Couscous and Lentils of the Israeli and French Variety

The latest cooking endeavor was adapted from this MooseWood cookbook, which is slowly becoming my go-to for vegetarian recipes.

Couscous and Lentils Salad

Add ½ cup of French lentils to water with ½ teaspoon of salt.  Bring to a boil then simmer for about 20 minutes (until soft.) Drain and set aside.

It’s important to use these little green guys because they are firmer than other lentil varieties, although I don’t think they carry as much taste.

Bring about 8 cups of water to a boil then add 1½ cups of Israeli couscous, a cinnamon stick, and a teaspoon of salt.  Cook in the rapidly boiling water for about 10 minutes to al dente.  Drain, rinse with cold water a few times, remove the cinnamon stick. 

This gets your home smelling lovely.

In a serving bowl, toss the couscous and lentils with:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of freshly grated lemon peel
• Juice from 1½ lemons
• ½ cup of diced red bell peppers
• ¼ cup of diced pitted dates
• 3 tablespoons of minced fresh mint

Add a good amount of black pepper and salt to taste.  Cover and set aside in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to allow the flavors to settle and deepen.  Top with toasted pine nuts and serve.

The toasted pine nuts are KEY.  Make sure to take this last step.

The Forest Café

I can also tell you where to get the deadliest margarita in the Boston area.  No joke.  The Forest Café is between Porter and Harvard Square (close to Simon’s in fact) at 1682 Massachusetts Ave.  The food is also really delicious.  Nothing fancy, but consistent and surprisingly authentic Mexican cuisine.  It is a completely different atmosphere from Olé in Inman Square, which is of course also delicious.  Olé has better guacamole and more interesting dishes, but sometimes I just want something smothered in cheese and really good mole sauce, okay? But back to the margaritas.  Take warning: two is the limit.  I never have just two but I should always stop myself after two.  I should stop my friend Emily after two as well but I never do that either.  The first sip is your only indication that you are about to imbibe something furious.  After that first sip you are already on the sinking ship and you just don’t feel like jumping.

The Forest Café is also the best place to go during a snowstorm.  It seems to be a tradition now that Emily and I will go there when the schools are closed and we are sent home from work early.  Go home?  No.  Trek to the Forest Café, sit in their front window eating chips and salsa and guacamole, drinking margaritas, and watch the foot traffic on Massachusetts Avenue.   But it’s supposed to be spring (or summer?) now, so enough talk of snow.

It is also one of the better places to catch a red sox game.  The bar always has a few seats empty.  The bartender is always pleasant.  There is a juke box.  The person sitting next to you is bound to be friendly.

So, go.  Have a margarita.  Have three.  Have as many as you like.  Just make sure your autopilot knows the way home.

Simon's Coffee Shop

If you want the best cappuccino in the Cambridge/Somerville area, I can help you.  Simon’s Coffee Shop is located on 1736 Massachusetts Av, Cambridge, MA 02138 between Porter and Harvard Square. I would go so far as to say that Simon makes some of the best espresso and cappuccino I have ever had.  Ever.  It’s even good in the decaffeinated variety.  It’s not a chain, this is the only location, and Simon Yu is the owner.  He, of course makes the best espresso but you can tell that everyone who works there, if they are working the bar, have been taught technique, and they get better and better over time.

Here’s a cup that was made by Simon:

And the atmosphere is that of a true coffeehouse.  I usually stop in on weekday mornings and even though the space is quite small, there is always a seat.  The clientele is thoroughly mixed: locals, students, business people.   Local art is in constant rotation on the walls and the staff has very solid, diverse, interesting taste in music.

If coffee is important to you or you are entertaining a visitor with particularly discerning espresso tastes, try Simon’s.

Luccan Spelt Soup

For a number of reasons, February has been a really long month. And we still have a couple days to go. But this morning, on my way to yoga class, I spotted something exciting. In my disaster of a front yard – the four by seven plot of dried twigs and broken branches that I call my front yard – was the sprouting of crocuses and daffodils. Soon, I will be walking to my local farmer’s market to buy leafy greens in season. But there’s still time between now and then, which means a few more bowls of hearty soup before the winter season comes to an end.

My favorite soup to make this winter has been Turkish Bride Soup with red lentils and fine barley. But I have strayed a few times, most recently with a soup from Tuscany of white beans and spelt, revised from a recipe off of Mark Bittman’s blog.

It's easy to make. Add two tbs of extra virgin olive oil to a pot over medium heat, then one sliced large onion, two chopped celery stalks, and two chopped carrots – salt and pepper. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent.

Next you’ll add one tbs of minced garlic, one cup of dried white beans that have been soaked (overnight), and one cup of spelt. Spelt is an ancient grain similar to wheat but with a nuttier flavor. I’ve never cooked with it before, but upon taking a good look up close, I can say with certainty that it is something horses eat.

I like to mix these new ingredients in the pot for a minute or so to give them a chance to gain some heat and get a bit of olive oil on them before adding the eight cups of stock and one and a half cans of diced tomatoes:

Bring to a boil and then simmer until the beans and the spelt are edible. This took about one and a half to two hours for me. Five minutes before the soup is ready to eat, throw in a quarter cup of chopped parsley. Top with fresh ground pepper and shaved parmesan. The end result is satisfying:

New Year, New TV

Speaking of media, kind of… last week, my father drove up to Boston to deliver and install a ridiculously – but perfectly sized HD television. I took this as an opportunity to order some premium channels AND showtime. I had NO idea what I had been missing. The combination of the tv and the cable has significantly upped my standard of living. But don’t worry folks, I’m not watching more tv. I might even be watching less. Strange. Everything about it is awesome, except for the fact that I no longer have tivo. tivo is so much better than the Comcast dvr. And it’s not just the blurping noises and the cute little icon, it’s the usability and responsiveness. I'll get over it eventually – bout when my three year contract ends and I can stop paying for tivo without having the pleasure of using it.

So while he was here, my dad I drove through Davis Square a billion times. Comcast is there. That was fun. We also went to Best Buy and after we got a sales pitch and I was hook, lined, and sinkered into wanting a particular product, we learned they were out of stock (at the warehouse) until late March. That was fun too.

We also went to Snappy Sushi for lunch because what is lunchtime without sushi? For you Bostonians, Snappy Sushi recently came to Somerville. It has another location on Newbury Street but I don’t hold this against it. It’s small. It’s snappy. They serve everything with brown rice and the “fancy” rolls have a lot of eel and special sauces. Other than the eel, I like it. There’s this interesting seating arrangement. One gigantic square table. So you either sit there with a bunch of people (Holly and I have done this and, well, I think we were disruptive) or you sit at the sushi bar. The table was pretty full this time, so my dad and I sat at the bar. He’s not that into the brown rice thing.

We also stopped at two other Davis Square gems: Kick*ss Cupcakes (picked up one double chocolate and one ginger lemon. Both amazing) and When Pigs Fly bakery (a loaf of Cinnamon Raisin and a loaf of Orange, Roasted Pistachio and Cranberry bread. The latter was the winner.)