

Almost no carbs, lots of protein and LOTS of taste...

1 package cream cheese or neufchatel 

4 eggs (preferable free range, cage-free)

1/2 yellow onion, diced and sautee'd in butter or oil

1 C. spinach or wild greens...cooked, drained well and chopped  (we had some heavy-duty salad greens from a biodynamic farm that made great cooked greens...)

1/2 T. Dijon mustard

1/4 C.  grated Parmesan (I used a mix of Parmesan/Asiago/Romano)

1 C. grated Gruyere, if you have it.  If not, any amount of whatever cheese you like.  I had Cotswold chive...and only about 1/3 cup.  Whatever.  It's not an exact science!)

Sprinkle of paprika (I used smoked)

Little bit of cumin or cayenne (I couldn't find the cayenne)

Sea salt

Pepper to taste (you can use Pepperman for these last two...it's gorgeous!)


If you think you need more liquid, 1/4 C. cream, milk, white wine, chicken stock, whatever.  No biggie.  It's only 1/4 cup!

If you've got scallions or chives, add 1/2 cup chopped.  If not, don't worry about it, it's going to be delicious anyway!

I skipped the crust 'cause I'm skipping empty carbs as much as possible.

Mix the cream cheese/neufchatel till soft, beat in the eggs one at a time (or all at once, who cares?)  Add the Dijon and mix well with a mixer.

Saute' the onions, drain and chop the greens, grate the cheese and stir them all in along with the spices and salt.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and bake for about an hour, until the mixture is set and browned on top.  The scent will drive you crazy well in advance of this, of course...

Perfect for a chilly late fall day...

Italian Egg Brunch

OK, as I mentioned, I finally realized one reason I haven't been doing this as much is because I don't always take time to do art first!  So, since I JUST finished a lovely Italian Egg Brunch and it's a lovely, lazy Sunday morning, I'm going to share it with you anyway!  (Hey, cooking itself is an art!)

We like Victoria Marinara Sauce, but haven't been able to find it locally.  Happily, Bertolli Organic with Olive Oil, Basil and Garlic certainly takes its place with style, AND it's organic! 

I aim for that whenever I can, even though much commercial organic isn't like buying from the farm or growing your own...according to a lot I've read, you just get more from the food you eat if you go organic.  More vitamins, more minerals, more LIFE.  Maybe even fewer doctor visits!

Seems like a good use of our food dollars, to me...


So.  Let me know what you think?

ITALIAN EGG BRUNCH

1 cup of the Italian sauce of your choice--home made and organic is marvelous, of course!

2-4 eggs (we get the most wonderful orange-yolked, farm-raised, organic eggs through my best friend's food coop, or from the organic section of our grocer's.  They stand up and salute in the pan!)

1 T. extra virgin olive oil OR butter

1-2 T. grated cheese (if we buy the commercial stuff, we like the Parmesan, Romano, Asiago mix)

or (and?) 1 slice of Provolone cheese, diced

1/2 sweet Vidalia onion, if possible (any sweet yellow onion will do, of course), sliced like this and sautee'd till golden:




Add squash, mushrooms, green pepper, whatever, if you have it, and saute till soft.

I went for butter to grease the pan--luscious, though...





Put the tomato sauce into the same skillet and bring it to a simmer, then drop in the eggs.  Sprinkle with cheese and herbs, if you like (we got some fantastic Tuscan Herb mix from Penzey's Spices.  Oh, yum...)





You can sprinkle on some bread crumbs if you like--I'm avoiding gluten, so I didn't! n

Cover the pan, turn the heat to low, and let the eggs poach till the whites are, well, white instead of transparent.  Check it occasionally, I like this with the yolks still soft...if you want, spoon some of the hot tomato sauce up over the eggs to speed their cooking.

This is SERIOUSLY good, and just filling enough...great brunch for a chilling winter morning!