Totally Cool Green Hummus & beef satay #sundaysupper beat-the-heat

Now I know this is not a very Asian dish. Forgive me, please. But I was having my very own personal Iron Chef moment. It was the end of the month, and just about everything was running low. I didn't even have any soy sauce!

All I could find in the pantry for protein were some lentils I'd bought last year and never did anything with. And in the freezer there was some asparagus and a bit of feta cheese.

I started out making a lentil salad. It didn't thrill me. But I couldn't let it go to waste, either. I have a rule since coming back from Haiti, and I just can't help it. It may not make any difference whatsoever, but food in my kitchen doesn't go to waste if I can help it. No matter what!

Putting away the dishes, dusting, finishing the laundry, it seemed as if I were doomed to another lentil salad the next night. Then, as I trudged to the kitchen, a lightning bolt struck.



Why couldn't I make hummus out of lentils? It would be uh, green, but did that really matter?

Now my neighbor walking by with her dog thought this dish looked ... interesting. And I'll admit I figured this was another one-shot deal. But I was totally wrong. This hummus was really really good! After my last lunch dollop was finally gone, I found myself craving another batch. I changed up the ingredients a bit, and that was even better.

This was a keeper. This was lunch worthy. This was party worthy. Heck yeah, it was even blog worthy.

This is a great beat-the-heat recipe for summer. One pot and 20 minutes is all the heat you need for  a week's worth of light lunches. As an appetizer, it has good presentation, and it's a conversation starter. It's moderate in fat, high in fiber, has many vitamins and minerals — but unlike most dishes you can say that about, this one actually tastes great!

Lentils, I have decided, level the hummus playing field. Hummus lovers will try it. I's a new twist on a beloved theme. But hummus haters will give it a whirl, too, because there is no beany taste to contend with here. Lentils are a legume that have an earthy flavor all their own.

For this post, I've paired the hummus with a little beef satay, so you're getting a double decker this week. Enjoy!

Ingredients: Lentils, dill, olive oil,
feta cheese, garlic, lemon juice,
spinach, salt, pepper

Totally Cool Green Hummus

my beat-the-heat #sundaysupper lunch

In a medium-sized sauce pan cook:

1 1/2 cups of dried lentils 

with as much water as directed on the package.

Add to the pot:

1 10 oz box of chopped spinach, drained

When the lentils are soft and the water is all absorbed, take the pot off the fire and let the ingredients cool. Mix into the pot according to your tastes:

1 5 oz tub of feta cheese
2 to 5 T olive oil (ie to taste)
1/3 to 2/3 cup lemon juice 
1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh dill 
2 or 3 cloves crushed garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Puree this mixture in small batches until it is smooth and creamy and uniformly green.

I use a lot less olive oil than most folks might for hummus, and a lot of dill and lemon, so adjust as needed for your taste. Dress it up with a green pepper smiley face for the kids. Or your own inner child. Whichever excuse you're most willing to admit to. :)

And now about that satay ...

I decided to pair the latest batch of hummus with a little satay to Asian things up a bit, which makes for a really elegant patio style lunch, but I also have a secret reason for it. One all recipe planners need to know.

Iron in vegetarian sources like spinach or lentils is non-heme and doesn't really absorb all that well. You'll get maybe 2 to 13 percent of a vegetarian sourced iron. But by pairing your non-heme iron with just a dab of a heme source such as in satay, you substantially increase the iron absorbed.

You can find satay recipes all over Asia, and they run the gamut, with all sorts of ingredients and instructions, most of which sound wonderful. But if you want the true masters of the art, go for something Indonesian.

Indonesia has so many wonderful versions of satay, you could easily devote an entire cookbook to them. The idea for satay may have originated in the Middle East, but Indonesia took it and made it into an art all their own.

Many of the Indonesian recipes call for galangal. It looks a bit like ginger. But doesn't really taste like it. And I didn't have any for my impromptu efforts. Nor was I sure how well it would go with Mediterranean flavors ...

Another thing I learned from reading my scattered Asian cookbooks is that satay doesn't refer to peanuts at all.

In America, satay usually presents with a peanut sauce and we have all learned to associate the name with that. But the word actually refers to sticking meat with a sharp pointy object. So any marinated meat threaded on a skewer and barbecued to perfection is satay, regardless of peanut sauce.

With those things in mind, I decided to keep my hummus satay very simple and just use what I have begun to think lightheartedly of as the Magic Cloak of the Holy Trinity.

The Holy Trinity is the ginger, garlic and green onion. The Magic Cloak is the soy sauce and sesame oil.

As a marinade, I will tell you this goes with almost any meat and almost any recipe. It blends in without being noticed, yet improves the overall flavor. Now that's some holy kitchen magic if you ask me!

Give it a try. You'll be amazed at how simply good this marinade really is.


