Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Tasty Tuesday!

Mom hasn't been eating very good lately and has been having issues so she decided to make this today. She hasn't made it in a long time but she loves it. I told her to that I needed to have an in-season vegetable dish to share with everyone today but she says she's in need of protein. She always wins.

You may remember that I did a Tasty Tuesday post back in April that featured lentils so I'm not going to reiterate the wonders of them here. That post also included an ingredient featured in today's recipe, onion, so please click here to read that post.

This is the easiest recipe ever that I bet I could even make it! Even though it was hot out today, we had the air conditioning on so having the oven on was not a big deal.

Oven-Baked Lentils and Rice with Herbs
366 Low-Fat Brand Name Recipes
Serves 8 as a side dish

3 cups vegetable broth

3/4 cup lentils, uncooked

3/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup brown rice, uncooked

1/4 cup white wine

1 teaspoon basil

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 2 1/2-quart casserole, combine all ingredients. Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours or until lentils are tender. Add more liquid if mixture becomes dry.

This little lady is THE casserole option in our house. Dad loves Le Creuset and bought this for himself but Mom always uses it for this recipe. This is not technically a casserole dish but a French Oven (Dutch Oven).

Like I said Mom used to make this recipe all the time so when she felt the need to make it today she had all the ingredients on hand. The only problem was that some of the ingredients were a little old like the lentils.

What's a few months, right? Mom hates throwing good food away and figures there must be some wiggle room in the shelf life. Hmmmm. I'm sure glad I'm not having any of this stuff. Let Mom be the "expired food" guinea pig.

The lentils barely fill the bottom but don't worry because this baby will be full by the time Mom puts everything in it.

Mom struggles with rice purchases. I know, how silly but she does. I did a post last year about her trip to Green Fest and how she bought some special rice which she liked but this isn't that rice. This is some other rice she had in the pantry that she needed to use up. There are a million choices when it comes to rice but organic is what we are using today.

Oh no! This stuff's expired too! What the heck is wrong with this woman? She either needs to do more cooking or more eating. Scratch that. She needs to use what she buys in a timely manner.

Rice on top of lentils. Easy peasy, don't you agree?

Can you read what this says on the back of the rice package? This innovative package saves 35,000 pounds of plastic from landfills. How cool is that? Just by changing the packaging, less waste is being created. This is just one of many things Lundberg Family Farms does right. They have been in business since 1937 and are dedicated to caring for the land responsibly as well as sustainably. They grow organic and eco-farmed rice in addition to participating in the Non-GMO Project which is a non-profit collaboration of manufacturers, retailers, processors, distributors, farmers,seed companies and consumers. Mom's rice is non-GMO as are most of their rices.

Ahhh, the onions. Mom put a few more onions in than the recipe called for. This dish is really starting to look yummy.

I told you Mom was using up ingredients for this recipe hence this funky wine. I'm sure there are better wines to use in this recipe and Mom is going to have to buy some. Mom and Dad drink wine occasionally but is drinking wine okay to cook with? I think so but the problem is that if you only need a little wine like in this recipe, what do you do with the rest? Duh! You drink it!

This is what it looks like when the broth and wine are added. It doesn't look very appetizing yet.

All the spices just get thrown on top. Pretty, huh?

And then mixed together. Much better. Put the lid and off to the oven it goes. Phew! Just in time too because I was getting very sleepy. I took a nap while this baked and Mom did laundry. Dad came home while it was baking and could smell it even before he opened the door. He doesn't eat this stuff mostly because Mom inhales it.

After 1 1/2 hours (which is a very short nap), Mom pulled the casserole dish out of the oven, lifted the top and took the picture that is at the top of this post. She usually eats this dish as a meal or with baked tofu so it doesn't last 8 meals in our house. It didn't get eaten tonight because Mom went out to dinner with friends so it will be her lunch tomorrow.

3/4 of a cup is only 135 calories but contains a whopping 8 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein. And with only 2 grams of fat, this dish is great to eat at any time of the day. That is if you can get it away from Mom. Good luck with that.

