Buckwheat Soba, Lentils and Chard with Sasuage

 Too cold to barbeque, no plans except to pray for the boys and girls, men and women really, who offer their blood for my freedom. What should we do for dinner on this cold wet Memorial Day? Does it sound like I am a character in one of Dr Suiss’ books?……so we just sat there Sally and me….. There was a recipe in Deborah Madison’s’ book, “The Greens Cook Book”  that I have been thinking of trying. Today is the day.

Fresh chard from the SFG May 29

  The garden was lush with greens. The chard especially needed to be used. Ms Madison calls for one bunch of red or white chard for this recipe. I’m just not sure how much that is so I just cut all the large leaves that needed to be used for the dish. I also needed parsley, there is plenty in the different gardens. The leeks came from the Snohomish Farmers Market. The rest of the vegetables came from Trader Joe’s.

Gather and prepare the ingredients so the dish can go together quickly.

Ingredients,.

1 12 oz package Italian turkey sausage (optional)

6 to 8 oz. Buckwheat Soba Noodles

1/2 cup French lentils washed and sorted

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon salt and fresh pepper

1 bunch red or green chard

6 Tablespoons EV olive oil plus extra

2 cloves garlic minced or pressed

2 medium carrots cut into 1/4 inch cubes

 

1 celery stalk cut into 1/4 inch cubes

1 large or 2 medium leeks white part only, finely chopped

2 tablespoon parsley chopped

Parmesan cheese

In a large fry pan with a lid, glaze the bottom with olive oil and fry the sausage. While the sausage begins to cook, fill a large pot with water for the noodles and bring it to a boil. As the sausage cooks, turn it occasionally, browning it on all sides.

In a smaller sauce pan, add the lentils. Cover them generously with water. Add salt and pepper with a bay leaf. Cook at a slow boil for 15 to 20 minutes. If the lentils are over cooked they will lose their shape and texture. When the lentils are done, drain them, return them to the pan with a little olive oil, salt and a grind of pepper. Set at the ready.

Cut the stems from the clean chard and slice the leaves into 1 inch ribbons. Set at the ready.

Salt the noodle water after it comes to a boil. Add the noodles and cook according to package directions. Drain reserving about 3/4 cup of noodle water.

Putting it all together: Remove the browned sausage to a plate to slice.  Add 4 Tablespoons olive oil and garlic to the fry pan. Gently heat the garlic to flavor the oil. Be careful to not brown to garlic. Cook about 1 minute. Add the lentils to the garlic oil with the carrots, celery and leeks. Stir to coat with oil and cook for about a minute. Turn up the heat slightly (a little hotter than medium). Return the sliced sausage and the chard to the pan with a half cup of noodle water. Turn everything with tongs and gently cook, covered, for a minute or two until the vegetables are tender. Add the noodles and gently toss everything together. Remove from the heat.

Buckwheat Soba with French Lentils, Chard and Sausage

Serves 2 to 4

Grate cheese over all and sprinkle with the parsley.