Beef Satay
Into thin squares about one inch wide slice:


1 partially frozen beef steak

Place the slices in a ziplock baggie and pour over it:

1/4 cup or so of soy sauce
1 tsp or so sesame oil
1 or 2 T chopped green onion

Close up the bag, pressing the air out, and marinate for 15 minutes. Thread the beef on skewers and grill them on the barbecue grill or on the stove in an iron skillet for 1 to 2 minutes each side, until they are as done as you like. Serve each salad with one or two skewers, for a very cool summer dish.

And if your neighbor walking by thinks that green hummus is just a little bit odd, well, hey, that's Totally Cool. That way, you don't even have to share!

Wine recommendation

 2011 Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé from South Africa
by enofylzwineblog.com

Thanks for visiting My Kitchen and I. For more great beat-the-heat recipe check out these other great #Sundaysupper recipes!

#BeatTheHeat Appetizers:

• Refreshing Chunky Shrimp Salsa ~ The Weekend Gourmet
• Totally Cool Green Hummus ~ My Kitchen and I
• Smoked Whitefish Salad Bagel Bites ~ Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Watermelon and Goat Cheese Bites ~ Chelsea’s Culinary Indulgence
• Strawberry Gazpacho ~ Diabetic Foodie
• Grilled Loaded Baked Potato Skins ~ In the Kitchen with KP
• Sweet & Tangy Chili Lime Fruit Salad ~ Sue’s Nutrition Buzz

#BeatTheHeat Salads, Soups, & Sides:

• Cool Cucumber Salad ~ Momma’s Meals
• Lemony Garbanzo Kale Salad with Tuna ~ Shockingly Delicious
• Hungarian Cucumber Salad Recipe – Uborkasaláta Recept ~ The Watering Mouth
• Tomato Salad with Macadamia Cheese ~ Cooking’s Good Vegetarian Cafe
• Char-Grilled Corn Salad ~ The Little Ferraro Kitchen
• Gazpacho ~ The Hand That Rocks the Ladle
• Summertime Sweet Pea Salad ~ Granny’s Down Home Southern Cooking
• Apple and Poppy Seed Coleslaw ~ Damn Delicious
• Cold Cucumber and Orzo Salad ~ Mama.Mommy.Mom
• Chilly Dilly Cucumber Soup with Shrimp ~ Comfy Cuisine
• Mom’s Creamy Pea Salad ~ Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen
• Greek (Yogurt) Potato Salad ~ Family Foodie

#BeatTheHeat Main Dishes:

• Rainbow Slaw with Steak and Chipotle Crema ~ Cooking By The Seat of our Pants
• Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken ~ Make Dinner Easy
• Rolling with Kimbap ~ Kimchi Mom
• Ranch Chicken Tacos ~ Pippi’s In The Kitchen Again
• Serrano Ham, Mozzarella and Arugula Sandwiches ~ Vintage Kitchen Notes
• Asian Veggie Lettuce Wraps ~ The Lemon Bowl
• Slow Cooker Root Beer Pulled Pork ~ Cupcakes and Kale Chips
• No Bake Pizza ~ The Meltaways

#BeatTheHeat Desserts:

• Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream ~ Supper for a Steal
• No-Cook Egg-Free Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream ~ Chocolate Moosey
• Peach Sorbet ~ Magnolia Days
• Gluten-Free Cookie Dough Ice Cream ~ No One Likes Crumbley Cookies
• Icebox Chocolate Pie ~ Doggie at the Dinner Table
• Honey and Elderflower Ice Cream ~ Small Wallet Big Appetite
• Blackberry Lavender Popsicles ~ Girlichef
• Frozen Chocolate Bananas ~ In the Kitchen with Audrey
• Strawberry-Lime Margarita Ice Cream ~ Cookistry
• Elegant Fruit Jellies ~ Happy Baking Days
• Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches ~ That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream ~ Baker Street
• Vanilla Peach Swirl Frozen Yogurt ~ Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts
• Espresso and Toasted Almond Semifreddo ~ The Messy Baker
• Mango Ice Cream ~ Queen’s Notebook
• Raspberry Mousse ~ Basic and Delicious
• White Apricot & Honeysuckle Sorbet ~ Family Spice
• Biscoff Ice Cream Cupcakes ~ Juanita’s Cocina

#BeatTheHeat Drinks & Cocktails:

• Shirley Temple ~ Cravings of a Lunatic
• Coco-Limeade ~ What Smells So Good?
• Prickly Pear White Wine Spritzer ~ Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Classic Daquiri ~ Katherine Martinelli
• Salty Lassi ~ Soni’s Food for Thought
• Blueberry Mint Lemonade ~ Pescetarian Journal
• Sweet Basil & Cucumber Melon Smoothie ~ Daily Dish Recipes