2013-09-08 – Grocery stores are odd places. You want them to have everything but you’re frustrated when they do.

Now that our kitchen remodeling is near the end, we can begin to cook again, and I wanted to try out a new recipe. I’m interested in dishes that can add a vegetarian element. Now, I say “vegetarian element” because I don’t see myself swearing off meat entirely. Ever. But I think that it wouldn’t hurt to take some baby steps in that direction.

When I say baby steps, I mean baby steps. I’ve recently tasted a grain-like substance called quinoa. It is very good. I call it grain-like because I don’t think it is actually a true grain, but it seems to fill a similar spot in people’s diets. And it can be prepared in similar ways. I’d like to learn to make a few quinoa dishes, but I haven’t seen a quinoa recipe that looks appealing.

So I decided I would learn some other grain recipes and, once I find one I like, I could substitute quinoa for the rice or other grain in the original recipe. I told you that this was baby steps! That’s the project for today, a rice and lentils dish.

That took me to the grocery store looking for turmeric and cumin seed and lentils and flour. We had the rest of the ingredients. I was happy with the variety of spices at the store. Finding the turmeric and cumin seed was easy. Lentils and flour you think of as staples. What could be easier than that? But the varieties of lentils and the varieties of flour were astounding. Suffice it to say that it took me way longer to select these staples than it took to select the spices.

And then there are the unexpected finds.

My unexpected find was my old friend and former physics professor. In aisle 7, next to the rutabagas.