My beloved husband has been making requests I step out of my food comfort zone and make some new dishes. We both wanted something super healthy after having a food hangover from a pizza the night before. Plus I had to get to an appointment so I it had to be fast. I found this recipe, on Epicurious and it hit all the high notes. I changed it up a little, but you can make it vegan by using vegetable broth.

Lentils are basically the worlds most perfect food, I should make them more. It took me 30 minutes to make this, I had most of the ingredients already too. Serve with store bought hummus and pita and call it dinner!

Lebanese Lentils and Rice

Serves 4

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 14-ounce cans chicken stock or broth
• 3/4 cup dried lentils, rinsed, picked over
• 3/4 cup long-grain white rice

Garnish

• 2 large onions, sliced

• 3 tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
• 1 cucumber, peeled, cut into rounds
• Plain yogurt
• Chopped fresh mint

Preparation

Heat 4 tablespoons oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, garlic and the spices; sauté until onion softens, about 4 minutes. Add broth and lentils; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Stir in rice; return to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook until liquid is absorbed and rice and lentils are tender, about 15 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced onions, lower to medium heat; sauté until soft and beginning to blacken, about 20 minutes.

Season pilaf to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to plates; top with blackened onions. Place tomatoes and cucumber alongside. Top pilaf with dollop of yogurt. Sprinkle with mint.

If you’ve ever seen a gorgeous specialty cake at a wedding or other fancy event and thought, “That doesn’t look real, I wonder what it will taste like!” and then upon tasting think, “I’m certain as a child I ate Playdough with more interesting flavor,” you’re not alone. Fondant is notorious for being gorgeous and inedible. I never used it for that reason. I don’t cook things I don’t want to eat.

After some research I found that fondant can be tasty, so tasty people tear it off the cake to eat it first. I used this fondant recipe to make my dear friend @ClarendonMoms her birthday cake.  Who wouldn’t want an Hermes Birkin bag for their birthday!

This recipe is good for about 2 cakes. If you want to color the fondant you can put it in the food processor with  GEL food coloring. The fondant might get hot and start to ‘melt’ a bit. Just let it rest for a bit and cool down. It won’t hurt it. You can keep unused fondant in the freezer almost indefinitely!

Marshmallow Fondant
Ingredients:
15 oz. mini marshmallows
2 Tblsp water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
2 tsp light corn syrup (helps w/ pliability)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon extract
2 lbs (approx 7 C) confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/2 C Crisco or vegetable shortening
Directions:
Grease microwave proof bowl w/ Crisco. Also grease wooden or heat proof spoon. Pour marshmallows and water into bowl. Microwave for approximately 2 minutes stopping and stirring at 40 second intervals. Mixture should be soupy.
Take out of microwave and immediately add corn syrup, lemon juice, salt and extracts. Stir well. Sift confectioner’s sugar into mixture, one cup at a time. After approximately 5 cups, grease your hands well with Crisco and knead the mixture in the bowl. Add the sixth cup and continue to knead. Now grease your work surface well and turn mixture out of bowl onto counter. Sift remaining sugar, regrease hands, and knead well. If mixture seems soft, add one additional cup of powdered sugar.
Shape into a mound and put a coating of Crisco on outside. Double wrap in cling wrap and insert into Ziplock bag. Press air out of bag and seal. Allow to rest overnight, but, can be used after sitting for a few hours.