Salmon 'Patties' + simple cole slaw

1 egg
12 oz canned Alaskan salmon
1 tsp dijion mustard
1 heaping tbspn chopped dill
1 tbspn capers
1/4 c ground oats (oat flour)
S & P

Mix well, shape into patties (like miniature burgers) and cook in a frying pan on low-medium until slightly crispy and hot throughout.

chopped green cabbage
lime juice
chopped dill
sprinkle of salt

Mix to desired taste and volume of cabbage. I think we used about 1/4 head of green cabbage, with the juice of 1 lime, and about 2 tablespoons of chopped dill.

Borscht!

Made in honor of the opening ceremonies in Sochi of course. The recipe is from the NYTimes, with very minor adjustments. I omitted the celery root because I couldn't find it at the grocery store, and I over-chopped the cabbage in the food processor. Next time, I'd roughly chop it by hand to make larger pieces.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/28/dining/versatile-borscht-humble-no-more.html

Recipe:

VEGETARIAN BORSCHT

Total time: 1 hour 45 minutes

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 pound white mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced 1/4-inch thick

1 large onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice

10 small or 7 to 8 medium beets, peeled, quartered and cut across into 1/4-inch slices; if the beet greens look nice, use half, and cut across in narrow strips

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut across into 1/4-inch rounds

1 medium parsnip, peeled and cut across into 1/4-inch rounds

1 very small or 1/2 medium celery root, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3 medium baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 small white cabbage, shredded

3 large cloves garlic, smashed, peeled and very finely chopped

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 medium bunch dill, coarsely chopped

4 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup cider vinegar

2 tablespoons kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the garnish:

Coarsely chopped dill

Sour cream.

1. Soak the dried mushrooms in 1 cup warm water for 15 minutes. Drain and squeeze out the excess liquid. Strain all the soaking liquid through a coffee filter or cloth. Reserve the liquid (there should be 1 cup) and the mushrooms separately.

2. In a tall, narrow stockpot, warm the oil over medium heat. Stir in the fresh mushrooms, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes. Stir in the onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes.

3. Add the beets, carrots, parsnips, celery root, 8 cups water and the mushroom soaking liquid. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the potatoes, cabbage, garlic, and if using, the beet greens. Dissolve the tomato paste in 1/2 cup of the liquid, and stir back into the soup. Return to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the soaked dried mushrooms, and simmer for 5 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender.

4. Remove from the heat. Stir in the dill, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pass around bowls of the chopped dill and sour cream for garnish.

FOCS Flat Bread

What does the FOCS say? Flax Onion Cumin Spelt, in a flat bread, that's what. Another variation of non-wheat-gluten (spelt does have some glutinous protein, though) flat bread like the herbed almond flax flat bread.

I've been playing with the basic proportions of this bread: ~2 parts seed/nut meal to 1 part flour. This recipe adds a little more flour, and so has a breadier texture. Increase the seed/nut to flour ratio and the bread gets heartier and more crumbly. In any case, it's really good as base for open face sandwich type stuffs.

1 c golden flax meal
1/2 c spelt flour
2 t baking powder
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground black pepper
1 green onion stalk, chopped into 1/8" discs
2 T olive oil
2 eggs

~1/2 c water

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Mix dry ingredients thoroughly in a bowl
3. Mix wet ingredients except water thoroughly in a different bowl
4. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients, mix the mix until mixed
5. Adding a little (~2-3 Tablespoons) water at a time, mix until the batter is about the consistency of a thick pancake batter
6. Sprinkle a little course salt on top if you so desire
7. Grease or cooking spray a loaf pan, add batter
8. Let bake for about 20-30 minutes*

* I originally used a toothpick to check for doneness. This isn't a great way, apparently, because the toothpick came out clean and yet the bread was not done on the inside. 30 minutes tops should be good enough.

Baked Bean-tils or Sloopy Lentils

I'm not exactly sure how to classify this dish, but think cooked lentils with a BBQ twist:

0.5 tablespoon coconut oil
1 red onion, chopped
3 sticks of celery chopped
1.5 cups dry green lentils (green lentils are important, red ones will turn to mush when simmered)
14.5 oz diced tomatoes
14.5 oz crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
dash of liquid smoke
0.5 teaspoon of chipotle powder
0.5 teaspoon of smoked paprika

Saute the red onion an celery in the coconut oil, 5-7 minutes. Add spices and simmer another minute longer. Add lentils, tomato, and water and simmer for 30-40 minutes depending on how mushy you want the lentils.

Serve open-faced over bread or rolls.

If you want to make it more BBQ-y, I'd add some molasses and a pinch of cinnamon to the mix. As we did it this time, the dish was dominated by a tomato+pepper flavor and wasn't quite BBQ.