Curried Lentil Salad (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Sometimes you experiment with great results, other times not so much. I am pleased to say that my Curried Lentil Salad was the later.

 When you first move you don't have a lot of food or a lot of spices or a lot of tools to work with. Sometimes you aren't used to your new refrigerator and its frigid temperatures and wake up to find all of your produce frozen. And sometimes you're sick of eating cereal and want to eat something cooked, homemade, something that was cooked with care, not poured out of a box. Insert this salad. This was a concoction derived from saving my produce that had frozen so they didn't taste so good fresh anymore, but hadn't gone bad and also wanting to use what I had in my pantry so I didn't need to buy more food at the grocery store.

The only pot we have (while we wait for the rest of our stuff to show up) is my wok. So that is how I cooked the lentils. I wouldn't recommend it, it's takes a long time, but if that's all you have it works. Plus, that means that's this entire salad was prepared in one pot, that's how simple it is.

Yes, I did use a frosting spatula to stir this salad with. Hey, sometimes you just have to work with what you have. This simple, tasty salad would be great as a side, a light lunch or dinner or just because you want to impress your friends and family with a pretty dish. No one said simple can't be fancy.

This recipe is more of a guideline to recreate the salad yourself. None of the measurements need to be exact. Just play around with it to make it match your taste preferences. Feel free to add some fresh ground pepper if you'd like, I just didn't have any.

Curried Lentil Salad

• 1/4 Cup Lentils
• 1 Red Pepper
• 3 Cups Spinach
• Sea Salt to taste
• Muchi Curry Powder to taste
• 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Splash of Red Wine Vinegar
• A Few Cilantro Sprigs

Makes 1-3 servings.

Cook lentils according to package directions, adding the muchi curry powder and a pinch of sea salt. Slice the red pepper and saute with the olive oil until browned on the outside. Remove from heat and add the spinach, stirring it occasionally, just until the spinach is slightly wilted. Add salt, cilantro and red wine vinegar to taste. Add the lentils. Serve and enjoy!

[Road Trippin'] Mixed CD + Easy Energy Bars (Vegan, Gluten Free)

I love road trips. I know many people who dread them and would hands down rather fly anywhere than drive. Not me. If I can drive somewhere I'll do it. I'm not sure if it's the great music accompanied by loud out-of-tune singing or the gas station stops where everyone races to the bathroom because they've been holding it for the last three hours. Perhaps it's trying out new food in new places or the bonding that will enviably occur. Maybe it's that on a road trip the travel time is just as much a part of the vacation as the vacation itself is; you know,it's about the journey, not the destination sort of thing. No matter the reason, road trips are guaranteed to be an adventure!

Tomorrow I begin a thirty hour road trip to my new home in Colorado. The first four hours I will embark on alone, but once I get to PA the fun really begins! My friend/ old roommate/ new roommate, Molly is one of my favorite people to road trip and explore with so I know this will be a great trip!

Crucial to any road trip is great music. No question about it. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time I usually do to prepare multiple mix CDs, but I did have time to create one tonight.

Dive- Matt Costa

Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) -Arcade Fire

It's Not You It's Me -Coconut Records

Private Lawns -Angus and Julia Stone

Little Black Submarines -The Black Keys

Into The Open -Heartless Bastards

Vagabond -Wolfmother

Cross Your Fingers -Laura Marling

Song For You -Alexi Murdoch

Navigate -Band of Skulls

Honey Come Home -The Head and The Heart

The Dead Sea -The Lumineers

Working Poor -Horse Feathers

Lakehouse -Of Monsters and Men

Map of the World -Monsters of Folk

This mix starts off pretty upbeat and slowly moves to a more folksy sound, which I thought would be appropriate for the mountains of Colorado. As always, all the songs sound great driving down the highway with the windows down and the wind in your hair. 

And of course, as I mentioned above, snacks are a very important part of the road trip experience. In an attempt to help Molly and I save a little cash, I made some energy bars for us to snack on. These bars are simple to make, contain wholesome ingredients and taste great. They are vegan, gluten-free, grain-free and depending on the ingredients you use-raw. It's also really easy to switch out ingredients and customize them to your favorite flavors.

Easy Energy Bars

• 1 Cup Raw Nuts 
• 1 Cup Dates or Dried Apricots
• 1/2-1 Cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
• Pinch of Salt

Makes 4-5 Bars or 12-15 Bites

Throw all the ingredients in a food processor until it is finally chopped and starts to stick. At this point you can fold in any other ingredients you'd like that you didn't want chopped up such as chocolate chips, dried fruit or seeds. Then dump the "dough" out into a loaf pan lined with wax paper and firmly press it down to spread it out. Make sure it's spread out evenly and looks smooth on top. Place the bars in the fridge to set for 20-30 minutes.Once the bars feel firm, pull the "dough" out with the wax paper and slice it to create the bars. I suggest storing the bars in the refrigerator, separated by wax paper so they don't stick together. For another option instead of creating bars, you can make energy bites and roll the "dough" into bite-sized balls for a quick snack. 

Some things to keep in mind when making the bars:
-Feel free to play around slightly with the ratios or to use a half a cup of two different type of nuts or seeds.
-When picking out dried fruit at the store, read the labels, make sure the only ingredient listed is the fruit you're buying, they like to sneak in other stuff like sugar and preservatives.

Some of my favorite combinations:
Apricots, Cashews, Dried Blueberries, Vanilla Extract
Dates, Sunflower Seeds, Vanilla Extract, Chocolate Chips
Dates, Almonds, Espresso, Chocolate Chips, Vanilla Extract
Dates, Pecans, Vanilla Extract, Cinnamon
Apricots, Macadamia Nuts, Candied Ginger, Dried Mango and Pineapple

Okay, I've babbled on long enough. Now it's your turn.

What are your go-to road trip songs?

Where would your dream road trip be/ go?

What flavor combination would you create for the bars?

Hope you all had a Happy Easter!

Peace & Love,

Joy