I love meeting other food bloggers. Particularly those who run and appreciate good coffee and are perfectly content to sit on a bench overlooking the bay talking about running Boston and stress fractures and boys and family and meeting famous bloggers. I got to hang out with Joanne this afternoon, and over some delightful drinks from Blue Bottle, two hours of conversation flew by.
One of the million things we talked about was creating recipes. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Joanne’s blog, but she puts together some pretty awesome flavors and makes ridiculously good (and healthy) stuff. I am woefully inadequate in this area, but thanks to The Flavor Bible, I’m starting to branch out a little bit.
While this salad was inspired by a recipe I found in my Gourmet cookbook, I left out the bacon, added some sauteed mushrooms, and changed up the seasonings. I loved this meal, but I think if I were to do one thing differently, I would wilt the spinach a little bit before putting it in the bowl. Still, I was really happy with the way it came together, and any recipe that makes lentils taste good is a keeper in my book!
Recipe:
(inspired by Gourmet)
1 cup French green lentils
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
10 cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 tsp butter
2 tsp olive oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper
2 tsp red wine vinegar
4 eggs
4 big handfuls fresh baby spinach
Combine the lentils and broth in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn heat down the heat and simmer, covered, until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain any excess liquid that remains in the saucepan.
Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high. Add the shallots, carrot, and celery and saute until all the vegetables are soft. Transfer to a bowl and add the lentils. Toss with the vinegar, thyme and add a few pinches of salt and pepper to taste.
Heat the butter in the skillet, then add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, until softened. Remove from heat and set aside.
Wilt the spinach (if you’d like) in the skillet, then divide among salad plates or bowls.
Fry the eggs in the skillet.
Top the spinach with a scoop of lentils, then place a fried egg on top and sprinkle with mushrooms.
Cate's World Kitchen 
I love the sounds of this salad. And I’ll take sauteed mushrooms over bacon any day.
I love coming up with healthy recipes – but often wonder if other people would like them. I mean the husband will eat anything I make and generally gives me good feedback, but am sometimes hesitant to make certain dishes for others, especially if they are big meat eaters.
Your coffee date with Joanne sounds perfect. I need some food bloggers/runners to come visit my in Iowa!
I had SO much fun yesterday Cate! It never ceases to amaze me how awesome it is to sit down with someone you’ve never met and have it just click. I wish I lived here so we could hang out…oh…constantly!
This recipe sounds fantastic! I adore lentils..they’re kind of an obsession of mine and I went through a period about a few weeks ago where I ate them every day. I’m gonna agree with you on the wilted spinach, but this really does sound good!
Those flavors sound great. And I love French lentils.
I really want to incorporate more lentils in my diet. This looks great and anything topped with an egg gets bonus points for deliciousness, right?
This looks wonderful, and like something I would make for lunch many days in a row and be perfectly happy 🙂 I should throw out there that crumbled, melty goat cheese subbing for the egg would also be pretty awesome.
I also wonder about whether people who eat a more typical diet would like recipes like these and the similar ones that I love. I struggle with that when family and friends come to visit because I don’t always know what to serve to make everyone happy.
I’m still jealous you got to hang with Joanne. Although, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you, that maybe I should be jealous of her too?