Pantry

As with all of you, we have found ourselves stuck at home for the duration. When it comes time to plan meals for the next few days, we can’t just hop in the car and go to the market for one or two things. Earlier this week I stepped out on our front patio and noticed this.

It’s gotten warm enough that the sorrel plant has popped up. Fresh green stuff is not something to be taken lightly right now, so I harvested it and decided to make lentils.

Here’s my recipe:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• celery, 2-3 stalks, chopped
• chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tomato, seeded and chopped (can use canned diced)
• sorrel, roughly chopped. You could use spinach or any other fresh greens (kale, chard)
• salt and pepper
• herbes de Provence, about a teaspoon
• Bay leaf
• Aleppo pepper*, if you have it, about half a teaspoon
• Water or stock, about 4 cups
• Lentils, picked over, rinsed, and drained, 2 cups

Saute the onion, celery, and garlic in a bit of oil. Add the tomato, parsley, seasonings, and the lentils. Add the liquid.

Bring to a simmer, partially cover and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the lentils are done. This will take 20-30 minutes. Stir in the sorrel just at the end of cooking. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.

Here is the finished product:

If you have any growing space, sorrel is a good thing to have on hand. I’m not sure it would winter over in a really cold climate, but it is a perennial, and even I can’t kill it. It starts to come up in the spring, and as long as you keep harvesting it, it keeps growing. You can use it where you might use spinach, though it is quite a bit more lemony and tangy. It is high in vitamins and antioxidants, and supposedly can lower your blood pressure, so it is good for you as well.

Beans and lentils, along with rice, already are a staple for our meals around here, so we had a pretty good pantry stock set up. By supplementing with a few fresh veggies and fruits, we should do just fine for quite some time.

What’s on your table for the coming week?

*Aleppo pepper can be found online and in specialty markets. If you don’t have it, just use a bit more regular pepper, or add a tiny bit of cayenne.