I threw this picture in because this is how I spent yesterday evening - riding around the neighborhood in my buggy. I can walk a lot better than I could earlier this month but there's no way I could walk more then half a block so in the buggy I went so Mom could get some exercise after dinner. I still don't like my buggy but it beats walking.

26 comments:

Salinger The Pug said...

Ok, the casserole is probably yummy and healthy and yadda yadda yadda but O M G......mom is peeing herself over the Le Creuset beauty!!!!

That's a nice size/design/style!

You'll have to forgive her...mom gets all hot in the @$$ over kitchen equipment, kind of like us PUGS get over Popeyes!

Kisses to all of you!

Love,
S-Dog

THE PUGLET said...

Hey Stubbs!

I was totally born into the wrong house. My human doesn't believe in cooking. When I showed her this recipe she said no way because it involves an oven and I guess oven = cooking.

WTF?

I mean, it looks like your mom just threw a bunch of stuff in a pot and stuck it in the oven. That doesn't seem like cooking to me. At least not the kind to be afraid of, anyway.

I'll keep trying.

PS
We have a whole BUNCH of special lentils here for you that my human totally forgot to mail.

agent99 said...

Glad to see that mom is not the only human who considers expiration dates to be "suggestions". And she said something about this Martha lady - freeze that last bit of wine in ice cube trays. Comes in handy for cooking when you're out of wine. Mom can't do this becuz she forgot what ice cube trays even look like, we've had an ice marker so long.
Stubbs, we LOVE your buggy! The Foo needs on because she gets a ll huffy & pant-y after like a 1/4 block.

Love
Gen & Lefty

Anonymous said...
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Mia said...

Stubby, your momma is always making something healthy!! Maybe she could come teach my momma a thing or two about healthy cooking!! =) I think you look adorable in your buggy!! Just sit back and enjoy the ride!!!

~hugs~

Lilo

Sequoia & Petunia & Emma said...

Mmmm mmmm good! And with the expiration dates...they are dried food its ok we think too.

Stubby you look so happy in the buggy and green looks great on you!

Those Elgin Pugs said...

Hee Hee!!

Mommy is dying right nows at everyones comments!! Too Funnies!!

We's just 'prolly gonna have a hotdog~

OOh Stubby!! Road trip to IN in Sept!!! MARK it's on yous calendar!!!

xoxoxo,
Josie

Brutus, Ellie, Pippa and Otto said...

For something that is supposed to be healthy, that looks pretty good.

And...We read Josie's comment - what's this about a road trip to IN in September??!!

You look pretty good in that green buggy Stubby :)

Pugs & Kisses,

Yoda & Brutus

Tweedles -- that's me said...

hi Stubby
move over and I will go for a ride with you in your buggy.
I think we can smell those lentils cooking all the way over here to Oregon.
I know they would taste sooo good.
Mom is drooling
love
tweedles

Dana Orsborn said...

Hi Stubby!

You look great in your green buggy.
I need to pick one of these up in
pink for Daisy.

Your moms food dish looks good.
We need to try and cook more instead
of just using the microwave.

We hope you are having a great week!

-Dana & Daisy

dw said...

I love to see your mom's different recipes, Stubby! Sometimes I don't know if I'd like them, but you really never know unless you try! You look so cute in your buggy, btw, even if you don't like it. And with the heat and humidity we'd been having (thank goodness it is better today!!) it's the only way to go! Tell your mom I'll have to come up to bring back the plastic container I took the cupcakes from Salinger's mom home in!

Archie and Melissa said...

hi stubby!

oh yummy!
we are definitely making this recipe!

you look so cute in your green buggy!

we love your smile!

xoxox
m & e

Stubby said...

Hi Salinger! What is with the Le Creuset thingys? I just don't get it dude. I mean Popeyes you can eat so of course that excites us but that Le Creuset stuff can't be eaten so I'm not interested in it.

Mom says the color is eggplant but I think it's brown. Whatever it is it's super heavy and still sitting on the stove, full of lentils and rice.

Stubby xoxo

Stubby said...

