This is a simple post. When our pantry is looking pretty empty, there’s always lentils. Make some. Include sausage. Spoon hot over cooked brown rice. Sprinkle with fresh-snipped chives from a pot on the patio (this is making me sound hippie-ish. COOL). Yes, I could write about their nutrition. Or how cheap they are. Or how quickly they cook. You know that already… you read my Lemon Lentil post, didn’t you?

So there they were… little packets of these rosy red legumes as gifts at an International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) luncheon sponsored by the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council. Unless you are a food nut, you might think, “A bag of beans? Big deal.” We food pros LOVE em. And their PR is working, I am spreading word here.

Confession: I grabbed a SECOND packet. Lentils… come to momma. HEY, those seats were empty and I known darn well from decades of hosting these events that the last thing a sponsor wants is to take their swag home again. A roomful of foodies, briefcases stuffed with 50-cents worth of lentils — sponsor heaven. And thank you, USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council, not only for the goods but for being an IACP sponsor. We appreciate it, and I am not sure sponsors hear enough of our gratitude.

Red Lentils and Sausage

• 1 cup dry red lentils, sorted and rinsed
• 1 can (14 oz.) low salt chicken broth + enough water to make 2 1/2 cups liquid (or 2 1/2 cups homemade chicken stock)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 6 to 8 ounces turkey sausage, sliced in 1/2 inch rounds
• Fresh chives, if desired

In a crockpot (mine is a 12 cup) combine dry lentils, liquid, sausage and garlic. Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or HIGH for 3 to four hours or until lentils dissolve when you stir. Serve over cooked brown rice and sprinkle with fresh chives. Two large portions.

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I confess I’ve never tried Sprouted Lentils, but see what blogger Carrots ‘N’ Cake dished up.

Look at this gorgeous Lentil Loaf on Whipped The Blog. Very hippie, yes, but sounds yum.

Lentils make great salad, too. See Slashfood’s recipe.

Lentils, lentils all around me these days. Am I the last person to jump on this legume bandwagon? Yes, it has been a while since I attended LA Greekfest but I had one more recipe from the cooking class of salads to share with you: this tangy Faki Salata. One of the instructors brought her own jar of fresh-squeezed lemon juice and used it generously here. My guess is this earthy Greek woman’s backyard had a good lemon tree, and gardens of tomatoes, basils and parsley.

Lentils in a cold salad with a pungent Greek dressing from fresh-squeezed lemon juice and garnished with fat olives and Feta are really so good.

Faki Salata – Greek Lentil Salad

Presented at LA Greekfest

• 1 cup dried lentils
• 3 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 stalks green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• Greek olives, pitted
• 1/2 cup Feta cheese, crumbled
• Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse lentils, then place in a large saucepan.  Cover with cold water, bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and cook lentils until soft, drain and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, make a dressing with lemon juice, oil and garlic.  Next, place lentils in a bowl.  Gently stir in green onions, dressing.  Garnish with olives, fresh parsley, sprinkle with Feta cheese and serve chilled or at room temperature.

Pea Soup Andersen’s is a California classic for road trippers up beautiful Highway 101. Heading to our Santa Ynez wine country, setting for the movie, Sideways? Visiting the showstopper Hearst Castle? Blasting thru from LA to SFO? Pull off in Buellton for a bathroom break and incredibly luscious all-you-can-eat split pea soup.

I love the Happee and Peewee chef characters who “split the peas;” they are emblazoned on soup bowls, coffee cups, signs and a photo opp cutout in the restaurant’s parking lot. You can even buy the dried split peas with recipe in their gift shop.

Larry knows I jones for that soup when we drive thru. Then, two problems arise (1) always burn the roof of my mouth because I never wait for the soup to cool and (2) eat waaaay too much… then, back in the car… nawfunnee. Tour busses stop there; imagine THAT long ride in a giant gas factory.

Two other asides: the Pea Soup Andersen’s restaurant in Carlsbad, California, is gone now. And my 10-year-old Jaguar is the COLOR of that soup.

