Barley Mujadara Salad

This recipe was inspired by a discovery on a shelf at the Market of Choice. Z. and I were perusing the hot sauce and Indian chutneys when I saw this package:

I really enjoy barley and lentils so why not have them together?  The ingredients reminded me of mujadara, made with barley instead of rice. I've made mujadara before and really enjoyed the meal (here is my mujadara review and here is a link to the original recipe, if you are interested). Instead of paying several dollars for 10 or so ounces of prepackaged food, I decided to make my own version, creating a variation of my recent Cilantro Pistou recipe. As is mostly the case, I had no idea what I was doing and ended up with a very tasty dinner.

From the top clockwise: garam masala, ground ginger, and cumin seeds

This recipe is great warm or cold, so of course I tried both! I prefer Barley Mujadara Salad at room temperature or colder. Barley is very tasty warm, though I just love the texture of chilled barley. Mediterranean Barley Salad, anyone? The toothsomeness of properly cooked barley is brought out by chilling.

After making Cilantro Pistou, I was inspired to create a parsley version. I figured since parsley is commonly featured in Middle Eastern Cuisine, Barley Mujadara was the perfect first vehicle for my Parlsey Pistou, or what I might call a parsley vinaigrette. Whatever it's called, the green stuff I mixed in with the barley, lentils, veggies, and spices tied everything together.

I am always proud of my onions; hence, way too many pictures of browned onions.

I wanted to keep this pretty brainless so I cooked all the ingredients separately then mixed everything together. If you are talented enough to cook things together that have different cooking times and not overcook anything (like Z.) be my guest. Enjoy!

Barley and Lentil Mujadara Salad

by Ace Nation

Keywords: entree salad vegan barley beans/lentils Middle Eastern

Ingredients

For the Mujadara

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced thinly into half-moons
• 4 cloves garlic, minced finely
• 1 cup brown lentils
• 1 cup barley
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin or 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Kosher salt, to taste

For the Parsley Vinaigrette

• 1/2 bunch parsley
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice, more or less depending on your taste
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt, to taste

Instructions

For the Parsley Vinaigrette

Combine parsley, lemon juice, and olive oil in a blender. Blend until smooth. Season to taste with kosher salt.

For the rest of the dish

Cook the barley and lentils separately according to package directions. Set aside when done.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a high-sided skillet over medium-low to medium heat. Add onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until very browned, about 20-25 minutes.

Add garlic to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Set aside when done.

Meanwhile, heat a small and dry pan over medium heat. Toast the spices about 60 seconds. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine cooked barley, lentils, and onion mixture with toasted spices and parsley vinaigrette. Make sure to taste and add more salt if needed. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Enjoy!

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Surprises at the Farmer's Market and Other New Ingredients

I went to the Corvallis Farmer's Market Saturday on the hunt for winter squash and a pumpkin donut from Gathering Together Farm. I was at the market so early last weekend that the pastries weren't set out yet. What a travesty!

When you purchase a potato donut, whoever is selling them usually hands them to you on a napkin because most of us devour them immediately. I have to ask for my donut in a bag because lately, I have been taking my donuts home and enjoying them with a cup of coffee on the couch. They never believe that the donut makes it home! Here is proof:

I bought a bag 3 pound bag of organic persimmons for $3. Sometimes you can find much better deals at the farmer's market. I just saw persimmons in the super market for conventional persimmons at $1.99/pound. I have no clue what to do with a persimmon as I've never actually eaten a persimmon. I have a friend who loves persimmons so I thought I would give them a try.

Left: buttercup squash Right: baby bear pumpkin

There were pumpkins left! I used all of my pumpkin and was sorely disappointed when I went to the super market the day after Halloween to find absolutely no pumpkins. I found these two little gals at the market on Saturday. The buttercup squash is a really pretty pastel gray-blue and weighs about 3.5-4 pounds. The pumpkin is an adorable little 1-1.5 pounder.

I love root vegetables this time of year and can occasionally find them on sale for a great price. This week the Market of Choice has yams or sweet potatoes 3 pounds for a $1. That whole plate only cost $1.03. You'll be seeing plenty of yam recipes in the near future!

Warning: NOT A FRUGAL RECIPE

Spanish Lentils

A few weeks ago I was given a gift card to one of my favorite grocery stores, The Market of Choice. Thank you, ladies! There are some groceries that are actually a better deal at the Market of Choice than other grocery stores (unbleached cone coffee filters, non-store brand 1/2 & 1/2, high-quality bulk goods, Umpqua milk, produce that is on sale, and beer) that I regularly purchase. My philosophy with gift cards is to splurge on things I would never get myself.

