Yesterday evening, due to miss my bus because I waited for the shuttle instead of walking (will I ever learn?), I decided to see what I could pick up at the metro stop farmers market. I had been inspired to make lentils & pasta by the 'seitan is my motor' blog. Interestingly, when I initially read about it, I thought 'how odd to combine lentils and pasta', and had no interest at all in trying it myself.
At the farmers market, I picked up two ripe gorgeous tomatoes labeled as 'dirt grown', and some cucumbers and kale. Once I got home & tried a bit of the tomato, I was immediately filled with questions: why weren't the tomatoes we got last week from the other farmers market this good? what variety is this? Is this frankenfood? Because it wasn't organic and I guess I get a little worried about non-organic tomatoes being some weird hybrid of donkey/algae/tomato. That donkey gene sure added the extra oomf the tomato has always needed, a need which we were unaware of until now. I will have to inquire about it next week. Let's just say the tomato was suspiciously good.
Recipe:
Add water & 2 cups rinsed lentils to pot, add garlic powder, thyme & 1 bay leaf, boil
Boil water & cook rotini (about 3 cups), drain when done
Saute 4 cloves of diced garlic in olive oil, add kale and cook until wilted and more tender
Dice 2 large tomatoes, set aside
Once lentils are done, drain & cool for a few minutes
Mix pasta, lentils, tomatoes, and kale, add salt to taste. Then, add lots of cumin. Yes, it sounds wrong, but it really is delicious!
I took this photo in my new portable photo studio! I am a terrible photographer, but boy does the portable photo studio make me look like less of a terrible photographer! I need the studio, its my special crutch.
