Make This!!

 

Lentil Patties

 

 

 

These are so delicious! Make them for Meatless Monday or for lunches this week.

 

Lentil Patties adapted slightly from Mommy's Home Cooking

 

1 cup cooked lentils (I used Spanish Pardina from Palouse Brand)

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup chopped onion (I used 1/2 cup sliced green onions)

1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 pinch cayenne pepper

salt to taste

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 T olive oil

1 tsp cumin (I added this)

 

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Place half of the mixture into a food processor and pulse until a paste is formed. Add the paste back to the lentil mixture. Grease a cookie sheet with coconut oil. Using a 1/3 measuring cup, scoop out the mixture and place on the cookie sheet.  Preheat the oven to 425*. Bake the lentil patties for 10-12 minutes and flip over. Bake for another 10-12 minutes.

 

To cook the lentils, place them in a saucepan and cover with one inch of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain.

European Adventure Part Six: Cooking with the Burgers & Bad Wimpfen

Our last day with Daniel and his family was jam packed and so much fun! Daniel and Anne wanted to serve us a special dish with lentils, bacon, sausage and spaetzle. We knew this from Daniel's visit to the US the week before. I told Daniel he had to let us bring the lentils! He agreed and we brought the family a 5 lb bag of lentils from the Palouse!

The only lentils we ever use.
Spanish Pardina lentils from Washington!

Daniel, Omid and Leonie were in charge of lunch. Omid got a lesson in making spaetzle. It's not as easy as it seems!

 

First you have to make a dough (okay, easy!), but the dough is very thick and needs to be pressed into simmering water. That took muscle!

Spaetzle press

Simmer noodles for several minutes and transfer to cool water.

I wish I had made this for the kids when they were younger.
Nas especially would have loved it with butter!

This is a rib sticking meal.
We ate this and weren't hungry until dinner around 8:00 p.m.!
Lentils, German sausage, a 3/4" thick slab of bacon (one for each person),
and spaetzle. It was super delicious!

After lunch, Omid, Daniel and I headed to Bad Wimpfen. I was SO excited to visit this little town. Bad Wimpfen is a historic spa town. It is absolutely adorable. I could definitely see myself living there. Daniel said in December the town hosts a Christmas market.  I have to go back someday and visit that. Most of the stores were closed (Sunday), so we just window shopped. We did stop and have coffee and cheesecake at a little restaurant. I loved the fact that the very restaurant we were in was so very old, the floors sloped down and the ceilings were low. Just very cool, as we don't have anything that old in the US.

 

Daniel translating a plaque:
dedicated to the Jews that lived in Bad Wimpfen and perished in the Holocaust.

#good friends!

Can you tell I love the peek-a-boo shots?!
Sorry, not sorry!

Ancient timbers. Very cool!

Right after this photo was taken, I tried to convince Omid that we should move to Germany. Specifically to Bad Wimpfen.

I'm still trying to convince him!

 

I could have spent another hour walking and taking photos in Bad Wimpfen, but we had to leave.

We went back to Daniel's and played several board games with Leonie while practicing our German.

Fun fact: My HS German came flooding back during our stay and I feel I did pretty well (Omid may have called me a 'show off' once or twice).

Daniel and Anne had made dinner reservations that evening at a local farmhouse.  After the harvest in Leingarten, farmers open their homes & host pop up restaurants. Omid and I were very excited to see this for ourselves. Daniel and Anne live within walking distance (1 mile or so) of one of the farms. We all bundled up for the cold and dark walk. Thankfully, Jasmin brought a little lantern to guide us.

Not so fun fact: the scary clown scene has also reached Germany. Poor Jasmin was afraid that clowns were going to pop out and scare us. It was sad to see her so frightened. :(

Waiting for our table!

The farmhouse parlor was packed with locals who had heard about the pop up restaurant. We had to wait quite a while (even though we had a reservation). Leonie took charge and roller bladed into the restaurant to ask when our table would be ready. Go Leonie!!!

We finally got our table! What I loved was that the farmer's Golden Retriever was in and out (it's his home, of course!) of the parlor.

Guess what the girls ate? More spaetzle!!!
#butterednoodles

Daniel explained that the food was simple farmer food and showcased what the farmer recently harvested. Think vegetables and pork and lots of freshly made bread.

And by pork, I mean freshly made, uncooked sausage without the casing.

This was good. I'll admit, I was a little nervous to eat it, but I did!

...and more local wine from the region.

The food was so delicious and the experience a lot of fun. It was such a memorable way to spend our last night with the Burgers.

 

This photo make me happy and sad at the same time.
It was such a treat to meet Anne and the girls. We were so sad to say goodbye.

The next morning, Omid and Daniel had to go to work and I spent my morning in Heilbronn. The weather was sunny & bright, but chilly. I chose to walk a path along the Neckar River.

I came across these lock with couples names engraved.
It reminded me of the locks in Paris over the Seine.

Lots of love!

I love this shot of the Neckar River and it's banks.
So very beautiful!

After this shot, I met up with Daniel and Omid. Daniel walked us to the train station and we said our goodbyes. #sad

Omid and I took the train to Frankfurt and spent the evening exploring. I much preferred Heilbronn and Leingarten to the big city. The train system was bigger and way more complicated. We were saved by a very nice college student from North Carolina who was living in Frankfurt for the semester on an internship. He helped us navigate our way around after seeing our confused faces. ☺

We finally made it back to the airport, where we had a hotel room (in the airport!). I was so surprised that we didn't hear one airplane take off, despite seeing them depart right outside our room window.

It was a very fun adventure and I am so happy that I was able to tag along on Omid's business trip. Omid and I both agree the highlight of the trip was meeting Daniel's family and spending time with them. We loved making memories and can't wait until our next visit to Deutschland!

Make This!!!

 This lentil salad is absolutely fantastic! Make it today!

 

 

Warm French Lentil Salad with Bacon & Herbs via The Kitchn

  

Makes 4 3/4-cup servings

1 cup green or French lentils *I used Pardina lentils from Palouse Brand
2 cups low-sodium or homemade chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces bacon (about 4 thick-cut slices), cut into small pieces *I cooked mine until it was super crunchy
2 large shallots, cut in half and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 large sprigs rosemary, leaves stripped and minced *I left this out as we didn't have any
3 large leaves sage, minced *I left this out as we only had dried
2 tablespoons capers, roughly chopped
1/2 cup Italian parsley leaves, roughly chopped
 
For the dressing:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoons Dijon mustard *I used Grey Poupon
1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Wash and rinse the lentils. Put in a small saucepan and cover with the chicken broth. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer and cook until just tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Add extra water while cooking if the liquid gets low. Drain the lentils and return them to the pot. Stir in the salt.

Meanwhile, while the lentils are cooking, cook the bacon in a heavy pan over medium heat until crispy. Drain most of the fat out of the pan, then add the shallots, garlic, rosemary, and sage, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the garlic is fragrant and the shallots are tender but not soft. Remove from the heat.

Whisk the olive oil, mustard, and balsamic vinegar together until thick. Toss with the warm, drained lentils, then stir in the bacon and shallot mixture. Stir in the chopped capers and parsley. Taste and season with additional salt, if needed, and a generous quantity of black pepper.