Summer Garden Lentil and Pasta Salad

To switch things up a bit this week, I made a pasta salad on Sunday for dinner with plans to eat the leftovers for lunch this week (I'm growing very tired of turkey sandwiches).

This is salad is very good, but if I make it again I would increase the amount on the vinaigrette to give it more flavor. Plus, the flavor of the dish seems to mellow after being refrigerated.

I started out making the vinaigrette in my handy-dandy mini-food processor. It's simple enough, just combine balsamic vinegar, shallot, garlic, dijon mustard, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. I did this first and let it sit for all the flavors to meld together.

Next, I tackled the lentils. I had never cooked lentils before on their own, and suffice to say I managed to cook them without burning them. Simmering them in chicken stock gives them a lovely flavor.



While the lentils cooked, I set about cutting up the veggies and cooking the pasta shells. I used a whole red bell pepper (the recipe calls for red and yellow peppers, but the yellow peppers didn't look so great at the store), half of a red onion, a small zucchini, and a little over half of a container of grape tomatoes. All of the herbs came from my herb pot, with the exception of oregano. I had to leave that out since I was also out of the dried.



The Parmesan cheese was also (inadvertently) omitted, but the salad was still very tasty. I have been adding cheese to the leftover pasta salad and it does bump up the flavor.

This is suppose to make 4 servings, but I should get at least 5 or 6 meals out of the batch. It would be great for a cookout since there is no mayo.

Recipe

Vinaigrette:
* 2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 1 tablespoon minced shallots
* 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
* 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
* 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad:
* 1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
* 1/2 cup dried petite green lentils
* 1 bay leaf
* 2 cups uncooked orecchiette pasta ("little ears" pasta)- These are also labeled as "small sea shells
* 1 cup diced zucchini
* 3/4 cup halved cherry tomatoes
* 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
* 1/2 cup diced yellow bell pepper
* 1/2 cup diced red onion
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
* 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
* 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh or
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Double Duty: Flank Steak

Last Saturday we had a classic steak and baked potato supper. Since we made the trip to the "big city" 30 minutes down the road, we made sure to pick up a flank steak. (We can't find this in any grocery stores in our town-my husband went to the butcher shop and the butcher said it's not a very popular cut of meat.)

At any rate, armed with our steak and a beautiful day to grill outside, I used a marinade from Rachael Ray. The meat only needs to hang out for about 20-30 minutes before it's ready to grill. I usually grill a flank steak for 6 minutes on each side over medium heat-- comes out perfectly medium every time.

Flank Steak Marinade (from Rachael Ray)
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 tablespoon of grill seasoning
1 teaspoon of cumin
2 teaspoons of hot sauce
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons of red win vinegar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• Combine the ingredients in a plastic bag and add your steak.
  
• Seal the bag and make sure the steak gets coated in the marinade.

Since the two of us only finished half of the meat, I had leftovers to contemplate. Since we hadn't eaten Asian food in a while, I decided to use the beef in a steak and broccoli stir-fry. This was super simple and tasty, but in no way authentic Asian cuisine.

Steak & Broccoli Stir-Fry (this made about 3 servings)
1/2 lb. cooked flanked steak, sliced thin
1 onion
1 head of broccoli with the florets cut up
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon of minced or grated ginger

Stir-fry Sauce
1/4 cup of low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup of hoisin sauce
Couple of teaspoons of hot sauce OR garlic chili paste OR spicy sweet Thai chili sauce

I sauteed a sliced onion in canola oil over medium-high heat until the onions became tender. Then added a couple of teaspoons of minced garlic, a tablespoon of grated ginger, and the broccoli. Seas on with a little bit of salt and pepper. After the broccoli is tender but still has a bite to it, add in the slices of steak.

In the meantime, make the sauce. For the sauce, combine the hoisin, soy sauce, and hot sauce in a separate bowl. When the meat has heated through, pour the sauce over the stir-fry and toss to combine.

This dish was another Rachael Ray adaptation (see the recipe for the Hoisin noodle bowls).

I usually serve stir-fry with brown rice or noodles. Usually I use whole wheat spaghetti, but this time I had some linguine in the pantry. If you choose to use noodles, put the cooked noodles into the stir-fry pan, then add the sauce to the veggies/meat/pasta and toss to combine so the noodles soak up the sauce.

This stir-fry sauce works with any combination of meats and veggies. One of my favorite variations of this stir-fry is onions, mushrooms, broccoli, and scrambled egg. Yummy!