Red Lentil Soup with Carrots and Sweet Potatoes

My kind of meal...barely have to be awake to prepare it, comforting, and nutritious.  Green Kitchen Stories blog comes through with another winner.  Easily adapted to use any veggies you may have lingering in the fridge, we first ate it topped with kale braised in broth with spices (turmeric, fresh nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, pepper...adding a splash of cider vinegar and Tabasco at the end), and I just had leftovers topped with grated raw zucchini, toasted walnuts, avocado and a touch of Tabasco.  So basically, just do whatever you want to the base and it's sure to be delicious!  I'm gonna call it Orange Soup from now on, since everything that goes into it is just that.  Check out Green Kitchen Stories blog post for pretty pics and a topping with eggplant added to the kale (eggplant is not Monster-friendly, hence it's absence in our meal).

Red Lentil Soup with Carrots and Sweet Potatoes:
(Green Kitchen Stories blog)

1 Tbs coconut oil, or ghee
1 large onion, chopped
2 sweet potatoes, diced ~3/4" (I buy organic sweets and don't peel them)
4 carrots, chopped
4 sprigs of fresh thyme (just toss them in whole and fish the stems out before pureeing, stripping them of any remaining leaves)
1 cup uncooked red lentils, well rinsed and drained
4 cups water
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pot, add onions and saute for about 5 minutes on medium-high.
Add sweet potatoes, carrots, thyme and cook for a couple more minutes.
Add rinsed lentils, water, sea salt, and pepper, cover and let simmer for 20-25 minutes until the vegetables and lentils are soft.

Use an immersion blender to puree the soup.  Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.  Add braised greens to top (or whatever you like veggie-wise)

Braised Kale:
1 bunch of kale, ribs removed, torn into bite sized pieces, rinsed
pat of butter
~1/2 cup vegetable broth
~1/2 tsp turmeric
~1/4 tsp cinnamon
~1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg (if you only have pre-ground use less)
salt/pepper
~1 Tbs cider vinegar
splash of Tabasco if desired

Heat butter over medium-high heat in a large pot.
Saute kale until wilted.
Add veggie broth and spices through salt and pepper, cover, reduce to simmer and cook for 10-12 minutes.
Taste for doneness, add vinegar and Tabasco and remove from heat.

Lentil Picadillo with Mango

I like heat (on my tongue heat, not Texas summer heat), and I like olives, therefore, my lentil picadillo had to have both of those added to it in the form of cayenne pepper and Spanish green olives. Other than that, I don't think I changed much else from the original adaptation, other than lessening the amount of dried thyme and adding a little more liquid...

This is a great weeknight meal that comes together very quickly if you have a whole grain already cooked and ready to go in the freezer. For us last night, that happened to be brown rice, but you could pair this with any other whole grain...I'm sure quinoa would be great.
I used French green lentils instead of the standard brown or green, because I like that their texture holds up well after cooking.

Lentil Picadillo with Mango:
(Adapted from Eats Well with Others...who adapted a recipe for meaty picadillo from Simply Recipes)

1.5 cups French green lentils
~1 tsp kosher salt
one red onion, sliced very thinly, vertically.
~1 Tbs. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano (I like to use Greek oregano...not as pungent as the Mexican)
a pinch of dried thyme
cayenne pepper to taste, optional (I used about 1/2 tsp)
1 cup chunky tomato-based salsa
a good handful of pimento stuffed Spanish olives, halved
1 large mango or 2 small mangoes, peeled pitted and cubed (or if you have a MONSTER of a mango like I did, 1/2 of that!)
2 tbsp sliced almonds, toasted
2 tbsp cilantro leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Sort your lentils and wash them thoroughly.
Add lentils to a 3qt. saucepan and cover with at least 2 inches of filtered water.
Heat on high until water starts to boil, then add about 1 tsp kosher salt and reduce to a simmer, cooking uncovered for about 20 minutes.
Remove pot from heat, cover and let sit for another 5 minutes.
Drain lentils, but reserve some of the cooking water...about a cups worth.

