Monday Monday

Today for lunch, I had Curry Lentil and Brown Rice Casserole.  I made it Sunday evening, and I was initially concerned that it looked... dry and overcooked!  For good measure, I added just a little bit of water into it before storing it for the night.  I'm not sure if it was legitimately too dry to start, but today for lunch it wasn't dry at all!

before

after

maybe a little burnt?

Although not dry, I have to give this recipe an overall grade of a C or C+.  It was decent, but a little bit boring.  The curry powder and raisins added some interesting flavors, but I was hoping for more.  I think that perhaps I just don't love meals when lentils are the star of the show.  For instance, I liked the Mediterranean Bulgur and Lentils because it had lentils, corn, and bulgur (slash rice), as well as lots of great flavors.  But this casserole had lentils as the main player, and I wasn't as excited about it.  Perhaps more soy sauce or more red bell pepper would have helped?  Or adding something to make the dish creamier - like cottage cheese?

it looks very orangey, no?

That sort of makes me realize - I've totally been in the mood for creamy, rich foods lately.  I wonder how much that contributes to my not liking this dish, simply based on its lack of creamy texture?

Good thing I was able to make myself a nice creamy vegetarian dinner!  Dinner tonight was Cheese Quesadillas.  The recipe technically just called for Cheddar cheese, tomato, green onions, and green chiles... but it suggested adding more veggies and beans.

So, I added sliced bell pepper and onion, and then a little cottage cheese.

I also had a side of leftover black eyed peas, mixed with some taco sauce to spice them up!

This turned out pretty good, and it was sooo quick and easy!  Preheat your oven, throw ingredients on the quesadilla, bake for 5 minutes... and that's it!  Although this was super simple and very tasty, I think I might prefer cooking quesadillas in a pan, though, as I did with the chicken quesadillas I made in August.  Have you ever made quesadillas at home?  If so, what is your favorite method?