SPICY LENTIL SUMMER ROLLS + TRAVEL SNACKS

From our door to Paris with one layover, we had about 14 hours of travel time. I'm a multiple mini-meals lady, so one cardboard box of vegetarian mush on the flight over wasn't going to cut it for the whole stretch. Per request, I wanted to share a typical travel snack pack. I keep a few things in mind when packing food for the road/air. Bear with the stream of consciousness.

First off, food will likely be at room temperature for a few hours so choose items that are alright to be out awhile. This covers most vegetarian options, but worth saying. Those foods should have a good constitution - greens that hold up dressed, like kale or a broccoli salad, rice or noodle bowls packed with vegetables and sauce, wraps or sandwiches with lots of crunchy items inside. I try to keep the choices lower in salt (planes keep you puffy as is). While I am all about reusuable containers on a normal basis, storing food in plastic bags or disposable containers (I steal these from salad bars and tuck them away for circumstances like this) are easiest here. Something you don't mind throwing away or recycling. Lastly, bring an empty reusable water bottle and fill it up past the security check. Sure you get water on the plane, but I like to drink more than that wimpy cupfull once or twice a flight. It's nice to have throughout the trip as well. I loved Sarah of My New Roots recent post about travel foods too. It reminded me that I forgot to make these peanut butter bites.

This likely sounds high maintenance to a few of you, but it is totally worth the few moments of planning ahead to have fresh, light food while traveling. I went to bed at 2am the night prior but at least I had good snacks! Hugh would never take the time to pack food, but appreciates it greatly when the pretzels and peanuts have worn their welcome. Minimal bit of time invested, big reward.

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My backpack full of snacks:

kale salad: chopped lacinato kale, hard boiled eggs, parmesan, thinly sliced celery and lemon vinaigrette (extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, white of a scallion, honey, salt and pepper)

summer rolls: recipe to follow

"favorite things" trail mix: roasted/salted pistachios, montmorency dried cherries, dark chocolate chips, toasted coconut flakes

maple chocolate chip cookies: I'll post this recipe eventually, good heavens. A version of these.

good greens bars: these are the emergency snack. Most "energy bars" are full of lots of soy and crap. These have the most virtuous list I've seen. Not my first choice of whole foods focused snacks, but they don't take up a lot of space and plug up hunger when you've gone through your fresh items.

sturdy fruit: apples, bananas, oranges

SPICY LENTIL SUMMER ROLLS // Makes 6

I made these the late afternoon before leaving, and everything held up fine a full day later. I did not pack a dipping sauce. As you can see my snack bag was quite full as it was, and I have had sauce taken by security (what is my life?) but a peanut sauce would be so tasty if you aren't dining on an airplane.

I made used the end of my homemade sriracha, but the bottled sort works great too. Carrots and beets were the last vegetables in my fridge, a combination of sprouts, cucumber, lettuce or sweet peppers would be great here depending what you have.

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• 6 rice paper wraps (you can typically find these in the asian section of well stocked markets)
• 1/2 cup cilantro sprigs
• 1 1/4 cup grated carrots
• 1 1/4 cup grated beets
• 1 large avocado
• 1 1/2 cups cooked lentils
• 1-2 Tbsp. sriracha (see note above)
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
• pinch of salt

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Set up your roll workspace. You need a large bowl of warm water and a damp dish towel to work on. Set out your cilantro, carrots, beets, avocado and in a small mixing bowl, combine the cooked lentils with siracha, sesame oil and pinch of salt. Taste and adjust heat as desired. Remember this is what flavors the entire roll.

Working one roll at a time. Put the wrap flat into the large bowl of warm water, being careful to not let it curl up, until soft, about one minute. Lay the wrap down on the dish towel. Down the center, like a burrito, layer the cilantro, small handful of the carrots and beets, a few slices of avocado and a modest 1/4 cup of the lentils. Fold over the top and bottom ends over the filling, tuck the right flap over and then roll to close. Repeat with remaining wraps.

Enjoy or if traveling, store in plastic wrap for easy transport.

WINTER GREENS + CRISPY QUINOA SALAD

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We had an impromptu dinner at a friends house on Monday. There was a group text started in the late morning to have dinner that evening on a friends patio. They have a gorgeous view and the weather had warmed up a bit. Nothing fussy or elaborate, just grilling up a big piece of salmon, rice and I planned to bring a salad to share. There were chips and salsa. There are always chips and salsa at a backyard dinner now that I think of it. I crave this kind of thing - the patio dinners with friends. Going out to eat is pleasant, but it's meals with people I love that I soak right up - in a home, dirty dishes and all, mine or theirs, all of it. We drank wine, lingered around the table and laughed. I haven't practiced much of my mantra about the communal aspect of food, which is why I'm recently making more of an effort to have people over for dinner, or to gather some way, in any sense of the word. You see, when your identity is defined by cooking and blogging and writing books and recipes, people assume you make really good food all the time. But the thing is, a lot of the time I mess up, and it's not always good, and I've tried my hand at short ribs for Hugh or guests FOUR times and I can't get them right. So passively, I've let my errors every now and then back me into a corner of not having people over as often as I'd like. Some nights we have breakfast tacos for dinner, and you can't have people over for dinner and feed them breakfast tacos... except you CAN! I just learned that this week, inspired by a dinner with people whose company I truly enjoy. I am going to have people over and it doesn't have to be expensive or a grand effort, just an act of generousity with the intention of spending time together over a meal. It's an uncomplicated plan, really.

