Moroccan Inspired Pesto

Finally. It seems that warm weather has finally arrived! M and I went to the nursery today to get flowers and herbs for our garden. We ended up getting all kinds of yummy stuff such as rosemary, thai basil, lovage, parsley. We bought so much of it, that by the time we arrived back home the entire car was infused with all these different, highly aromatic lovely smells of summer.

You can probably imagine, that as soon as our flowers and herbs were planted, we immediately found ourselves in the kitchen experimenting. We finally agreed that this Moroccan inspired pesto is going to play a big role in a lot of dishes this summer. You will find that it is nice and light and quite refreshing compared to the traditional Italian style pesto you may know.

Ingredients:

1 cup     tightly packed fresh parsley

1/2 cup   tightly packed basil

6 fresh   mint leaves

1/2 tsp.  ground cumin

1 clove   garlic, minced

1/4 cup   extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp.   fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp.  salt

 

Preparations:

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until well blended.

Best Lentil Salad

Guess what? I have officially opened our 2011 BBQ season.  This weekend truly couldn’t have been more glorious. With Mr. Sun shining down on me, outside I went to pull out the good ol’ Barbie to have friends and family over for our first of many 2011 driveway get togethers. When I entertain outside, I keep it simple. Simple from top to bottom which means we eat off of good old fashioned paper plates serving simple but delicious, finger licking foods such as this best ever Lentil Salad. The flavours in this salad are simple but taste outstanding. It makes it a great item to take for a picnic as you can prepare it ahead of time and can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days.

The other reason why I am head over heels for lentils is because of their amazing health benefits.

The culinary enjoyment of lentils dates back to prehistoric times and were used by the ancient Greeks for both medicinal and culinary purposes. Unlike other members of the legume family, lentils do not need to be soaked before cooking, so they are a relatively quick and easy way to add nutrient-rich legumes into your daily diet. Lentil’s rich concentration of dietary fiber and folate makes them an excellent choice for intestinal health. According to Dr. Neal Barnard fiber rich foods have the ability to attach themselves to excess estrogen and other toxins that may be lingering in your intestinal tract and transport them out of the body. Lentils also contain polyphenolic phytonutrients and catechins which provide powerful antioxidant protection to cellular structures from oxidative damage caused by free radicals. So, by eating just one cup of this yummy lentil salad you will get 16 grams of fiber, 17 grams of protein and 7 mg of iron.

So here is The Best Lentil Salad:

Ingredients:

1 cup dried lentils
1 cove garlic, mashed
1/4 tsp. oregano
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup currants
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 red pepper, diced
1 cucumber, seeded and diced
1/4 kalamata olives
3 tbsp. mint, coarsly chopped
3 tbsp. parsley, coarsley chopped

Preparations:

Combine the lentils, garlic, bay leaf and cinnamon stick in a saucepan and cover with enough water.
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the lentils are tender (about 20 minutes).
Drain the lentils and discard the whole spices.
In a seperate bowl, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest, cumin and salt together.
Toss the lentils, pepper, cucumber, olives, mint and parsley.
Combine, taste and add extra salt if needed.