Indian Lentil Pilaf

OH HAI! Remember me?! Yeah, it’s been awhile. I left my job of 5+ years, moved, and started a new job. All within 3 weeks! Cue mental breakdown (not really, but oh so close!).

I’m still settling in, still searching through boxes for all those scraps of recipes that I stashed wherever I had space while I was frantically packing. In the midst of the 3 days I had in between leaving my old job and moving day, I decided a really spectacular use of my free time would be to cut out all the recipes I wanted from the STACKS of food magazines I had accumulated over the years. I made this Indian salad from one of those recipes, and it comes from Vegetarian Times.

Indian Lentil Pilaf

What You’ll Need

• 1 cup lentils (I used greenish brown)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 14.5 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 ½ tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger (or 1 tsp dried ground ginger)

What To Do

The name of my game when making this recipe was to explicitly NOT follow the directions.

The first thing the magazine tells you to do is rinse and sort the lentils. I summarily ignored this, and instead dumped them straight from the bag into 4 cups of water. Bring this to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and simmer for about 15 minutes. The recipe doesn’t say whether or not they should be covered while simmering. I left them uncovered and it was fine, so take your pick.

After 15 minutes of simmering, you’re supposed to drain the lentils and reserve ¾ cup of the cooking water, which is brown and looks like…well, use your imagination. I realized this mid-draining, so I only saved about ½ cup. The lentils then get stored in a bowl until you’re ready for them later.

While the lentils cook, dice your veggies and garlic. Add the oil and onion to your newly emptied pan and cook on medium for about 4 minutes.

I’m fairly sure the recipe intends for you to use a white/yellow onion because it mentions cooking until the onion turns translucent. I only had a mangy red onion, so that’s what I used, and it was fine.

After the onions cooked for 4 minutes longer than I intended because the damn carrots took longer to cut than I expected, I added the carrots and rice to the pot. My carrots were roughly hacked, not diced. Also, I didn’t have Basmati rice, so I used jasmine rice. TAKE THAT, RECIPE.

I stirred these around for about 3 or 4 minutes until the rice was nice and golden brown and toasted, and then I added the garam masala, ginger, and garlic. For those of you not familiar with it, garam masala is a spice blend comprised of coriander, clove, peppercorns, cumin, cardamom, nutmeg, and other spices, and commonly used in Indian cooking. It isn’t spicy, but its got a strong, distinctive flavor that, if you’ve ever eaten Indian food, you will recognize by taste. You can make your own based on the recipe here, or, like me, you may be able to find it in the international section of your grocery store (I scored mine at ShopRite, so it’s not that uncommon). Can you guess what I fudged at this step? Did you guess ginger? Bingo! I never buy fresh because the rest of the wonky looking tuber gets old and dried out in my fridge, so I guesstimated and subbed the 1 tbsp fresh ginger for 1 tsp ground ginger. That’s the benefit of making new things – you’ll never know how badly you screwed up the original if it tastes good at the end!

Once the spices had coated the contents of the pan, I dumped in the lentils, tomatoes, reserved poo water lentil cooking water, and veggie broth. I didn’t have veggie broth, so I used chicken broth. TAKE THAT, VEGETARIANS! And it wasn’t even the low-sodium version! TAKE THAT PART INFINITY, RECIPE! At this point, cover the pot, turn the heat way down to low, and simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

After about 20 minutes, the rice will be nice and fluffy and most of the cooking liquid will be absorbed.

While it may appear as if there is a ghostly specter hovering over my lentils, it is only the copious amounts of steam that were pouring off of this bowl. In my opinion, this dish benefits greatly from a healthy dose of pepper and a little bit of salt, especially if you follow the recipe (HAHAHAHA) and use the low-sodium broth. Once seasoned, this is scrumptious. I served this when my mother-in-law came for lunch, and I was a little worried she wouldn’t like it because of the Indian flavors (not everyone shares my love of ethnic foods) but she devoured it. In fact, I think this could even use more spices than it calls for. Garam masala has an intense flavor profile but it’s slightly muted by veggies and other components of this dish, so I might use 2 or 2 ¼ tsp the next time around. Even though I served this as a side dish, you could also easily add some grilled tofu, chicken, shrimp, or fish to make this a main course. The recipe says this serves 6, and that’s being conservative. Like most salads, the more you let the flavors settle and meld the better, so you’ll enjoy any leftovers even more!