While the lentils are cooking, heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.
Salt them lightly and cook for about 10 minutes or until soft and golden.
Add garlic, and spices through cayenne pepper, if using.
Cook another 2 minutes then add cooked lentils, salsa, olives, diced mango, and about 1/2 cup+ of reserved lentil cooking water.
Simmer until these last additions are heated through, then remove from heat.
Check for seasoning...adding salt and black pepper as needed.

Serve atop cooked grain of your choice, or even a bed of spinach, then garnish with cilantro and toasted almonds. We also topped with some chopped avocado.

Bacon, Onion, and Brown Lentil Skillet with Corn Bread and Braised Collards

Total comfort food...mmmmm. So full...can't type...

Make this. Eat this. Good.

Bacon, Onion and Lentil Skillet:
(Cooking Light)

6 center-cut bacon slices
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
6 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup dried brown lentils
1 cup water
~3/4 tsp kosher salt (original recipe doesn't call for any salt)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings in pan. Crumble bacon; set aside.
Add onion to drippings in pan; sauté 5 minutes or until lightly browned.
Add carrot, celery, thyme, and garlic; cook for 5 minutes or until crisp-tender.
Add broth, lentils, and 1 cup water and kosher salt; bring to boil.
Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until lentils are just tender.
Uncover and increase heat to medium-high; cook 6 minutes (I had to cook for at least 10-15 more minutes than called for) or until liquid almost evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in parsley and pepper. Sprinkle with bacon.

I wanted to make a wheat-free cornbread tonight and this one is pretty chewy dense, but still very tasty. I'll make it again but in a muffin tin next time, as the center took way too long to set up. They'll also freeze nicely in muffin form. If an all cornmeal cornbread isn't for you, just mix up a batch of whatever recipe makes your particular toes wiggle with the goodness. :-)

Bob's Red Mill Basic Cornbread:

1 1/2 cups Buttermilk
1 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 Tb Sugar (I used agave nectar)
1 Egg, lightly beaten
About 2 cups Cornmeal, Medium Grind (Bob's is really nice...they grind the whole kernel so you get the germ and bran)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8" square baking pan, set aside.

Combine buttermilk, baking soda, salt, sugar and egg. Add cornmeal until batter reaches the consistency of cake batter. Spoon into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes (I cooked it much longer...)or till golden.

Organic collard greens made the perfect veggie side to go with our plates of comfort. Just used my standard braised greens recipe, with some good dashes of Tabasco (no balsamic) and then cooked for ~15 minutes.

Italian Lentil Soup

It feels like it's been a hunert years since I've blogged about anything I've had going on in the kitchen! We've just been eating a lot of old favorites so I wouldn't have tax my poor heat addled brain. This is one new recipe I tried a few weeks ago though that was really good. Not sure if you'll be up for lentil soup in the summer, but you can always jack up the A/C and pretend it's oooh so chilly out and say to yourself isn't it nice to be curled up with bowl of hot soup! I sent this recipe to my pop after I made it and he said it was a winner in their house too. Serve it up with a nice crusty loaf of whole grain bread and a salad if you wish. It makes a lot of soup so we're actually eating previously-frozen leftovers tonight.

Italian Lentil Soup:
(Adapted from a Giada DeLaurentis recipe)

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 28oz can diced tomatoes with the liquid
1 pound lentils, washed and sorted
10 cups low-salt chicken broth or veggie broth(2 and 1/2 cartons)
1 cup of white wine
4 to 6 fresh thyme sprigs
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
2/3 cup dried elbow pasta (I used spelt elbows that I got from CM)
finely grated Parmesan

Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Add the garlic, a pinch of salt (you can adjust to taste after you've gotten the broth in) and pepper and saute until all the vegetables are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices. Simmer until the juices evaporate a little and the tomatoes break down, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add the lentils and mix to coat. Add the broth and wine and stir. Add the thyme sprigs and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and simmer over low heat until the lentils are almost tender, about 40-50 minutes. (original recipe called for 30 minutes, but my lentils were not tender by then)

Stir in the pasta. Simmer until the pasta is tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with the Parmesan, drizzle with olive oil, and serve.