If you come to my house for dinner, there will be vegetables. I cook them much better than I do short ribs. I know I'm a little spotty when it comes to cooking meat, but I can make salad. I made a big batch of this dressing to have on hand, and then kept everything pretty and simple to go along with a protein of choice. Maybe some grilled shrimp or get a fresh fish filet at the market. The salad is just right - the easy, likeable sort. The perfect salad to share.

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WINTER GREENS + CRISPY QUINOA SALAD // Serves 6

When cooking quinoa for this salad, especially to help it crisp up here, you want to use a 1/1.5 ratio of quinoa to liquid when cooking. For example, I cooked 1/2 cup rinsed quinoa in 3/4 cup vegetable broth. You want a drier, slightly undercooked quinoa before you fry it up so it gets crispy. 

• 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 3/4 cup cooked and completely cooled quinoa
• 1 head butter lettuce
• 2 cups arugula
• 3/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• 1 cup pomegranate seeds
• // meyer lemon yogurt dressing //
• 1/4 cup meyer lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced or grated
• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. dried italian herbs (mine is a mix of oregano, parsley + basil)
• pinch of pepper
• 1/3 cup whole milk greek yogurt or sour cream
• 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

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Heat the coconut oil over high heat in a frying pan. Once it's hot, add the cooked quinoa and saute for about 2-3 minutes until dry and crisp. You want the steam to release and hear the crackling, add a bit more oil if needed. Set aside to cool completely. 

Prepare the dressing. Whisk the lemon juice, garlic, vinegar, honey, salt, herbs, pepper and yogurt in a bowl. Whisk in the oil, taste for seasoning and alter as you wish. This can be made up to a week in advance. 

Toss both greens in the dressing to coat, top with the crispy quinoa, hazelnuts and pom seeds and serve immediately. 

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GLAZED BEET + CARROT SALAD

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I'm not cynical enough to believe that people don't keep their New Years resolutions. I admit to giving an eye roll with the regulars in my pilates class. It's true. It will be crowded for the next two months and then go back to normal, but setting goals is never a bad thing. It's motivating to make a promise to yourself and follow it through with your best intentions. To believe you are capable... which is sometimes the toughest part. This year, Hugh and I continued a tradition we started a few years back. We bundle up and head to the top of the highest hill in town that looks out at the Pacific coastline. It's our spot. It is the place we got engaged and also the home of our new-year-goal-sharing-session. I will chalk it up to the most vulnerable conversation we have all year. Sharing your hopes and dreams, maybe dissapointments from the year past, with the person who matters most to you, can be a heavy moment. Heavy in a way that fills your soul. 

Earlier in the day, I sectioned my lined paper into six categories and tried to use my best hand writing to make note of the big things I hope for 2013. And I don't use the term big lightly. My list didn't have things like learning to salsa dance or loose five pounds (not that those aren't respectable goals), it was composed of huge markers like buying a house, going on a big trip to Europe in the spring, starting another book and other such things. It almost felt like a fake list when I looked at it. It scares me just as much as it motivates me. This year we will strive to check the items off both of our lists. Maybe none of them. Maybe all of them if I can push the fear out of my head. Either way, while life continues to build on itself, it feels good to start fresh with an entire sparkly new year ahead. 

On the subject of lots of people at pilates, I believe it is the season for light salads. The one here is creamy from the tahini dressing and naturally sweet with the beets and carrots. If you're keeping away from dairy, tahini is the answer to a craving for creamy dressing. It's the perfect kind of thing to make a little extra of so you can pack it for lunch the next day.

I intended to write a whole foods focused detox plan for the site, but I waited too long. January is on its way and Hugh dug up my whipped cream maker and while we're finding reason to top anything slightly appropriate with the stuff, writing a detox plan just didn't feel right at the moment. I contributed to the Action Plan that comes out in Whole Living this month, and I am completely behind how they design their detox plan, so pick up the January/February issue and take a peek at that if you are looking for ideas. 

Dream big. Eat lettuce. I'm coming for you, 2013. 

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GLAZED BEET + CARROT SALAD // Serves 4

Inspired by Grace Parisi at Food + Wine

I changed the original recipe around because I had already roasted a bushel of beets (both red and yellow, hence the bleeding coloration of the beets in the photo). My recipe below reflects using beets that are already roasted, but you can click back to the original if you want to start with raw, baby beets. I also used full sized carrots and cut them down to a similar size of a young carrot. 

• 1/2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large yellow beets, roasted and peeled, cut into 1/2'' wedges
• 3 carrots, halved, large halves quartered if needed
• sea salt + pepper
• 2 tsp. honey
• 3 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. tahini
• 1 Tbsp. orange or lemon juice
• 1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley, divided
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 12 cups mixed baby lettuces
• 1/3 cup cooked garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds, white or black or mixed

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In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter in the olive oil. Add the carrots and beets and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over moderate heat, stirring once or twice, until the carrots are crisp-tender, about 5-6 minutes. Add the honey and 2 tablespoons of the vinegar and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until tender and lightly glazed, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a large bowl to cool.

Whisk the remaining tablespoon of vinegar, tahini and citrus into the skillet along with the cumin and a generous pinch of the chopped parsley.

Toss the baby lettuces, remaining parsley and garbanzos with a light coating of the tahini dressing. Plate the greens and top with the carrots, beets and sprinkle the sesame seeds. Serve immediately. 

* You can prepare the salad a day in advance by making the carrots and beets as directed, and keeping them covered in the fridge overnight. The dressing can also be kept covered in the fridge for up to a week. Toss everything and assemble just before serving. 

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