Crisp Lentil Salad

Ingredients
1 c brown lentils
3/4 tsp kosher salt
4 c water
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/4 c red onion, chopped
1/4 c red pepper, chopped
1/4 c green pepper, chopped
1/4 c yellow pepper, chopped
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions
Bring the water, lentils, and about 3/4 tsp of kosher salt to a boil over medium high heat.  When you've reached a rolling boil, reduce the heat and simmer over medium-to-low heat for approximately 30 minutes when lentils are done. Drain the water from the lentils.

Stir in the vegetables and the vinegar, olive oil, salt & pepper.  Chill a few hours, it actually gets better as the lentils soak in the liquid.  Serves 6.  Very fresh, crisp, and tasty with a nice nuttiness from the lentils.

Zucchini & Yellow Squash Quiche-ish

It isn't really a quiche, but I didn't know what else to call it, to be honest...  My mom was coming to visit for the weekend, and she got stuck in traffic for over an hour...  I knew she would be ready to eat when she finally made it and she's usually game for trying something new - plus she likes squash!

Ingredients
1 medium-large zucchini, halved and sliced
1 large yellow squash, halved, seeded and sliced
1/2 of a small red onion, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
4 eggs (We get a dozen of Dry Dock Farms fresh eggs each week, so this was a no-brainer!)
1/4 c olive oil
1 tsp baking powder
1 c baking mix (like Biscquick)
Grated parmesan
salt & pepper to taste

How to:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round baking dish.

Prepare your vegetables and add salt and pepper to taste.

Whisk together the eggs with the oil until they are nice and fluffy.  Mix in the baking powder and baking mix until it's combined evenly.  Then, fold the mixed vegetables into the egg mixture.  Pour into the baking dish and top with the tomato slices.  Sprinkle grated parmesan over the top, and place into the oven to bake.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until it starts to brown and eggs appear cooked through.

This was our main course, so it only served four big pieces...  And, I should have taken a picture before we dug into it.  But, we were hungry - it was 9:00 p.m.!  :)  I'll make this again, and may even try it with different vegetables.  It seems like any combination would work!

Zucchini & Yellow Squash Skillet

We finally got yellow squash in the CSA delivery a few weeks ago.  I love zucchini & yellow squash in the summer, and it's one of the first vegetable side dishes I was able to convince Mark to try...  And, he likes them!  Bonus!  Even though we've established that he likes them, I still like to give vegetables a little extra oomph from time to time.  And, when I give oomph, that means I add bacon and cheese...  This was delicious!

Zucchini & Yellow Squash Skillet (with oomph)

Ingredients
2 slices of bacon , sliced and quartered
1 medium zucchini, sliced and quartered
1 medium yellow squash
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 red bell pepper, diced to quarter inch
1/4 red onion, diced to quarter inch
1/3 c shredded monterrey jack cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Place two slices of bacon in a large skillet and pan fry over medium low heat.

As bacon is frying, slice and chop the zucchini, yellow squash, garlic, red pepper and red onion.

When bacon is done, remove from pan.  Pour the majority of the bacon grease out, leaving just enough to coat the pan.  Add the chopped vegetables to the pan.  Cook over medium heat, until the onions and squash become chopped and translucent.  Turn heat to low, and crumble the two slices of bacon into the mixture and sprinkle the top with shredded cheese.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Enjoy!

Serves 4

The bacon grease really adds a nice richness to this side dish.  We ate it alongside some homemade bacon cheeseburgers (so really I made more than the two slices, but you only need two slices for this dish!), and it was a great meal!

Fresh Radish Salad

This is a refreshing vegetable salad that features giant Japanese red radishes, along with a mix of other vegetables you always have on-hand.

2 giant Japanese red radishes, inch-long julienned
half a medium cucumber, diced
1 hothouse tomato
2 Tbsp red onion, diced
1 tsp green onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp green onion, thinly sliced
red wine vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste


Combine all vegetables in a bowl, and dress with equal parts red wine vinegar and olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste.  Serve and enjoy!  Serves 2.