Greekish

I wouldn't go so far as to outright CLAIM this as Greek food. But it is approximating Greek. It is Greekish-in-a-hurry, shall we say? This gorgeous sandwich took me less than 5 minutes to prepare because I made the meatballs ahead of time (two days ahead, actually) in a gigantic batch so we could pick at them all week. The result was that this working mom had a healthy, delicious, and somewhat exotic dinner for her family in 5 minutes flat on a week night.




The meatball recipe is scalable. This makes about 20, and I would double it to make it worth your time, and just freeze the portion you don't plan to use right away.

Greekish Meatballs
1 lb. ground lamb
1 egg, whisked
1 T. chopped fresh mint (or 1 Tsp. dried)
1 piece of bread, torn/shredded (or a handful of breadcrumbs)
1 Tsp. cumin
1/2 Tsp. cinnamon
zest of one lemon
3 garlic cloves, minced
Lemon juice (just a squeeze)
S+P

Combine everything and form into itty bitty meatballs. I use a melon scoop thing, or you could just do it by hand, but I like them uniform. I cooked these in a large skilled with olive oil, but it was messy. Next time I will likely cook them in the oven. If you don't plan to use them within a few days, wrap them well and freeze them.




The dressing should be tzatziki. That would make this legitimately Greek. But I didn't have any on hand, and it is pain in the arse to make so THAT wasn't happening, so a light yogurt dressing was a delicious substitute. I used 2% Fage greek yogurt, lemon juice (the rest of the lemon from the meatballs), and salt. Whisk well, use immediately.

The rest of the sandwich is self explanatory - whole wheat pita (Greek pita, NOT the kind with a pocket), tomatoes, greens, and if I'd had any, I would have included red onion slices. Alas, I was out. To make this quick dinner I simply microwaved the meatballs I'd made ahead (30 seconds), smeared the yogurt dressing on the pita, then added the greens and tomatoes. It was divine! Even the baby at it.

Chicken and Dumplings, Crocked.

I have a love/hate relationship with my slow cooker. Crock pot. Whatever you want to call it.

I love it because every once in a while, it makes an agonizingly delcious dinner with little to no effort from me at all.

I hate it because, two times out of three, it ruins dinner when I try a new recipe. I never have luck with a recipe the first time around. I feel like all slow cooker recipes out there are written for appliances smaller than mine. So when I cook on low for 8 hours, per the recipe, I get a mushy/burnt/goopy/soggy version of the meal. HATE. I've tossed out entire crocks worth of food before.

This recipe was spot-on, the very first time. And my house kind of smelled like heaven for the last four hours. (The dogs were beside themselves, distraught, drooling fools, draped across the kitchen rug as they worshiped the sputtering slow cooker).



I usually don't cook with "cream of" anything, or biscuits in a can, but I made an exception this time. I am so glad I did. This is an easy, easy, EASY meal, and incredibly satisfying.

In the Pursuit of Lentils

In the fall of 2001, I had lentils that changed my life. Ever since then I've been chasing these lentils, trying to recreate the savory, satisfying amalgamation of garlic and tomato with undertones of .... je ne sais quois.


I first tasted them in Spain. They were made by a woman who never professed to be a good cook. After I had my first bite and was like YOU HAVE TO GIVE ME THIS RECIPE, she told me nonchalantly "Oh, there is no recipe. You put lentils, then water, then one whole garlic head, one whole good tomato, one whole onion, a bay leaf, salt and pepper, water to cover, cook for an hour, spices at the end. Oh, and you need a ham bone, of course."

Of course, a ham bone.

The following eight years found me trying to make these lentils, and failing. They were never good enough. They never even came close to the Spanish lentils. Of course, Spaniards have a way with garlic, tomatoes, and pork. You must admit. Maybe I was chasing a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Except! I think I've done it! For some reason I never got that savory, salty flavor I needed from American ham bones (?). I also tried bacon, pepperoni, and good old baked ham. Meh. It was alright, but not good enough. Not even close.

This time I used pancetta. PANCETTA, internets, it worked!! And I'm certain you could recreate these, too, because my plain old grocery store sells pancetta at the deli counter, so I bet yours would, too! No fancy ingredients here. I just asked for 4 slices, kinda thick. I think it cost $3.50. Then you need a bag of lentils (you'll only use half) at $0.90, 6 c. of liquid (I did 4 c. chicken stock, 2 water, for a cost of $2.50), a big can of diced tomatoes at $1.40, 3 cloves of garlic, half a large onion at $0.55, some olive oil, and salt+pepper. What I'm trying to say is this is CHEEEEEAP. And GOOOOOOD. Really good. Splurge on a fancy loaf of bread because you'll want it come supper time!!

Directions:

Clean and sort lentils.

Mince 3 cloves of garlic, dice the onion. You want to sweat the garlic and onion in EVOO for 5-6 minutes, then add diced pancetta. Cook for ~8 minutes. Add everything else (wait to add the salt, though, until the very end... you need to taste it first to avoid oversalting because of the pancetta). I moved the entire mixture to my slow cooker, and cooked on high for 1 hour and low for 3-4 hours.

This is important: this dish is excellent. However, you need to make it ahead of time because the flavor EXPLODES if you serve it one or two days later (two is best). Seriously. Explodes. Insane. In your mouth. If you want to be uber-healthy, add some fresh baby spinach leaves to the hot lentils and let them wilt in your bowl. I can practically hear Dr. Oz applauding you for your healthy food choices.

Lentils. Who knew? (That Spanish lady, that's who).

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