Black Bean Soup

For some reason I kept thinking that I had posted this awhile ago, because it was my favorite of the recipes from the soup class I took at Whole Foods.  When I was at the grocery store on Friday I was trying to remember the ingredients so I could get them to make the soup again this weekend.  When I tried looking the recipe up on my phone, I realized I had never posted it – the horror! This is simply too good to be missed.

Fast Black Bean Soup

What You’ll Need

• 2 15 oz cans of black beans, preferably low- or no-salt
• 15 oz  can of prepared black bean soup, preferably low- or no-salt (*or substitute additional can of black beans)
• 2 cups (½ bag) of frozen mixed vegetables
• 2 cups (½ bag) frozen corn
• 2 cups (½ bag) frozen broccoli florets
• 2 cups (16 fl oz bottle) carrot juice
• 1 cup fresh chopped tomatoes
• ⅛ tsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste

Optional Ingredients

• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• ½ cup chopped green onions (scallions)
• 1 avocado, chopped
• ¼ cup pepitas (raw pumpkin seeds), lightly toasted
• 2 tsp hot sauce

Ready for the easiest soup recipe ever?

Here it is:

Combine the frozen mixed veggies, corn, broccoli, black beans, can of soup, carrot juice, water, hot sauce and spices in a soup pot.

Bring to a boil, them reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, then continue cooking until they are heated through.

Serve topped with avocado, green onions, and pumpkin seeds (or plain). Enjoy!

I chose to enjoy this with just some green onions on top, and they are a great addition to this.  Green onions are milder than regular white or yellow onions, so they don’t have an overwhelmingly oniony taste (like my awesome vocab there?). They do provide a nice coolness and bit of crunch to this soup and they balance the slight heat provided by the chili powder and hot sauce. This is definitely not a “spicy” soup, but feel free to use those two ingredients as little or as much as you’d prefer. I didn’t use the avocado or pumpkin seeds, but I’m sure they would both be tasty toppings. I looooove this soup. I love it so much that it makes me use multiple unnecessary consonants in my words.  For reals, though, this is the best black bean soup I’ve ever had, and trust me, I’ve eaten ALL of them.  Pretty much every prepared black bean soup on the market is chock full of sodium (which gives it “flavor”), but lacks the fresh vegetables and textures this soup has. The black bean soup at Panera is a great healthy option, but it’s essentially just mushy black beans (I still like it – black beans and I are tight). There is absolutely no reason to buy canned soups when you can make something this healthy and delicious in almost no time, for very little money, and with very little effort.  This made enough for Eric and I to eat it for dinner (it’s that filling) twice and for me to take it for lunch a couple times. I’m making this tomorrow as the appetizer for a recipe I have planned for an upcoming post – Asian-inspired Steak Fajitas from Bobby Flay’s Throwdown! Cookbook. I can’t wait to eat them both tomorrow night!

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

At the risk of sounding overwhelmingly self-satisfied and obnoxious, I really do think I’m one of the luckiest girls in the world. My husband, Eric, knows me better than anyone else, and this nearly always translates into gifts of epic levels of awesomeness.  This Christmas was no disappointment, as he gave me something I’ve been desperately longing for but was too cheap to buy for myself – cooking classes.  The three he signed me up for (healthy soups, French sauces, and chili) are held at our local Whole Foods and I highly recommend them for those of you with a WF in your area. The soup class, my first of the three, was focused on healthy ingredients without the use of fats, butter, or oil.  Although you may be saying to yourself “Gee, those are what make things taste so yummy!”, with which I would agree, the four soups we made were all fantastic.  I’ve already made 2 – black bean soup and the cauliflower soup in this post.  I plan on making the other two (chunky sweet potato stew and chicken with long grain wild rice) soon, and I’ll post all three at some point in the future.  The cauliflower soup recipe came from Rip Esselstyn’s Engine 2 Diet cookbook, which is by all accounts a tough and demanding diet that will greatly reduce your cholesterol and help you drop weight.  I can attest that, should you decide to try out this cookbook, this recipe at least was very simple to prepare, and extremely tasty.  Without further ado:

Creamy Cauliflower Soup
What You’ll Need

• 2 medium white or yellow onions, diced
  
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
  
• 2 medium Russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
  
• 2 stalks celery, diced
  
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
  
• 1 small head cauliflower, roughly chopped into bite-size florets
  
• 1 tbsp cashew butter (Note: I used reduced fat PB)
  
• 2 tbsp low-sodium tamari (Note: I used LS soy sauce)
  
• 1 tbsp Salt-Free Spike seasoning (or to taste)
  
• Sea salt/black pepper to taste

The most unique part of this recipe is the fact that the diced onions are not initially cooked in butter or oils, but instead in ½ cup of the vegetable broth. Simmer the onions in the broth over medium heat, uncovered, for about 20 minutes.  It’s okay if there’s some caramelization, but keep an eye on the pot so that the onions don’t burn.


After the onions are translucent and soft to the touch (with a fork, not your fingers!), add the chopped potatoes, celery, carrots, cauliflower, and the remaining vegetable broth.  Make sure to use a sufficiently large pot, so that you don’t replicate the space issue I always seem to have.


I bought a cauliflower head that was definitely more jumbo-sized than small, since my grocery store charges by the head and I have an intrinsic need to get the most possible for my money (see: cheapness). This resulted in a giant freaking heap of vegetables in my pot that I was more than a little concerned wouldn’t cook down.  Being the stalwart chef that I am, I decided to stick it out and keep them as they were (aka, I didn’t feel like dirtying, then washing, another pot). As I had fervently hoped known all along, after 20 minutes of simmering the veggies were greatly reduced in size.  Once they are soft and easily pierced with a fork, remove the pot from the heat and add the cashew/peanut butter and tamari/soy sauce.  Seeing as my fingers were covered with peanut butter, I didn’t take a picture of this step, but I’m sure you can get the idea.  Although it sounds weird, these two ingredients are critical to getting the creamy texture and slight bite to the finished soup.  Mix the contents thoroughly until the cashew/peanut butter is completely melted and mixed evenly.


For the next step, you will need either a large food processor, a blender, or an immersion blender.  Even though I now own all three appliances (yay Christmas presents!), I went with the suggestion of my chef instructor and broke out my brandy new immersion blender.  This also allowed me to avoid cleaning yet another extra vessel, as you blend the soup right in the pot (seriously, it’s genius).


If the soup is too thick, feel free to add some water to help thin it out to the consistency you desire – I added approximately ½ cup of water at this stage. Add salt and pepper to taste, which for me was about ½ tsp of each.

My final addition, which is not in the additional recipe but which we used in class, was 1 tbsp of Salt Free Spike Seasoning.



For those of you who have never used Spike before (like me, prior to my class), the Spike line of seasonings contain approximately 92874 different spices in one magical bag. It’s really a combination of 39 herbs, spices, and vegetables, but as we all know, I like to exaggerate.  This is my new favorite spice because it’s a) inexpensive, b) got great flavor, and c)is super convenient.  According to this website,

The main ingredients for the Spike seasoning include hydrolyzed protein from vegetables, various powders (like onion, orange, celery leaf and celery root, garlic, mushroom, parsley, spinach, tomato, etc), toasted onion, soy flour, dill, curry, white pepper, green and red peppers, tarragon, saffron, rosehips, sweet paprika, oregano, basil, marjoram, rosemary and thyme…

I mean, really, who has all those different things in their spice cabinet at any one time?

After adding the salt, pepper, and Spike, blend thoroughly until completely smooth.  If, like me, your carrots were massive, it may take an extra 1 or 2 minutes to remove any of the tiny orange chunks floating around.



Like most soups, I’d recommend serving this with crusty French or Italian bread, and a nice side salad.  Although this soup is delicious, it may not be hearty enough for a full meal, although feel free to eat as much of it as you want – there’s no added fat, very few calories, and it’s chock full of veggies and nutrients. Overall, this creamy yet healthy starter was Whole Foods selected, hungry husband (and wife) approved.

Marrakesh Vegetable Curry

This evening, guest blogger Allison and I got together for a good old-fashioned gabfest, which, when you get the two of us in a room, usually involves enough f-bombs to make a sailor blush. Since she’s been associated with this blog since the beginning, it was only fitting that we make a meal together which could be featured in a post.  After moving to New Jersey, which has quite a large Indian population, I’ve had a love affair with their food, especially curries.  This is a Moroccan twist on a traditional curry, thanks to the addition of orange juice, which provides a surprisingly delicious hint of citrusy sweetness.

