Solar Cooking- Rained Off.

 After a break from blogging about solar cooking,  I set the sunoven out today to cook some brown lentils for Meatless Monday.
 With record 100º+ temperatures for the last month,  and the sun shining brightly, no need to check the weather forecast right? Wrong! Thirty minutes after the lentils were started, dark clouds moved in, blocking the sun. The sun oven had to come in and the lentils finished on the stove. After another thirty minutes rain was coming down heavily! Combined with some really strong wind, it was enough to knock the power out in some parts of the city.

 It is always good to get some rain, but I really hope the sun will be shining on the 6th, when I will be solar cooking on Weds as part of earth lunch hour; an idea to cook healthy and earth friendly lunches around the world in a 24 hour period, starting in Japan. Sounds like fun and I am happy to participate. As long as everything goes right, lunch will be solar cooking from 12 noon to 1pm Arizona time. I might even check the weather forecast beforehand.

Saturday Lentils and Rice

This is my basic method for most legumes, in this case lentils. I put the lentils, water and a bay leaf in one pot, and in the other olive oil, chopped onions, carrot, celery, and a can of diced tomatoes. Cover both and let simmer in the Sun Oven until the lentils are soft. Drain the lentils and combine everything in one pot, replace the cover, and continue to simmer. Now there is room to make some rice. When the rice is ready so is dinner.

Solar Vegetarian Delights

O.k., delights might be a little bit of an exaggeration but with very little work and a nice sunny day I was able to put together a pretty good vegetarian dinner. I was craving roasted vegetables, especially butternut squash and rutabagas. Luckily I had both in the fridge so I peeled them, sliced them up, seasoned them with olive oil and kosher salt, and spread them out on two baking trays that I could fit in the Sun Oven by stacking one on the other. On a whim I tossed a leek in too. After about an hour in the Sun Oven the veggies were looking pretty good. It was still early in the day, about two to be exact, and there was plenty of remaining hours of sunshine. I got to thinking that as tasty as the roasted vegetable looked, I'd probably be hungry for a little more than that come dinnertime. So I got out my two, trusty, red pots for some brown rice and lentils. After the lentils had softened I flavored them with some leftover tomato pasta sauce I had in the fridge. It was a simple meal, but satisfying nonetheless.

Lentil Bolognese

A pretty uneventful solar cooking day. I made a lentil bolognese sauce for Meatless Monday. It's a very easy to make, satisfying topping for whole wheat pasta and comes out great in the Sun Oven.







Lentil Bolognese

1/2 lb dry lentils

1 Tbs olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 26 oz carton Pomi strained tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
fresh or frozen basil
freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Rinse and pick over lentils. Place in a dark pot, cover with water, and cook in Sun Oven until tender.  Add wine and cook until it evaporates. Add Pomi (or other brand strained tomatoes), salt, and transfer to Sun Oven.

When lentils are tender drain and combine with tomato mixture. Continue cooking for another ten to twenty minutes. Remove from Sun Oven and add basil. Serve over pasta with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

It a separate pot heat olive oil and sautee diced vegetables until tender, about 10 minutes.

Meatless Monday Pumpkin Curry

It turns out it was a very good thing I didn't take my Sun Oven with me to L.A. Between the thick fog that rolled in on Thursday and the fact that we were so busy working that we didn't even get a chance to go for a walk on the beach that was half a block away, I wouldn't have been able to use it at all. We left much later than expected on Sunday and didn't make it home until two a.m. I was afraid I wouldn't get any solar cooking done today so I was overjoyed this morning to find a recipe using ingredients that I mostly had on hand.  I substituted butternut squash for the pumpkin, somehow the one in the fridge hadn't rotted yet, and I only had to go to the store for the spinach and apple. This worked out great because they didn't need to be added until the last ten minutes of cooking, giving me plenty of time to get the dish started. Paired with some brown rice it made a complete meal with very little fuss. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com. Here's the link: Pumpkin Curry with Lentils and Apples.