Sure, a hambone leftover from a big meal could find its way into this soup, but theirs is the classic – vegan– recipe:

Original Recipe for 8 bowls of Andersen’s Famous Split Pea Soup

• 2 quarts of soft water
• 2 cups of Andersen’s Specially Selected Green Split Peas
• 1 branch of celery, coarsely chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground thyme
• 1 pinch of cayenne
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt & pepper

Boil hard for 20 minutes, then slowly until peas are tender. Strain through fine sieve and reheat to boiling point.

OPA! For years, I’ve wanted to attend Greekfest at LA’s stunning St. Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral. I’m a native Angelino, yet had only been inside once before for the wedding of our favorite Greek, Helen. Larry’s been there often; his high school, Loyola, is next door.

No waiting for the right year, I attended yesterday, solo. With my discount coupon from the newspaper, the $4 entry fee was quite a shock to a hardened local like me.  Top it off with free parking.  And free shuttle from Loyola parking lot, too?  I admit to taking the shuttle back to my car because I was all turned around, and both properties had lots of locked gates.

It was a lively afternoon of good-lookin’ Greeks all over the place eating, drinking, dancing, and my timing was perfect to stumble upon a cooking class on Greek salads just getting started. Garbanzo, Onion and Tomato Salad was presented by effusively delightful Akrevoe Emmanouilides and co-presenter, Pitsa Captain, a home economist. Both passionate about produce, within one hour, the team presented six platters of simply beautiful food.

For this legume salad, sweet rice vinegar seemed to be what made it really sparkle. These two were pros at throwing recipes together, so measurements are their approximations and they encouraged us to taste our way through our cooking.  Interesting was the fact that with a classroom crowd of close to 100 students, we all loaded up our plates with samples, yet the platters never ran out. Maybe this was the Greek version of the Loaves and the Fishes.

Garbanzo, Onion and Tomato Salad as presented at Greekfest

• 1 or 2 13 oz. cans garbanzo beans
• Cherry tomatoes – as many as you wish or whole tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup sweet rice vinegar
• 1 to 2 cups olive oil
• 1 or 2 small onions, chopped
• Salt if desired, to taste
• Feta cheese, if desired
• Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Open cans and drain the beans. Cut cherry tomatoes in half, or use chopped tomatoes. Place beans, tomatoes and onions in a serving bowl. Combine vinegar and oil, salt if needed. Mix with the vegetables. Refrigerate before serving. Can be eaten immediately but marinating for a few hour or overnight brings out flavors of ingredients.

Autumn ~ the automatic trigger for my tummy to crave comfort food. Ordinarily, that means mashed potatoes or mac n’ cheese, but the ol’ hippie in me decided to cook lentils with lemon. Larry scarfed them down, and he doesn’t have an ounce of hippie in him.

Lentils are legumes. Cheap eats. No soaking. Nutritional punch. For a complete protein meal, dish over brown rice. Sound good? Larry and I actually REGRETTED not thinking to make rice that night for dinner.

Besides being a throwback to college days, Lemon Lentils also taste like “vacation” to me. Lentils (thankfully) show up on menus in places where the food is not so good, like Egypt and Kenya. With a splash of lemon and proper seasoning, their flavor is fantastic. I made four portions; we ate three between us for dinner and I couldn’t wait to grab the fourth the next day for lunch. Didn’t wait, I ate ‘em for breakfast.

Lemon Lentils

• 1/2 cup shallots, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 1/4 cups dried lentils
• 2 14-oz. cans or 4 cups homemade chicken stock
• 1 cup water
• 2 bay leaves
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Fresh juice of 1 lemon
• Fresh cilantro, chopped
• Fresh ground pepper and sea salt to taste

In a medium pot, sauté shallots and garlic in olive oil until soft. Stir in cumin and cook about 30 seconds longer. Add lentils, broth, water, bay leaves and lemon zest, bring to boil, cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook 45 minutes to 1 hour or until lentils easily mash between your fingers. Remove bay leaves, stir in lemon juice. Then, with an immersion blender, puree for about 30 seconds or until lentils are slightly creamed but still have lumps (you can also do this in a blender or with a potato masher). Let sit a few minutes to soak up liquid, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve sprinkled with chopped cilantro. Makes 4 servings.