Hey Puglet! You totally have to get your human to make this recipe. It's so super easy and even though it involves an oven and is cooking, it's worth it in the end.

I totally forgot your human was going to buy us some lentils! Mom is now anxiously awaiting their arrival.

Stubby xoxo

Pee-s: Good idea to keep trying. I think she'll eventually crack.

Stubby said...

Hi Gen & Lefty! Mom typically throws out expired food because of the "suggestions" but dry food looks like it should last forever. Why waste perfectly good food?

Thanks for the Martha/wine/ice cube suggestion. I think we have some penguin shaped ice cube trays somewhere in our messy basement and if not, I'll send Mom out to get some.

Lefty totally needs a buggy. Dad just got the front wheel and handle for it this year. It's really a bike buggy that turns into a stroller buggy. Maybe it would be cool if Lefty got one and we could race!

Stubby xoxo

Stubby said...

Hi Lilo! Mom doesn't always eat healthy like she should. She goes through spurts of cooking healthy food and for some reason she just hasn't been motivated this summer. I think she's just being LAZY but she says it has to do with the weather. Whatever!

Everypug loves my buggy. I bet you wouldn't like it if you had to ride around in it.

Stubby xoxo

Stubby said...

Hi Sequoia & Tuni! I agree that dried food shouldn't really expire. I mean, what can go wrong with it?

I like the green color of my buggy but the buggy itself isn't so cool. I hate being confined in it and cry when I first get in. After a while, I calm down and try to enjoy the ride.

Stubby xoxo

Stubby said...

Hi Josie Girl! You eat hot dogs too? I'm going to take you out for hot dogs and fries! Yummy!

Mom penciled the road trip to IN on her calendar but she said it depends on how I feel. Do you think maybe she just doesn't want to drive me down there? Maybe I can drive her car and take you with me.

Stubby xoxo

Stubby said...

Hi Yoda & Brutus! This recipe is super healthy and super delicious. And did I mention how easy it is to make? It's also relatively inexpensive, too.

Josie Girl wants to go to your meetup in September. I'm trying to talk Mom into going and if we go I'm sure she'll bring my buggy.

Stubby xoxo

Stubby said...

Hi Tweedles! It would be so much fun to have you ride around in my buggy with me. We could get Mom to push us really fast and that would make our cute button ears blow in the breeze. Oh what fun we'd have!

Tell your mom to make this recipe since she's drooling just reading it. I think you'll like it too.

Stubby xoxo

Stubby said...

Hi Dana & Daisy! I don't think the buggy comes in pink. I think it comes in red and I know you'd look good in it.

I spend so much time in the kitchen especially when someone's cooking. Even if the microwave is on that's still cooking.

Stubby xoxo

Stubby said...

Hi dw! You have to try this recipe because I know you'll love it. Don't be afraid.

I totally want you to come back and see me. I'll even let you push me in my buggy. Email Mom and let her know when you want to come. Her schedule is typically open but mine is super busy so I'll make sure I'm available when you come!

Stubby xoxo

Stubby said...

Hi Melissa & Emmitt! I knew you'd like this recipe. You eat so super healthy and this is right up your alley.

Do you have a buggy, Emmitt? I know that you're an old guy like me but I think you still walk pretty good. Lucky you if you don't have a buggy because they're not as fun as they look.

Stubby xoxo

Apollo said...

Oh my! My Mommy is DROOLING! She says that she LOVES lentils and rice and can't wait to try this recipe! And guess what?! I get to try some too (without the onions). I get brown rice and steamed veggies every night for dinner. And Mommy recently bought me some black beans, so she's going to mix some of them in with it. Mmmm! I can't believe the Elgin Pugs are coming to visit! I sure hope you feel good enough to come too!

家唐銘 said...
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Lauren M. Davis Folk Art! said...

WOW that looks totally fabulous and I Love that it is a vegetarian dish!!!!! That is My favorite!!!! I can't wait to try it, thanks so much for sharing Stubby!!!! ~Hugs~ Lauren, Sharky, ET and Duchess