31 | Beat Cabin Fever - Have a Hearty Meal with Friends

1 |   Main Dish

Hearty Lentils

Preparing beans from scratch can be time consuming. While lentils don't take as long as other dried beans, this week I'm opting for canned lentils. Add some aromatic herbs and garlic, and impress your friends with this super-simple, yet tasty main dish. With the roasted vegetable side, it will bring a smile to your face whether you eat it with friends or on your own.

3 |   Side

Roasted Veggies with Balsamic Vinegar

To get a deeper, richer sweetness out of your vegetables, try roasting them. Potatoes, squash, and beets are all perfect for roasting, but today I wanted something different. This combination of carrots, cabbage, and leeks makes for a mouth-watering side to any main dish. Besides fragrant rosemary, one secret to it's goodness is the balsamic vinegar. Sound weird? It's actually fantastic!

2 |   Salad

Fruity Fennel Salad

If you haven't tried fennel yet, this is the perfect introduction. Sliced thinly and combined with apples, red onion, and grapes, this is a fresh, simple salad without any lettuce—and I bet you won't even miss the leafy greens. The citrus dressing has a hint of mint to compliment the other flavors in this dish, but it is also pretty awesome on just about anything.

4 |   Dessert

Honey-Orange Poached Pears

Poaching is a simple yet elegant way to prepare pears. It's gentle on the fruit and infuses it with delicious spices. Since pears are delicate, I didn't want to overpower their flavor with anything too strong. Orange zest and honey add brightness and richness without going overboard. Serve the pears plain or top them off with toasted nuts or a dollop of honeyed yogurt.

1 |   Main Dish

Hearty Lentils

1 tablespoon olive oil

7 baby Bella mushrooms

1 tablespoon butter

4 sage leaves

2 garlic cloves, sliced

1 cup kale, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

freshly ground black pepper

2 cans lentils, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Want to make this dairy or gluten-free? That's easy, it's already gluten-free. To make this dairy-free too, simply replace the butter with olive oil and continue with this delicious recipe.

Make ahead option– This can be cooked and stored for up to one week in a sealed container in the fridge. Lentils also freeze well so you could make a double portion of this recipe to eat later. Allow the extra lentils to cool, ladle them into a  muffin tin, and place the tin in the freezer. After an hour or two, remove the frozen portions from the tin and place in a freezer proof baggie or container. They will keep for three months.

The Simple Steps...

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Slice the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms to the pan and sauté for 3 minutes.

2. Add the butter, sage, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, season with pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally. The sage should get crispy, but be careful to continue stirring so that the garlic doesn’t burn. 

3. Cook for about 4 minutes then remove the mushroom mixture from the pan. Set this aside.

4. Add the chopped kale to the hot pan and sauté for 3 minutes.

5. Stir in the lentils and coat them with the kale and oil. Pour the broth into the pan and cover. Bring the lentils to a boil. Cook this mixture for about 5 minutes.

6. Add the mushrooms back into the lentils. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Taste and season with salt, pepper, and more vinegar as needed.

7. Transfer the lentils to a serving dish and top with the Roasted Veggies with Balsamic Vinegar from the side recipe below.

2 |  Salad

Fruity Fennel Salad

1 fennel bulb

1 medium sweet apple

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

1 cup red grapes

1 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons orange juice

1 teaspoon orange zest

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Want to make this dairy or gluten-free? This dish is already simply dairy and gluten-free.

Make ahead option– The dressing will keep in the refrigerator for one week. The whole salad can be made and tossed together and set aside up to an hour ahead of serving it. The hearty fennel will soften during the short rest before serving.

The Simple Steps...

1. Wash the fennel and cut off the top fronds and the bottom root. No need to throw the fronds away, you can use both the stalk and lacy fronds in another salad. Now cut the bulb in half from top to bottom like you would an onion and thinly slice both halves. Place the thin fennel pieces into a large mixing bowl.

2. Wash the apple, take out the core, and cut it into julienne pieces by slicing them into thin strips like matchsticks. Add the apple and thinly sliced onion to the large bowl. Cut the grapes in half and place them in the bowl too.

3. Make the dressing by mixing the rest of the ingredients into a small bowl. Want help chopping mint? Watch this quick tip video.

4. Drizzle all the dressing over the vegetables, then toss it well, coating everything evenly.

3 |  Side

Roasted Veggies with Balsamic Vinegar

1 pound green cabbage

2 leeks

2 medium carrots

2 sprigs rosemary

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup vegetable broth

2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

Want to make this dairy and gluten-free? This is also already both dairy and gluten-free!

Make ahead option– The vegetables can be washed, chopped, and stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. This whole dish can be cooked up to three days ahead. When ready to serve, reheat in a hot oven for 5-10 minutes.

The Simple Steps..

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Peel off and discard any distressed outer leaves on the cabbages. Cut cabbage into 1-inch think slices. remove the outer leaf of the leeks, cut the leeks in half and rinse them well. cut them into 1” long pieces. peel and coarsely chop carrots into 1” pieces too.

2. Place rosemary into the pan. Arrange leeks, cabbage slices, and carrots on a large baking tray in a single layer. Drizzle oil over the vegetables. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper.

3. Pour the broth and drizzle 1 tablespoon vinegar over the vegetables. Roast for 10 minutes. Gently flip the cabbage over and cook about 15 minutes longer. Cook until cabbage is crisp-tender.

4. Transfer all the veggies to a medium platter removing the sprigs of rosemary. Slice the cabbage into smaller bite-sized chunks or cover the tray with foil until ready to serve.

5. To serve, spoon the lentils from the main dish onto a medium serving platter. Then top them with these roasted vegetables and drizzle the last 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar over the cabbage. Enjoy!

4 |   Dessert

Honey-orange Poached Pears

10 ounces apple juice

1 cup water

6 tablespoons honey

3 - 1” orange peels

3 tablespoons orange juic

2 Bosc pears

Want to make this dairy or gluten-free? This is already delightfully dairy and gluten-free!

Make ahead option– These are great to make ahead and store in the refrigerator for 5 days. To reheat, pour the liquid into a pan over medium heat and add the pear to gently heat it through.

The Simple Steps...

1. Pour the apple juice, water, and honey into a medium pan over medium heat.

2. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the rind from an orange and place the peels into a medium pan. Add the juice to the pan too.

3. Heat this liquid over medium-high heat without boiling for about 6 minutes.

4. While that's heating, peel the pears. Cut them in half and core them. Place them in the pan, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes.

5. Spoon half a pear into a small bowl. Pour a few tablespoons of liquid onto the pear and enjoy warm.

6. For a little extra indulgence, top the pears with marscapone cream or honeyed yogurt.