Posts tagged lentils

A funny thing happens when I’m traveling (especially for work): I start to ache for home-cooked food, and yet when I get home, I feel like I have to learn to cook dinner all over again. And I’m not talking about learning to cut up onions, I’m talking about getting over the enormous hump of inertia. It’s just so haaaaaaaaaaard.

I feel the same way about waking up in the morning when I’m getting back from a work trip: oh SERIOUSLY? I have to do this again? I JUST GOT USED TO PACIFIC TIME.*

I finally decided last night that I couldn’t justify eating out again, so I made salmon with lentils and mustard-herb butter. It’s a marvelous recipe, in that you cook two otherwise healthy ingredients in an ungodly amount of butter and then top them with more butter.

Salmon with Lentils and Mustard-Herb Butter

For mustard-herb butter

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives
• 1 teaspoon chopped tarragon (I used a mix of parsley and fennel seeds, since I didn’t have tarragon. I’ve made it with the tarragon, and it’s very good.)
• 2 teaspoons grainy mustard
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

For lentils

• 1 cup French green lentils
• 4 cups water
• 2 medium leeks (white and pale green parts only) (I had only one gigantic leek)
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

For salmon

• 4 (6-ounce) pieces skinless salmon fillet
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

For the butter:

The recipe tells you to stir together the ingredients with a bit of salt and pepper, which is ridiculous. Those ingredients are not going to stir together. I mash them together with the back of my fork, or chop them together, depending on how cold the butter is. Set aside.

For the lentils:

Chop the leeks (wash them really well!) and cook them in butter over medium-low heat a non-stick skillet large enough to eventually hold the salmon.

Meanwhile, bring the lentils, water, and nearly a teaspoon of salt to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, and drain.

Return the lentils to their pot, along with the leeks, and 3 tablespoons of the compound butter. Cook, stirring, until the butter is melted and lentils are heated through. Remove from heat, add lemon juice, and salt & pepper to taste. Cover to keep warm and set aside.

For the salmon:

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Heat butter over medium heat in the skillet you used for the leeks. Wait until the foaming subsides, then add the salmon. Cook for 3 - 4 minutes per side, until just cooked through. I like to err on the side of undercooked for salmon, so I take it off the heat when the middle is still just losing that raw texture but still quite red.

Serve the salmon on top of the lentils and top the whole shebang with more compound butter. Save any leftover butter to use on lentils, or chicken, or steamed vegetables.

* Inevitably it is the last day of a trip that my body finally adjusts to pacific time, after days of waking up at 4:00 am and wandering the streets for a breakfast place that’s open before 6.

Poster encouraging healthy eating habits from the Work Projects Administration Poster Collection, courtesy of the Library of Congress. Between 1941 and 1943.