I had never cooked lentils before but this was the perfect dinner for winter-y comfort, a balanced dinner, and for speed! The lentils were so fast in the pressure cooker, or would be an easy one to prep the night before and the chicken sausage was fully cooked so they just needed a quick sear. Voila!

Ingredients:

8 oz lentils
2 cups water (I used half water, half chicken stock)
2 cloves garlic
salt & pepper (I used Krazy Pepper)
3 carrots
2 small potatoes
2 cups fresh spinach
chicken sausage

Directions:

Chop the potatoes, carrots, and garlic. Add to a pressure cooker with the lentils, water, salt & pepper. (See below for stovetop directions)
Cook according to your machine. Mine cooked for 10 minutes.
Bring a skillet to medium heat and sear the sausage in a drizzle of olive oil.
When the lentils are cooked and tender to the bite, stir well. Add in a splash more water if most of the moisture has evaporated.

Add in the spinach and stir again just until it wilts from the heat.
Serve a scoop of the lentil & veggies onto the plate.

Slice the sausage and serve over the top.

For stovetop lentils:
Bring lentils & water to a boil in a heavy pot. Then reduce the heat to medium low for 20-30 minutes. Here’s a good lentil tutorial.

This hit the spot. It was so fast and was such a great side dish that got to be the star of the plate! The little one enjoyed the lentils and I have another stash for a rainy day. It made plenty for 2 of us to have for dinner, Mr. J to take for lunch, and for the little guy to have some the next night for dinner…so 4 servings.

Lentils are speedy in the pressure cooker but since they reheat well, if you’re making them on the stove: put the pot on the night before and store them in the fridge once they’ve cooked. Then you just warm them and add the spinach before serving. They don’t need a ton of stirring or babysitting so you can catch up on The Bachelor, or whatever you do before bed.

HAP-py New Year! I didn’t exactly make it to midnight. I kept dozing, Mr. J dutifully would gently wake me and I was drowsy/cranky/confused. Dec 30th (a “school-night”) and Jan 1 I had no trouble at all getting to being awake at midnight. Ohh well. Christmas is packed away and the little one now points and says “oooo” at the snowmen I pop into place where Santas once stood. 2016 is going to be fun & tasty, I can feel it.

Ohhmygosh. I’m so excited. I got a pressure cooker for Christmas and I broke it out the other night for risotto. I know, I too thought they were only helpful for big pieces of meat until talk at lunch enlightened me. Risotto in 6 minutes? Sign me up! Spoiler: it was awesome…slightly longer than 6 minutes, but I pretty much dumped it in and let it do the work. Isn’t she pretty? This risotto would work perfectly in a pot on the stove as well. It has Parmesan cheese, corn, and chopped arugula.

Sweet Corn Risotto with Arugula (serves ~4)

Ingredients:

2 tbs butter 1 tbs garlic, smashed or chopped 2 cups arborio rice 2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth) 3 cups water (or sub white wine) 1/2 cup grated Parmesan 1-2 cups Arugula, chopped 1-2 cups corn

Directions:

In a pressure cooker (see below for stovetop directions*), saute the garlic in the butter for 1-2 minutes. Add in the rice and stir well, cooking for about 2 minutes until the rice gets a bit more opaque than white. Add in the broth and water and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes. While rice is cooking, cook the corn and chop the arugula. Release the pressure. Stir in parmesan, corn, and arugula. Enjoy! *For stovetop risotto: In a medium pot warm the broth and water over low heat. Melt the butter and cook the garlic over medium heat. Add in the rice and cook for a few minutes- until the rice gets opaque versus white. Add in the liquid 1 cup at a time. Wait for it to absorb and then add another cup. Repeat for all the liquid – likely 30 minutes.

I loved this. It was cooked PERFECTLY. It was creamy but not mush. The corn was living in my freezer but had been cut off the cobb awhile back. The chunks still connected make me smile…like finding a double Cheez-it! I chopped the arugula really well partly because the baby was going to eat it too, and partly because I love using it like an herb! I’d use wayyy more next time.

The baby loved the risotto! He ate quite a lot. Mr. J and I did a his/hers entree and shared risotto. He had grilled steak and I had grilled salmon with some dijon/lemon/garlic/salt/pepper. Poof. Insta-dinner.

Mr. J had BIG grilling plans so I felt like I needed to at least make something. He bought ribs and cooked them very low and slow for a few hours with rub he got from a Kansas City vendor he worked with for a few days. It was a feast, and absolutely unbelievably ahh-mazing. My honey chipotle beans were less than amazing unless you have a serious tolerance for heat.

My instant sangria was a really great addition to go with the best ribs I’ve ever had and the spiciest beans I’ve ever had. Wooo-eee. They were spicy. I alllllmost diluted them by half, but sometimes you just have to call it quits. If I kept adding to the spicy beans it might have made them better, but it also would have doubled the quantity. If it didn’t fix the spice level, then we’d just have tons of mediocre beans. See what I mean? I would have mellowed them out if I had guests, but we just dealt and ended up not finishing them. It was fine.

Ingredients:

1 shallot
1/2 onion
1 can white navy beans
2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo (maybe just use 1?)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup tomato sauce

Directions:

Dice shallot and onion. Add to a heavy pot over medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil. Cook a few minutes, until translucent (about 5 minutes).

In a blender or food processor, mix chipotle peppers, honey, molasses, and vinegar.

Add in the beans, undrained, and the chipotle sauce mixture with 1/4 cup of water.

Bring to a low boil for 10-15 minutes, then reduce heat to low for 30 minutes.
Serve & enjoy!