Porridge Leftovers

Yesterday we made a big batch of Inkoo Porridge. Leftovers were spread to a lightly greased dish and refrigerated over night. The porridge gets firm when it cools down, just like polenta. Today I cut the porridge in squares and fried in oil. They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and I think they were better than the actual porridge.

The Inkoo Porridge squares were served with a tomato based lentil sauce. Not so Finnish, but vegan and it was great with the porridge squares. First I sautéd chopped onion, garlic, caraway seeds, paprika and minced mild chili in oil. Then I added a can of crushed tomatoes, water, some cabbage and a grated carrot. When it started to boil I added red lentils, basil, marjoram and thyme and simmered until lentils and vegetables were done. Last I seasoned it with salt and freshly ground black pepper and then we ate it with the fried Inkoo Porridge squares.

There’s No Smoke Without Fire

On Monday we borrowed a pile of comics from the library. On our way home we stopped to buy some bread and somehow a bag of nachos went to our basket too. At home we made hot and smoky salsa and spent the evening on the balcony reading comics and eating nachos and salsa.

Smoky Salsa

6 ripe tomatoes (450-500g)
2 garlic cloves
some onion stalks OR 1 small onion
few slices of canned jalapeño
1 tbsp liquid from the jalapeño can OR hot sauce
2 tsp extra hot chili powder*
1 tsp chipotle powder
2 tsp smoked paprika
pinch of salt and brown sugar

Scald and peel the tomatoes (or if you don’t mind about tomato peel pieces in your salsa you can leave the peels on). Chop everything and mix together in a pot. Bring to boil, turn the heat on low and simmer 30 minutes or so, stirring ever now and then.

*We used extra hot chili powder and the salsa was rather fiery. If you like milder salsa, use regular chili powder and/or smaller amount.

Muffin Failure and Lentil Soup

Finland’s national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg was born on 5.2. and that day has been named Runeberg’s day. All Finns eat Runeberg’s tortes that are muffins with ground almonds and raspberry jam. I had a plan to make them and post the recipe here, but something went wrong. Runeberg’s torte should look like this, but mine looked like this

I don’t think anyone would be interested in recipe, so I won’t post it here. Maybe I’ll have better luck next year. I also made lentil soup, with much better success. You can add couple of garlic cloves if you feel like.

Lentil Soup

1 onion
2 tbsp oil
500 g crushed tomatoes
1 l water
2 dl red lentils
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
0,5-1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
0,5 tsp lovage

Peel and chop the onion. Heat the oil in a soup pot and sauté the onion until its soft and translucent. Add tomatoes and water and bring to boil. Add rest of the ingredients and slowly boil 15-20 minutes. Enjoy with fresh bread.

Eat Like Egyptian

A while ago I found some cheap dried fava beans, but I didn’t use them for anything right away. They were smaller than fava beans I’ve eaten before and the package said they have exciting taste. Yesterday I thought I’d soak and boil half of them and cook them somehow. The beans tasted as exciting as normal fava beans, but they didn’t have such a hard skin.

I found this Fool Medemmas recipe and decided to try it. I made a bigger batch, since it was supposed to be today’s dinner for two and tomorrow’s lunch for one. It was great with pita bread, and super quick to make. Fresh parsley would probably been better, but we only had dried.

Fool Medemmas

6 dl cooked fava beans
3 small onions
2 plum tomatoes
3 tbsp oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried parsley
1,25 dl lemon juice
1 hot (or medium hot) chili
salt and pepper

Chop the onions, dice the tomatoes and mince the chili. Mix everything in a pot, bring to boil and cook on medium heat 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Serve with pita bread.

Dill Pesto

Dill on our balcony has grown well and I used some to make pesto today. Then I used the pesto as a salad dressing for a pasta salad, because salads are great food for hot days like today. I made my pesto thinner than regular pestos, because I like it that way in salads. Decrease the amount of oil if you want to make it thicker. Crunchy lettuce, like ice berg lettuce, would be best for pasta salads, but I used some softer lettuce that we grow on our balcony.

Dill Pesto

Bunch of dill
2 tbsp pine nuts or sliced/slivered almonds
1 dl oil (preferably olive oil)
salt and pepper

Blend dill, pine nuts and about 0,5 dl oil. Add more oil to get the consistency you want. Season with salt and pepper.

Pasta Salad with Dill Pesto

7-8 dl cooked pasta (whole grain fusilli, for example)
1 batch dill pesto
3 dl corn kernels
1 bell pepper, cubed
about 15 cm piece cucumber, cubed
3 tomatoes, cut in wedges
small bunch of lettuce leaves
1,5 dl sliced onion stalks or 1 small onion

Combine pasta and pesto in a bowl. If your pasta is just cooked and you use frozen corn, add the corn too, because it will make the pasta cool down quicker.  Add the rest of the ingredients, mix and let sit in the fridge at least half an hour before serving.

Lentil Cannelloni

When I saw Kurpitsamoska’s lentil cannelloni recipe several months ago I wanted to try it. Soon my sister came to visit and asked if we could make mushroom and eggplant cannelloni, which we made and enjoyed and I forgot the lentil cannelloni recipe. Until a friend of ours told that she had made awesome vegetarian lasagne and the next day Nomad suggested that we’d have lasagne or cannelloni in the near future. On Valentine’s day I veganized Kurpitsamoska’s cannelloni and they were great.

Lentil Cannelloni

cannelloni tubes

Lentil Filling:
2 dl red lentils
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp sugar
salt
0,5 dl nutritional yeast
0,5 dl oat cream

Tomato Sauce:
2 cans crushed tomato
1 big onion
5 garlic cloves (or more)
oil
1 glass red wine
pinch of sugar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
2 tsp dried basil

Boil the lentils 10-15 minutes. Drain and stir in other ingredients. Let sit a little while.

Chop the onion and mince garlic. Sauté in oil until soft. Add rest of the ingredients and simmer as long as you have patience.

Fill the cannelloni tubes with lentil filling and put them on one layer to a oven proof dish. Pour the tomato sauce over them and bake 25-30 minutes in 225 celsius degrees.