Dhal: Buttery Lentils with Garlic and Tomatoes

About a year ago I discovered that a friend of my brother had started a wonderful food blog called The Things I Eat. The author is Minh, a Canadian with a Vietnamese background. He started blogging as he was exploring his family history through food. I love reading his insights and the recipes usually entice me too. One of the very first things I bookmarked was this lentil dish: dhal. (It's not Vietnamese, just go with me anyway!)

A bowl of warm, buttery lentils is filling and satisfying. It's the kind of tongue- and heart-warming food that I almost cuddle. I like to hold the bowl between my knees as I sit on the couch. After eating dhal my toes are wiggling and there's a little smile on my face. The first time I served dhal I added turkey meatballs, the next time I just enjoyed it plain. 

Meatless Meatballs

Now here's a unique way to make meatballs: with lentils and brown rice. These meatless meatballs are a good party snack or a dinner main dish with spaghetti. They are made more interesting with the addition of pesto, garlic, oregano, and paprika. They tasted scrumptious with a pesto and mayo dipping sauce.

Weekend Links #26

Weekend Links is a way of sharing all the engrossing things I see around the internet. I publish Weekend Links approximately every two weeks. As usual, I welcome your ideas and feedback.

food reading links:
--Starbucks are going to start displaying calorie counts on their UK menus (from The Guardian). It should come as no surprise that plain coffee has virtually no calories, whereas the syrupy Praline Mocha with Whipped Cream has 555 calories.
--A helpful primer on sea vegetables (from Small Bites): their health benefits, where to buy them, and how to prepare them. Andy includes three recipes to get you started.
--Troubleshooting tips if your homemade bread is too dense (from The Kitchn).
--Six tips for interviewing someone successfully (from Dianne Jacob). As always, Dianne provides food writers with lots of excellent ideas and the comments are stuffed with more.