Lentils Are Not Catfood

Hold your hats, ’cause it’s

Lentil Soup Time!

Now, first of all, you may be wondering what’s up with the cat.  Well, I believe that kitty there truly encompasses what most people think of lentils.  People seem to that that they look like cat food, sometimes they smell like fat good, and, of course, if it looks like cat food and smells like cat food, it’s probably cat food.

Well, I say no way!  Lentils are really good, especially if prepared properly.

However, that’s the key…preparing them properly.  The good news is, it’s just not that hard!  Once you master that trick, you will be on your way to wonderful lentils every time!!

Also, I mentioned this recipe has “pistou.”  Don’t be afraid of the term, pistou is just pesto without the nuts!

Making Lentil Soup

This recipe was inspired by my friend Chef Jasper,who serves lentil soup in his restaurant every Monday.   He gave me some pointers on how to cook the lentils and I totally ripped off the pasta idea from him.  With that being said, I tried to take this recipe in a different direction.  Not because his wasn’t good, but because I wanted to do something a bit different.  However, I did keep the pasta in the recipe.  If you have any left over from the night before, heat it up and add it in for a nice heart twist.

Anyway, I hope I succeeded in making something original.  If not, well, sorry Chef!

You will need:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 2 stalks of celery
• 2 cups of vegetable stock
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1 cup green lentils
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 bunch basil
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup cooked pasta

First, make sure your pasta is cooked.

Next, in a soup pot add the olive oil and let it get hot over a medium flame.  Then add the onions and the garlic.  Saute until the onions are translucent.  Add the onions and celery and cook for 4 minutes with a pinch of salt.  This will help caramelize their sugars and give the soup a slightly different taste.

Next, add the stock and the cilantro and stir well.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat. 

Once boiling, reduce the heat so that the broth is just barely boiling (aka simmering) and add the lentils and cayenne pepper.  Cook for 45 minutes or until the lentils are soft.

While the lentils are cooking, put the basil in a food processor and pulse 4-5 times.  Then slowly drizzle in the olive oil until the pistou is a thick paste.  This will go over the soup and needs to be a bit thicker than a pesto sauce.  You probably won’t need 1/2 cup, but it’s better to have more than not enough.

Once the lentils are done, ladle into bowls over the pasta, top with pistou and any extra parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Thanks to xueexueg for the picture!

Related posts:

1. #MeatlessMonday Creamy Potato SoupSo the question was asked at today’s #FNI what’s my favorite...
2. #meatlessmonday Meets the 2009 Nude & Eco-Cheap Cooking Initiative Recipe 14: Pumpkin Soup[caption id="attachment_706" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Shawna Coronado's Pumpkin Harvest"][/caption] Yep, that’s...
3. #meatlessmonday Potato Leek Soup[caption id="attachment_553" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Creamy Potato Soup"][/caption] Yes, I realize...

Turkey Black Bean Soup

Ah…this recipe takes me back.  The first article I ever wrote for BIAO Magazine was a Black Friday special that used Thanksgiving leftovers for a quick, healthy meal you could fix after a long day of Black Friday shopping.  With that being said, this is not a revisiting of that recipe.  It is a reimagining!  I am tooking the same basic concept and using more spices and peppers for a Mexican-inspired flavor since, at this point, I do not want to eat anything that even vaguely reminds me of Turkey Day leftovers.

With that being said, if you have some leftover mashed potatoes, we’ll be using them as an optional thing little extra for the bowl!

Making Turkey Black Bean Soup

This dish is really easy and can use up as much or as little of that leftover turkey as you want.  Don’t overdo the leftover turkey since there are two more recipes I’ll be sharing (ha ha)!  Still,  in all seriousness you want the black beans to stand on their own and not have this turn into a turkey casserole.

You will need:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 red pepper, finely diced
• 1 stalk of celery, sliced
• 1 poblano, diced
• 3 cans black beans
• 2-3 cups stock
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
• 1/2 cup cream (you can omit if you would like)
• Left over turkey

In a soup pot  over medium-high heat, add the onions.  Let them cook a 2 minutes and then add the red pepper, celery, and poblano.  Cook until all of the vegetables are soft.

Open the cans of black beans.  If you are worried about salt, wash away the liquid the beans came in.  If not, there’s good flavor in there!  Add the beans to the pot and pour in the stock so the beans are almost covered. 

Add the cumin and ancho powder.