Ingredients for Spanish lentils

With my present I purchased a package of Zürsun Pardina Lentils (more about these momentarily), $20 per pound chorizo (my hunky of porky goodness looked like a nub and still cost four bucks), a shallot, some bulk Hungarian paprika, a dozen eggs (on sale that week and would have bought anyway), Napa Valley Naturals oak-aged sherry vinegar, and a gelato. I even have enough money left over to pay for one-half of another gelato!

I am obsessed with Zürsun Idaho heirloom beans. I have shared a recipe using their beluga lentils and I also have eaten and cooked their scarlet runner beans. These beans are a totally different world than any other beans I have tried; you definitely get what you pay for. And the prices at the MoC on these are much less than at a market I visited in Eugene.

The package of Spanish Pardina lentils mentions their "distinctive nutty flavor and creamy  texture" and "ideal for soup". In normal speak, Pardina lentils taste like brown lentils with the texture of Puy or beluga lentils. Pardinas . I love how these lentils look: their skin is lightly speckled, making them look like tiny river rocks.

I have found my new favorite way to cook lentils is to very gently boil them; the water is simmering when I add the lentils. With a few minutes left on the timer, I turn the heat off, letting the pot of water and lentils steam on the warm burner. This has been the way I have been able to cook dried beans in general until tender but not split their skin. Once the beans are the desired doneness, I drain them.

Gourmet chorizo!

I have no idea what Spanish paprika tastes like. I made this recipe twice, using Hungarian paprika the first time and smoked paprika the second time. I preferred the smoked paprika as the Hungarian paprika did not add as much flavor as I would like.

Shallots cooking in chorizo fat. I almost stopped right here.

The sherry vinegar is what brings this dish together makes it truly delicious. The only sherry vinegar I remember tasting was the cheapest stuff possible tucked away in my parents' pantry for who knows how long. I had no idea at how amazing a good sherry vinegar could be. I just needed a couple of splashed to transform an okay dish to delicious. Even Z., who is not fond of vinegar, thought the vinegar was what this dish needed. Enjoy!

Spanish Lentils, Serves 2

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2-3 inch piece of cured chorizo, diced
1 shallot, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, grated or finely minced
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 cup Spanish Padrina lentils
Good-quality sherry vinegar, to taste
Kosher salt, to taste
Pinch of red pepper flakes

1. Cook Spanish Padrina lentils according to package directions. When cooked set aside lentils and about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.
2. Heat olive oil in a high-sided pan over medium-low to medium heat. Add the chorizo. Stirring occasionally, cook until chorizo is warmed through and has rendered some of its fat. Remove chorizo from pan and set aside.
3. Add shallot to the warm pan. Cook until softened, about 4-5 minutes.
4. Add grated garlic and cook briefly, about 1-2 minutes.
5. Add smoked parika, lentils, reserved chorizo, and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of reserved cooking liquid. Cook until lentils are warmed through, stirring gently occasionally, about 2-3 minutes. Add a splash of the reserved cooking liquid if needed to keep the lentils moist.
6. Season to taste with kosher salt and red pepper flakes. Garnish with a few dashes of sherry vinegar.

My True Love

Oh, Market of Choice challah, I love you so much. And I have proof. Earlier this week, I got a call to be at a school for the morning, in addition to the afternoon. In order to be on time, I had twenty minutes to get myself together, take care of the cat, pack a lunch, and make a mug of coffee. I am a breakfast person. There was no time but as I was about to dash out the door, I remembered the two challah rolls left. I stuffed the bag into my purse, planning on enjoying some challah during the students' recess. That didn't happen and I totally forgot I had amazing challah sitting in my purse. So lunch rolls around, I'm just about to rip open my package of instant oatmeal when I realize I have challah in my purse in the classroom. I inhaled/gasped like an American Dream staff person carrying my large double bacon pizza with extra sides of ranch was tripping and falling in slow motion (that's the best analogy I could come up with, I'm sorry). The point was, it was loud and dramatic and I did it in front of other people. They thought something was wrong! Why yes, something was wrong! There was challah in my purse that I could be stuffing into my round, squirrel cheeks. I quickly explained that I had challah rolls in my purse and that I should eat those for lunch instead of instant oatmeal then I dashed out to retrieve my rolls. As I was leaving the room, I heard someone say, rather dryly, "Those must be some good challah rolls." Oh yes, my friends, I had the best lunch there.

