Bread, Wine, Salt

More than once I have gotten within half an hour of dinner time and had no idea what I was going to do about dinner. Nothing was planned, and I could not mentally survey my pantry and compound something easy. On days like that, there are only two ways to avoid a restaurant: spaghetti or having something in the fridge that I can scoop into bowls and call dinner. In the winter time that something is soup, but in the summertime it's tabbouleh or this easy to assemble salad. It also travels well to potluck lunches. photo by Rich Renomeron 2 cans black beans, rinsed OR 2.5 cups cooked blacked beans OR 1 ¼ cups dried black beans 16 ounces frozen corn (or fresh if you can get corn picked that day) 1 jalapeño pepper (optional) ¼ cup olive oil 2 bunches scallions 1 bunch cilantro 5 medium tomatoes OR a pint of cherry tomatoes juice of 2 limes salt and black pepper to taste If you're starting with dried beans, cook beans until tender . Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baki...

I went to the pool to swim laps early this morning. Swimming laps first thing in the morning is for people who are serious about swimming. By the time I got into the pool at 6:15 the lap lanes were full. I observed the swimmers for a length before I decided which lane to join, and then I waited another lap for her to get to my end of the pool so I could ask to join her. It's a basic pleasantry of lane sharing, choose someone who seems to be at about your level and wait for the swimmer to acknowledge you before you get in and start swimming. I have the gear of a serious swimmer: a racer-back suit with no frills or furbelows, a swim cap made for folks like me who have a lot of hair to tuck up, and goggles. I can swim freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke creditably. (I can even do butterfly, though it wears me out pretty quickly and I feel self-conscious when I do it because that's a very serious stroke and everyone in the pool knows what you're doing when you try it....

Yes, this is a terrible photo. A example of how we decide on dinner plans: I went to the warehouse store this morning and brought home stuff that required a freezer rearrangement. I managed to fit everything in, but clearly we needed to start using the frozen stuff. So on the way home from lunch we considered the state of our stores. A google search later and I had settled on a curried lentil salad which would use green beans from the freezer, lentils from the pantry, celery from the crisper and some of the cilantro left over from beans and rice on Thursday night. A trip to the store was required for the tomatoes. This was a much more civilized menu planning process than I normally undertake. The salad is vegetarian, easily made vegan, low fat, high fiber, gluten free, iron rich, colorful and straightforward. It also makes plenty. Curried Lentil Salad 8 ounces dried brown lentils 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 medium onion 2 teaspoons salt 2 cloves garlic 1" piec...

Probably not the Martha you're thinking of, unless you also have a young child who loves the show " Martha Speaks " on PBS. Bird had been begging for alphabet soup. So I picked up some alphabet pasta and whipped up some soup.  The soup was popular enough that I had to make it again almost as soon as the first batch was gone.  Even the grown-ups liked it.  It might not make your dog talk, but it does make a nice lunch. 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil 1 medium onion 2 cloves garlic 1 28-oz can tomato puree 4 cups water 1 cup alphabet pasta (or other small pasta shape) salt and pepper to taste juice of 1 lemon Add oil to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Finely dice onion and add it to the pot, stirring to coat onion with oil. While the onion cooks, peel and mince the garlic.  Add garlic to pot and stir again.  Allow onion and garlic to cook together for about 5 minutes until onion is translucent. Add tomato puree and heat to a bare simmer. ...

"But", you say, "St. Paddy's day was Thursday. I won't need this recipe for another year. You have terrible timing, blogging person." To which I reply: "You only want fresh bread with dinner on St. Patrick's day?" You might also complain about the lack of raisins. Then I'd say something about not wanting raisins in my dinner bread and you'd tell me that all the soda bread in the store has raisins and do I hate Ireland or St. Patrick or what? Then I'd ask you what Ireland has to do with anything. Did I say Ireland? Did I say it was Irish Soda Bread? No, I did not. I said soda bread. I might also cast aspersions on the authenticity and quality of the "Irish" soda bread in the store. But we should really skip all of that because we'd just end up mad at each other when really all I want to do is give you a loaf of this lovely simple bread and tell you to eat it with some nice butter, preferably unsalted ...

Athena from A Field of Dreams   asked me to post her virtual shower gift to Justine on my blog.   I hope you'll be inspired by these cookies to go check out her blog and see what other treasures she has to share.  Athena  says: In Greek-Australian tradition when a child is born, practically all the friends and relatives turn up to the hospital or home. With them they usually have a plate of Greek biscuits. As there are so many people who visit; biscuits, coffee and tea are given to the visitors as a small gesture of thanks. So as a virtual visit to Justine's Shower I give her these for her family, friends and visitors. Melomacarona (Greek Honey Cookies) Mελομακάρονα 2 c. olive oil 3/4 c. sugar 3/4 c. orange juice 1/4 c. brandy 7 1/2 to 8 c. sifted flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. Soda FOR THE SYRUP: 2 c. honey 2 c. sugar 2 c. Water Beat together first four ingredients. Sift flour, baking powder and soda three times. Add the sifted dry ingredient...

A virtual shower gift for the Bean, who is far more than half-baked. First, some background: Justine wasn't my friend, originally. She more properly belongs to my husband, who has been friends with her since college. Both she and my husband know how to sing and play an instrument. (I know how to play the radio.) They kept in touch after college and started reading each other's blogs back in the dark ages of blogs when people believed the internet might be private. This was on a different blog platform under a different name. I was there, too, and eventually I added Justine to my list of friends on said blog platform. I was snooping, is what I was doing, and I was too lazy to keep checking back to see if she'd updated, so I wanted her there on my friends page (this was before FB, can you imagine?). Of course the blog platform in question informed Justine that I had added her so I had to send her an email letting her know that she didn't have to be my friend...