A RAINY TRAVEL DAY AND RECIPES TO SHARE – REDDING, CALIFORNIA

Oh my gosh!  Sunshine!  Those were my thoughts when we arose at 7 am and opened the shades.  Clouds were in the sky, but sun shone in our big front windshield.  We indulged on our morning routine of tea and computing, spending much less time than usual on email and FB since we since we wanted to head out around 10 am.

By 9 am it was sprinkling, and at 9:30, it was pouring rain with hail mixed in!  We unhooked from the utilities, brought in the slides, bid our friends adieu, and hooked up Jules in pelting rain as thunder rolled over our heads.  Odel got soaked early on, and I was drenched by the time we finished the brake and light checks.

Hurray for a motorhome!  We jumped inside, deployed the bedroom slide for easy access to the closet and changed into warm, dry clothes.  Hurray for a dryer!  We loaded the wet jeans, socks and shirts in, settled into our seats up front, and headed off into the storm, running in and out of rain until we arrived in Redding. 

Our 200 mile drive gave me a chance to type up a couple of recipes to share.  My friend Bobbie Chapman (Chappy Trails) is cutting back on her meat consumption these days, but has struggled a bit with her menus since her husband Jim likes meat.  With many vegetarians in my extended family, we work around this challenge frequently.  My solution?  Make recipes that work as a side dish for a carnivore and as a main dish for a vegetarian.  Serve with a bit of meat, chicken or fish – or not – and everyone is happy.  Here are a few recipes in that category:

I’ve had the Honey Lentils recipe for a long time; I made it for our Memorial Day BBQ and when Donna saw it in the photo, she asked for the recipe.  Made in the crockpot, it’s a filling entrée for a vegan or vegetarian, and is a satisfying side for grilled steak or lamb.  The leftovers are even better.  Too bad the recipe doesn’t include nutritional information - there oughta’ be a law!  Though the recipe calls for honey, I substitute agave syrup – better for any diabetics at your table.

Cabbage Casserole is a new recipe for me.  I had 3/4 of a head of cabbage in the produce drawer and wanted to make something other than slaw, cabbage soup or sautéed cabbage.  I found this recipe on Sparkpeople, a great source for healthy eating that I consult frequently these days.  The casserole (cabbage, carrots and onions briefly sautéed, then baked in a light cheese custard) is light and mild (4 Points Plus per serving for those of you on WW), delicious with salmon.  We reheated leftovers for breakfast this morning; yum.

Both recipes have been added to the archive.  And, here is one more, this one a link to the Food.com website so you can print or save it yourself.  Lemony Chickpea Stir-Fry is vegan, made with tofu as a protein.  It includes garbanzo beans, a favorite of mine, and here they are sautéed until they are “deeply golden and crusty”.  OMG, those were delicious.   The tofu, on the other hand was (as usual) bland. 

I found the dish close to delicious, but plan to change it next time by replacing the tofu with additional garbanzo beans.  I also will cut the amount of olive oil in half, which will lower the WW points from 5 to something more like 3 per serving.  The lemony flavor is delightful, and this made a nice side dish for Odel’s baked Panko Crusted Tilapia, which we buy frozen at Costco (bakes to a crispy crust in 18 minutes).

As I’ve finished up this post, rain has returned to Redding, where we are settled in at the Redding Elks Lodge (read our review from May 2009 here).  I’ve got leftover Posole, one of our favorites, for dinner… time to heat and eat.