Morning, Noon, and Night at the Corvallis Market of Choice

The grocery store, Market of Choice, opened yesterday in Corvallis!!! Z and I have been waiting for this day for a long time. We would always say to each other, we love living in Corvallis but it is missing a Market of Choice. When I moved to Corvallis away from Eugene to start graduate school (and shack up with Z), we would make occasional trips to Eugene to visit some friends but mostly to pick up some groceries from the Market of Choice.

Z was the very first customer into the Market of Choice and I was the second! But I was the first customer to visit the beer section. We wanted to be the first customers into the store on opening day so we got to the store at about 6:45 in the morning and waited outside the doors. We thought we would be the only people waiting for the store to open. We weren't! By the time the doors opened at 7, I think I saw around ten to fifteen people waiting around our entrance. No matter what, Z was going to be the first customer in that store. I loved seeing him so happy yesterday!

The store is everything I hoped for and more. I wanted to take some pictures of our experience but I didn't bring my camera. When we left, it was still dark outside and really foggy so I thought the pictures of the outside wouldn't turn out. I thought I would look too silly taking pictures inside. I saw plenty of people throughout the day with huge grins on their faces while they were taking pictures inside. I wouldn't have been alone! That's why I only have a picture my naughty challah rolls. I wasn't going to share a picture of them because no matter how I arranged the challah, they still looked like body parts. Every time I go to a Market of Choice, I always either get a loaf or a few rolls of challah if there is any left. It is absolutely delicious and always fresh. The rolls have never looked like this; they are normally little knots. Whatever, they taste amazing.

Let me start with the building itself. The building is beautiful. If you are familiar with Markets of Choice, it looks similar to the store on Willamette in Eugene. There is a nice seating area next to one of the entrances, with some more tables above. You can look out over the entire store from up there. Then, there are the groceries. Oh my goodness! There were a few specific things we wanted to make sure the store carried. We perused the beer selection. Excellent! I made sure there were peppadews in the olive bar. Of course there were beautiful peppadews! We found our coffee filters at the same price as at the Eugene stores. Awesome! By the way, if you use the cone-shaped filters, the Market of Choice has the best price for I think high-quality filters. These things matter. When you love coffee and want to make the best possible cup of coffee you can at home, things like filters matter. This store doesn't carry our curry powder but after talking to the grocery manager, they will. They have Melindas Hot Sauce! For the longest time, Markets of Choice were the only places I could find this sauce. We have both been looking forward to living in a town where we could buy a variety of Umpqua dairy products. This sounds crazy but keep in mind we are obsessed with having yummy food, we were excited to be able to get Market of Choice brand milk whenever we want to. When it's on sale, it tends to be a really great deal. And once again, it tastes great.

Every time I mention the Market of Choice and the amazingness of its selections, I always talk about what an amazing bulk section it has. The Corvallis store has a great selection and awesome prices on the things we regularly buy. Cheapest baby chana dal (little chick peas) I have seen!!!

The produce looked great, too. One of the things I love about Market of Choice is the care they take with their products. The chile peppers were so carefully arranged and were so inviting! If we didn't already have a few jalapenos in the fridge, we would have gotten some of their beautiful red chile peppers. I think we counted 17 different KINDS of fresh mushrooms, not to mention all the dried options. I had never heard of about six of them. That made me happy. We tend to judge our grocery store experience on the quality of the shallots. If you haven't noticed, we have some weird quirks. They looked great by the way.

Let's see, I think I covered everything. We did go to the store three times for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In the morning, I bought challah. For lunch, we got Umpqua half-and-half and heavy cream (for another try at caramel sauce). I also bought some hard cider and olives and figs in a balsamic syrup from the olive bar. For dinner, Z bought some beer. In the next couple of days we will be going back for some gelato.

As we were leaving the third time, one of the managers, started talking to us, he said something like, "Three times? Is that right? I think I have seen you guys three times today." And then we had an awesome conversation with him. So, if you are shopping at the Corvallis Market of Choice and see duck fat available for sale in the cheese section in the future, you can thank Z since he was the once to suggest they stock duck fat. I can only imagine what potatoes fried in duck fat tastes like. I'm drooling at the thought.

-Ace