Meatless Monday Lentil Shepherd's Pie

 This morning we had what I like to call a 'Simpsons Sky', big white clouds with a  blue background. These types of clouds mean longer cooking times. If I wanted to make my lentil shepherd's pie entirely in the Sun Oven I would have to get busy. As long as the lentils and potatoes were done by 1:00 p.m. I could leave the assembled pie in the oven all afternoon while I was at work. I love it when I'm out working and my dinner is waiting for me in the back yard. The lentils were cooked just in time, but I had to cheat a little with the potatoes by boiling them on the stove for about five minutes. I should have put them in the Sun Oven at the same time as the lentils. If I had they would have been ready in time. This little cheat, however, did allow me to bake the pie in the Sun Oven and gave me the luxury of coming home to a fully cooked meal.
If you want the recipe you can find it here: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/lentil-shepherds-pie/

A Simple Solar Cooked Dinner

After the extensive preparations that went into our two day camping trip, I was too tired to come up with anything exciting for dinner tonight. I followed a recipe for Pasta with Lentil Bolognese from epicurious.com but served it with rice instead of pasta. To modify it for the Sun Oven I used two pots. In the first one I cooked the lentils. I put the rest of the ingredients in the second pot and let them simmer alongside the lentils in the Sun Oven. I have learned from past experience that the acidity of the tomatoes will keep the lentils from softening so I prefer to precook them. When the lentils were almost done I combined everything into one pot and returned it to the Sun Oven. At this point I had enough room to start the rice. I served it just like it was pasta, spooning the lentils over the rice and dusting it with freshly grated romano cheese. It made a simple and satisfying dinner.

Sun Oven Lentil Loaf, Mashed Potatoes and Zucchini

Not only was today's dinner made entirely in the solar oven (except the gravy) but I put it together without making a single trip to the grocery store. This is a major accomplishment for me. And to think, when I got up this morning I had no idea what I'd be solar cooking today. I was planning on beans but forgot to soak them overnight. I decided to make lentil loaf instead. I started the lentils before breakfast. When they were ready I put the potatoes in the oven to boil. Once the potatoes were done I made the zucchini. In the meantime I put the lentil loaf together.

This is only the second time I've ever made lentil loaf. I'd never even heard of it until a couple of months ago. I didn't really follow a recipe, I simply made one up after consulting a seemingly endless number of them online. I put the loaf in the solar oven around 4:00 p.m. for just over an hour. While it was cooking I made the mashed potatoes, reheated the zucchini and made the gravy. The gravy was from a package in case you were wondering.

It needs tweaking but here's how I made the lentil loaf

1/2 pound dry lentils, rinsed and cooked until tender

1 TBS olive oil

1/2 small onion finely chopped

1 leek finely chopped

1 carrot finely chopped

1 stalk celery finely chopped

1/2 cup crushed tomatoes

1 slice whole wheat bread crust removed

1/3 cup vegetable broth

1 TBS grated parmigiano reggiano

1 tsp dried basil

1 egg lightly beaten

Salt

Pepper

Tomato sauce

Line loaf pan with parchment paper making sure it drapes over the edges. This will make it very easy to remove the loaf when it's done.

Saute the onions, leek, carrot and celery in the olive oil until soft. Add the crushed tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes. Soak the bread in the broth (I would have used red wine but somehow didn't have any left over) Mash the lentils in a large bowl and combine with all the other ingredients. Put the mixture in a loaf pan and place in oven. About ten minutes before it's done spread tomato sauce on top of loaf. Let loaf rest about 10 minutes before slicing.

Meatless Monday Solar Dinner

We like to go vegetarian at least once a week. Tonight is our third vegetarian dinner is a row. On the menu was red lentil soup prepared in the solar oven, frittata with greens and herbs, and a tomato salad. I made the soup in the morning and spent the rest of the day debating whether to attempt using the solar oven for the frittata. On the one hand I wanted to be adventurous but on the other I did not want to ruin dinner. I look forward to dinner all day. When yet another haboob rolled into the valley the choice was made for me. The frittata was made inside on the stove.

Solar Cooking Day 13

You would think that when I decided to start this blog I would have got organized. Once again I had no idea what I would put in the solar oven today. My first thought was bread. I haven't baked bread since I joined Weight Watchers five years ago. I'm not even sure if my bread machine still works. Then I realized I didn't have any yeast so that was out of the question. After a bit of foraging in the pantry and fridge I decided on lentils and cabbage. In two separate pots. When they were ready I even had enough time and sunshine to make some brown rice. I used another recipe from Marcella Hazan for the cabbage. To complete the meal I grilled a couple of sausages. Not the most exciting meal I've ever enjoyed but it wasn't bad. With a few minor tweaks the cabbage recipe is a keeper.