You may need to lower the heat to medium to keep the beans from burning, but at this point, all you need to do is stir occassionally until the beans start to open.  This will cause the broth to thicken.  The thicker it becomes, the more you need to stir!

Once the soup has reached the desired thickness, add the cream and the turkey.  Continue to stir until the turkey is warm.

Serve with left over rolls or in bowls lined with mashed potatoes.  Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Turkey Leftovers Part 2: Turkey Pesto[caption id="attachment_792" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Basil for Pesto"][/caption] As I said...
2. Let’s Talk Turkey: Green Bean CasseroleHi everyone.  I am alive and well and only slightly...
3. Turkey Leftover Post 3: It’s Dumpling Time[caption id="attachment_795" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Homemade Gyoza"][/caption] Okay, last one I...

Shawna Coronado's Pumpkin Harvest

Yep, that’s right.  It’s another #meatlessmonday and another installment of the 2009 Nude & Echo-Cheap Cooking Initiative.  Today we’re making

Pumpkin Soup

If you’re not familiar with the 2009 Nude & Eco-Cheap Cooking Initiative, that’s where I take the delicious veggies grown by the always awesome Shawna Coronado and turn them into a meal for a family of four that costs less than $11.50.  Can I do it?

Yes I can with this easy, but delicious pumpkin soup.

I actually love pumpkin season.  I think it’s kind of a shame that it only seems to be popular for about two months.  Still, every year people go NUTS for pumpkins: pumpkin desserts, pumpkin soups, pumpkin coffee drinks, pumpkin pizza, and so on.  Then even before the Thanksgiving leftovers are done…BOOM… everyone’s on to peppermint or sugar cookies or some other Christmas phase.  Anyway, I’m ranting.

The good news is that for the next month or so we can continue to enjoy pumpkin recipes like this one.

Making Pumpkin Soup

This recipe is so easy, but it takes a little while to make because you want to cook the pumpkin before you put it into the soup.  Boiled pumpkin sounds ridiculously unappetizing and the stuff would take forever to boil anyway. So, instead, you need to bake it first.  Once it’s ready, the rest of the soup is a breeze.

You will need:

• 1 pumpkin, halved and seeded (free from Shawna’s garden)
• 8 tablespoons olive oil, divided (free as part of the challenge)
• 1 loaf bread ($2.00)
• 1 clove of garlic (5 cents)
• 1 medium yellow (non-sweet) onion, 1/4 inch dice (free from Shawna’s garden)
• 16 ounces of mushrooms, cleaned and sliced ($3.50)
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 6 cups broth ($1.50)
• 2 cups heavy cream ($3.50)
• 4 leaves basil, thinly sliced (free from Shawna’s garden)

Total: $10.55 (cream is expensive, but still made it!!)

Heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Cover both halves of the pumpkin in about two tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of salt.  Bake for forty-five minutes cut side down or until the pumpkin is fork tender.

When the pumpkin is finished, let it cool and then cut into a small dice and set aside.

Next, cut the loaf of bread in half and then cut into 2 inch wide pieces. Rub with the cut clove of garlic and drizzle with olive oil.

In a soup pot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil then saute the onions until they start to turn translucent.  Then add the mushrooms and cook them until the are brown and shriveled.  Add the black pepper and the broth and bring to a boil.    (At this point, put the bread in the oven and keep an eye on it.  You will want to remove it when it gets brown.)

When the broth is boiling, add the cream and bring the soup back to a boil.

Finally, add the pumpkin and let it get warm. 

Serve with the basil on top of the soup and enjoy!

Related posts:

1. #meatlessmonday Meets the 2009 Nude & Eco-Cheap Cooking Initiative Recipe 15: Pumpkin Bechamel[caption id="attachment_706" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Shawna Coronado's Pumpkin Harvest"][/caption] Also, happy...
2. #MeatlessMonday meets 2009 Nude & Eco-Cheap Cooking Initiative Recipe 13: Eggplant Rolltini [caption id="attachment_685" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Broccoli and Eggplant"][/caption] Okay, it’s...
3. 2009 Nude & Eco-Cheap Cooking Initiative Recipe 12: Baked Rice in a Pumpkin[caption id="attachment_647" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Shawna Coronado's Fall Harvest"][/caption] When Shawna...

Classic Gazpacho

The classic version of the dish features tomatoes, bell peppers, olive oil, garlic, salt and vinegar.  This version adds ginger and more vegetables, making it perfect for summer when the days are hot and the produce are in season.

