Warm Lentil Salad with Bacon

Top this bistro-style dish with poached egg for extra savor

Winter is waning in our part of the world, though spring is still snoozing. So warm salads, no?

This warm lentil salad is perfect for the season. It’s flavorful and filling without being too heavy. And it’s a double-duty dish. We like to serve it as a main course, but it could also be a starter.

You might say it’s two recipes in one. Perfect for in-between weather.

Vegan Mulligatawny Soup with Cabbage

Chickpeas add depth to this spicy Indian-style soup

Happy World Cabbage Day!

OK, it’s not the best-known holiday. But we’ll take any chance to celebrate. So let’s get cruciferous.

Cabbage isn’t particularly traditional in mulligatawny soup. But we’d like to change that, because cabbage and Indian spices taste like they were made for each other. Our version of M-soup is also vegan and gluten free, so it will suit almost any diet. And it’s versatile: This soup makes a spicy starter, but is hearty enough to serve as a main.

Best of all, the flavor is wonderful. Once you taste this soup, you’ll be circling World Cabbage Day on the calendar. In red.

Duck, Lentil, and Kale Soup

A healthy, flavorful way to use leftover duck

Duck (whether roasted or pan seared) is seriously good stuff. So if you find yourself with leftovers, you don’t want to waste them.

And because duck has such deep flavor, even a little goes a long way. Which makes it perfect for soup.

Especially with lentils—they’re magic when combined with duck. Add some kale, and you have an exceptionally nutritious (and tasty) dish.

Best of all? Making this dish is easy as, well, duck soup.

The Washington Cocktail

A taste of American history

Presidential primary season has begun here in the US. So let’s kick it off with a Washington Cocktail, in honor of our first president.

This spritely drink combines dry vermouth with brandy (or cognac). It’s perfect before dinner. And it has a fairly low alcohol quotient, so it won’t slow you down if you need to make a quick escape from invading redcoats. 

Admittedly, no one knows for sure whether this cocktail was named after George Washington. It could have been named for the city of Washington, DC. Or some other Washington altogether.

But we mustn’t let facts get in the way. It’s political season, after all.