Middle Eastern food

Flame Kissed Chicken and Lentil Salad

/ Juliana Lightle / 5 Comments

This week what I thought was going to be a culinary disaster resulted in the best chicken I have ever eaten.  Twelve people were coming for dinner–a teachers’ sorority.  One of the women gave me the chicken half frozen in marinade to take to my house–we work together.  She planned to come to my house early and grill the chicken.  Because she was unexpectedly late, I had to grill the chicken myself.  Now, to tell the truth, even though I cook a lot and blog about food, I had never grilled chicken before.  My daughter had grilled steaks several days earlier, but it never occurred to me to clean the drippings pan under the grill.  Here is what happened:

I heated the grill to about 450 degrees, took the still slightly frozen chicken out of the marinade and placed it on the grill.  It took only about 30 seconds and flames were shooting up about 6-8 inches and the chicken  was turning a grayish color.  I was concerned about two things:  the flames getting totally out of control and starting a real fire (my grill is propane) and the chicken being totally inedible.  I turned the heat down, pulled the grill farther away from the wall, turned the chicken over, and hoped it would be ok in the end.  After all this commotion, a half hour or so later, and after cooking the hamburgers as well, we tried the chicken.  It was the best chicken I have ever eaten.  It was even good left over cold out of the refrigerator–I normally refuse to eat leftover, cold chicken, reheated or otherwise, because I think it tastes dreadful.  People also told me the hamburgers were cook perfectly.

If anyone can tell me how to duplicate this delicious chicken result without all the flames and fire dangers, please comment on this post.

Several weeks ago a fellow food blogger, The Hungry Irishman, posted a lentil salad.  Here is my promise to him to post the lentil salad I make.  The original recipe is from one of my oldest and most favorite cookbooks, The Silver Palate.  However, like most everything I cook, I modify to suit myself and  never really follow the recipe, except maybe for cake, but I rarely bake cake so…

LENTIL SALAD

Cook two cups dried lentils in water with several carrots, 1 medium onion, chicken or vegetable stock, cloves, and 1 bay leaf.  Be sure not to over cook.

While the lentils are cooking, combine 3-4 garlic cloves, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 2 teaspoons dried thyme (you can use fresh also, but will require more thyme), and black pepper to taste in a blender and blend until creamy.  You may also add 2 teaspoons ground cumin for a slightly more  Middle Eastern taste.

When lentils are done, drain, and remove the carrots, etc.  Place in a serving bowl and stir in the blended  mixture.  Refrigerate overnight.  Just before serving add 1 cup scallions, chopped, and 1 cup chopped walnuts.  You may adjust vinegar and olive oil to suit your taste.

If you use regular onions chopped rather than scallions, this salad will keep well in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

Vegetarian Chorizo Casserole and Roasted Vegetables

/ Juliana Lightle / 2 Comments

Last night 12 people were at my house for dinner, including a friend who is Muslim so no pork.  I created this dish in order to feed both my Muslim and vegetarian friends. You could use regular chorizo, but after trying soyrizo, I quit using anything else and even my Mexican friends love it.  Tastes the same, but not so greasy so probably healthier.

I package soy chorizo, removed from casing

Enough small red potatoes to cover the bottom of a 13 X 9 casserole dish when thinly sliced

3 large poblano peppers, deseeded and sliced

1 medium purple onion, chopped

10 cherry tomatoes

2 cups half and half

4 TBS flour

1 TBS chili mild chili powder

Several TBS olive oil

Cover the bottom of the casserole with olive oil.  Layer the sliced potatoes so that they totally cover the bottom of the dish.  Remove the soy chorizo from its casing and crumble it over the potatoes.  Layer the sliced poblanos over the chorizo.  Sprinkle the chopped onions over the top of the peppers.  Scatter the cherry tomatoes on top of the onions.  In a blender, combine the half and half, the flour, and the chili powder.  Pour evenly over the casserole.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees until the potatoes are tender.  You may uncover the casserole and continue baking for the last ten to fifteen minutes if you would like the top a bit browned.

I served this with roasted vegetables seasoned with cumin and ground coriander and Egyptian basil:

Cover the bottom of a heavy casserole with olive oil. Place thinly sliced potatoes–I used purple ones–to cover the bottom of the pan.  Continue layering your choice of vegetables, spices, and olive oil.  Bake at 400 degrees until the potatoes on done, stirring occasionally.  About ten minutes before the casserole is done, add kale leaves. The potatoes take longer to cook than any other vegetables I have ever used.  Last night I used these vegetables:  purple potatoes, yams, baby carrots, brussel  sprouts,  chopped onions, beets, kale, red jalapeños (seeded and halved), and whole garlic cloves.  This is also good with garbanzo beans added just before the kale.

I was going to take photos but was too busy entertaining to take them.