Lentil - Quinoa Salad

Dinner tonight was Tri Tip and a new recipe; Lentil-Quinoa Salad...
Ingredients

€              1 Qt. Water

€        3/4 Cup - dried green Lentils, rinsed

€        1/2 cup dried Quinoa

€        2 Oz. - fresh asparagus tips cut into 1-inch pieces

€        1/2 Cup - Extra Virgin Olive Oil

€        1/4 Cup - Red Wine Vinegar

€        2 Tbsp. grated fresh Ginger

€        1 1/4 Tsp. Sea Salt

€        1/2 Tsp. coarsely ground Black Pepper

€        1/4 Tsp. dried Red Pepper Fakes

€        2 Oz. Pine nuts, toasted (Substitute Walnut or shaved Almonds)

€        4 Cups - mix Baby Arugula and Mixed Greens

Preparation

1.    Boil water over high heat and add lentils then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

2.    Add the Quinoa, cover and simmer for another 8-10 minutes then add the asparagus tips an cook for 2-3 minutes until asparagus is tender but crisp.

3.    Drain in a fine strainer and rinse with cold water to completely cool shaking off all excess water and set aside.

4.    Combine oil, vinegar, ginger, salt, black pepper and pepper flakes in a bowl and set aside.

5.    Add the cooled lentil mixture and nuts to the oil mixture and toss gently, until well coated.

6.    Serve over the arugula - greens mix.

Organic/Sustainable Beef Tri-Tip (multiple tips version 3)

The ingredients for this cook have been adjusted to allow for adequate marinade to cover three Tri-Tips (5 pounds) versus the version previously shared for 2-2.5 Lb Tri-tip. The picture here is of just one 2.5 Lb. Tri-tip cooked medium rare.  This beef comes from Missouri Legacy Beef in Salsbury, MO. 
     The nice thing about cooking multiple tips is that you can cook them to different temperatures to please a larger audience (even thought the low side of medium rare is where this meat is best.
     The story behind Tri Tip Beef (a.k.a. Triangle Roast): This cut of meat is limited in availability because there is only one per side of beef. Therefore it is typically ground into hamburger or cut into cubes and sold as soup meat. This often over looked piece of meat is not only relatively inexpensive but also very flavorful and has become a favorite amongst the few in the know. The tri-tip roast or steak (also called a triangle roast) is the 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pounds of meat that sits at the bottom of the sirloin. It has great flavor and tends to be much lower in fat than most cuts of beef i.e., it's a good lean cut of beef.
     The thing to remember is that lean also means it will dry out faster so it is recommended that you prepare with a good marinade &/or Rub. Particularly good flavors for tri-tip are Southwestern or Asian. Because tri-tip is lean, be careful not to overcook it, particularly when preparing the full roast. Medium is as far as you should go with this cut. Use a meat thermometer to monitor often during cooking. If you are used to grilling other cuts, this one can throw some grillers off by appearing underdone when it is ready to serve and by the amount it ‘swells’ when cooked.
Santa Maria/Grilled Soy Lime Style – This simple tri tip recipe utilizes a hybrid marinade that is loosely based on a combination of spices picked up from two different recipes.
Ingredients
• 5 Lb’s of Tri-tip roast (sustainably raised/organic)
• Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Seasoning Blends – Meat Magic
Seasoning Marinade:
• 4 teaspoons freshly ground 4-color pepper
• 2 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 Tbls. Garlic powder
• 3 Tbls. Sea Salt (fresh ground)
• 2 ½ Cups Apple Juice (100% pure juice)
• ½ Cup Soy Sauce (low sodium)
• 1 ½ Tbls. Lime Juice
• 2 Tbls. Red Pepper Flakes
• 2-4Tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 3 Tsp. Cayenne Pepper
• 1 ½ Tsp. Fresh Ground Ginger Root
• 6 Tbls. (Local organic) Honey
Basting Sauce:
• 1 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 cup vegetable oil (or EVOO) (add garlic powder if you can’t find garlic infused oil)
Preparation and cooking
1. Mix together all marinade ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the tri tip in a 1 gallon freezer bag. Place in refrigerator for 4-8 hours turning occasionally; overnight will result in the best outcome however.
2. Whisk basting sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside for basting.
3. Lightly oil your cooking grid
4. Set up BGE for Indirect cooking (plate setter) fire up BGE to T-Rex.
5. Remove tri tip from Marinade and pat dry. Rub each side with Paul Prudhomme’s Meat Magic then place the tri-tip into the BGE and cook to an internal temperature of 130 degrees (approximately 35 minutes) for medium rare, basting at least once each side during the cook.
6. Remove tri-tip from the BGE, cover it with foil and let it rest 15 minutes; to serve cut into 1/4" slices against the grain.2
1 Paraphrased from Beef Tri-Tip, One of the best cuts you are probably not buying, By Derrick Riches, About.com Guide 2 this recipe is adapted loosely from Foodnetwork.com’s website; titled “Santa Maria Style BBQ”