You will need:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of red pepper flake
• 4 medium sized Carrots, chopped
• 4 stalks Celery, chopped
• 1 medium Red Onion, chopped
• 1 medium White Onion, chopped
• 1 Red Pepper, chopped
• 2 teaspoons of black pepper
• 1 28 oz can of Tomato Sauce
• 1 14 oz can of Tomato Sauce
• 2 tablespoons (about 2 inches pregrated) of grated Ginger
• 1 tablespoon of Red Wine Vinegar

Preheat a soup pot or deep-sided skillet over medium heat then add the olive oil.  After the oil has been heated, add the red pepper flake.  Let them fry for 15 seconds.

Add the carrots, celery, and a pinch of salt.  Sauté for 5 minutes then add the two types of onions, the red pepper, the black pepper, and another pinch of salt.  Cook until the onions are translucent.  When finished, remove the vegetables from the skillet, and put half of them into a food processor.  Pulse the vegetables 10 times to give break them down and add them back to the skillet.

Pour in the tomato sauce and the ginger into the skillet with the vegetables and bring the sauce to boil.  Serve in individual bowls topped with the leftover vegetables.

Thanks to alex.lines for the picture.

Related posts:

1. Pumpkin Baingan BhartaBaingan Bharta is my third favorite Indian dish (after the...
2. Turkey Leftovers Part 1: Turkey Black Bean SoupOkay, I don’t know about you, but I am about...
3. Spice Week: Indian SpicesDue to my illness, I took the week off to...

Today, I decided to do something because last time I checked, it’s November.  And it should be cold or at least cool or something.  Hrmm…

Anyway, when it does get cold, here’s a $7 Dinner for you:

Tomato Vegetable Soup with Garlic Bread

Every Christmas, my mother makes tomato vegetable soup, so for my family this meal has come to mean cold winter nights and family togetherness.

The good thing about the soup is that it is packed full of vegetables, it is hearty, and it comes with garlic bread.  Everyone loves garlic bread.

It is also the one dish that I have made for the $7 Dinner Challenge so far where I have not had to reforumulate a recipe because of the dollar limitation.  Still, had this been the $8 Dinner Challenge, there would be some fresh celery and maybe some garlic thrown in the soup, but as it stands I like this soup just fine.

Recipe: Tomato Vegetable Soup

• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 1 pound, onions 1/4 inch dice
• 1 bottle low sodium V8
• 2 bags frozen mixed vegetables, thawed to room temperature

This one is really easy.

In a soup pot over high heat, add the vegetable oil and let it get hot.  Add the onions and a teaspoon of black peper and saute until the onions begin to brown around the edges, maybe 4 minutes.

Add the V8, the mixed vegetables, and a good pinch of salt.  Bring to a boil.

The soup can be served anytime after the vegetables have gotten warm, though I like to let it thicken so I boil it on medium for about 20 minutes.

Recipe: Garlic Bread

• Half a loaf of Italian Bread (I like day old for garlic bread), sliced into eight pieces
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon, garlic salt*

Preheat the broiler.

This one can be easy, if you are up to the challenge.

Arrange the bread on cookie sheet and brush or drizzle the butter on the slices.  Sprinkle with garlic salt.

When the broiler is hot, put the bread on the shelf nearest the coil and broil for about 90 seconds.

Now, here’s where things get difficult. It may take a little longer than 90 seconds, but while you are broiling bread, you do not want to make any plans.  Don’t look at the TV.  Don’t answer your phone.  Ignore your children, your dog, and your friends because the minute you forget about that bread, the quantum mechanics that rule the universe will char the bread to a crisp.  Something about Schrodinger’s Cat or something.

Sorry, that was a bit of a tangent but Rachel Ray and I have lost enough good loaves to the broiler pan, I don’t want it happening to you, too.  And really, since you already melted the butter, all you are doing is crisping the bread a bit.  It doesn’t need to stay in too long.  In fact, sometimes I’ve skipped the broiler step all together.

And that is dinner.  Okay, everyone, go eat!!

Related posts:

1. The $7 Dinner Challenge Part 2Okay, here is my second entry in  Cate and Sarah‘s...
2. The $7 ChallengeIt’s hard economic times.  American families are watching their food...
3. 2009 Nude & Eco-Cheap Cooking Initiative Recipe 10: Tomato Dinner[caption id="attachment_562" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Shawna's Tomatoes"][/caption] Okay, we’re back with...