What You’ll Need:

• 1 medium eggplant, cubed
  
• 1 green bell pepper, cubed
  
• 1 red bell pepper, cubed
  
• 1 medium yam or sweet potato, cubed
  
• 2 large carrots, chopped
  
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
  
• 1 medium onion, diced
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
  
• 2 tbsp brown raisins
  
• 1 cup orange juice
  
• 1 tbsp curry powder
  
• 1 tsp. turmeric
  
• 1 tsp cinnamon
  
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
  
• 2 tsp salt
  
• 2 tsp. black pepper
  
• 4 tbsp olive oil

What To Do:

Cube the eggplant, green and red bell peppers, and sweet potato, dice the onion, mince the garlic, and chop the carrots.

 

Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat, then add 2 tbsp of the olive oil.  Saute the vegetables for 5 minutes.



While the vegetables are cooking, you can begin to make your spice mixture. Heat a small saucepan over medium heat.  Pour in the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil, then add the cinnamon, curry powder, turmeric, salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Use a spatula to evenly mix the spices, then remove them from the heat.

*Note: Not all spatulas are created equal.  I learned this the hard way, by causing a giant FAIL:



Yes, that is my spatula melted into two pieces.  I was wondering why it looked like a piece of pasta had fallen into my spice mix before I realized it was plastic, not dough.  As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Beer Silicone utensils (and bakeware!) are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”  Indeed, Ben.  INDEED.

ANYWAYS.  Back to the curry: Pour your spice mix over the vegetables in the Dutch oven, which should be reducing in size thanks to the time spent simmering.  Add the orange juice, garbanzo beans, zucchini, and raisins.  Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low/simmer, and cook for 20 more minutes, stirring occasionally.



When I opened the pot, I was immediately assaulted with a garden-y, citrusy sensory overload.




The orange juice and spices cook down into a rich, thick sauce that coats the vegetables and was immediately absorbed into the brown rice I served this with. This is an extremely filling dish thanks to all the fiber and protein in the veggies, but none of us could stop ourselves from going back for seconds.  I recommend having some crusty bread or a pita on the side so that you can soak up all the sauce from your bowl once you’re done!  I’m excited to eat this tomorrow as leftovers, as I think it definitely has potential to be one of those dishes that is better after sitting overnight and letting the flavors meld together. You could easily throw in some spinach (mine was a little past its prime, so I was forced to exclude it), slivered almonds, or any other vegetables you might like. The raisins were an interesting inclusion that, in my opinion, could easily be doubled the next time around. I also think this would be excellent with a squeeze of lemon juice to enhance the hints of orange, or instead using a carrot-based juice.  There’s lots of room here for adaptation, and I strongly encourage playing around with the ingredients to suit your own tastes!  Regardless of what you use, you can’t go wrong with such a flavorful, healthy addition to your dinner menu.

Quinoa with Black Beans and Corn

Recently, my dad and uncle were visiting for the weekend, and I made a variation of this for dinner, which they both loved.  I decided to try something new for a side dish, based simply on ingredients I had laying around in my cabinets and freezer. I had picked up a box of quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH) when a local supermarket was going out of business and it was on sale for 50% off. I’d come across several recipes that incorporated quinoa, but I’d never tasted it before and had no idea what to expect.  This recipe called for a lot of flavors that I loved, so I thought it would be a safe bet.

Quinoa with Black Beans and Corn

What You’ll Need:

• ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• 1 ½ cups vegetable broth (see Note)
• 1 tsp cumin
• ¼ tsp cayenne or chili pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

**Note: It can be difficult to find low-sodium or sodium-free vegetable broth.  If, like my dad, you limit your sodium intake, you can easily halve the vegetable broth and use water instead.  I made this recipe that way and it did not suffer at all in terms of flavor.

What To Do:

As with any recipe, start out by preparing your vegetables – chop the onion and mince the garlic.  These will then get sauteed in the olive oil in a skillet on medium heat until they both begin to soften and turn golden brown.

Next, measure out the quinoa – even though it looks like a small amount it expands like rice as it cooks and makes way more than you think it will!

Add the quinoa and the vegetable broth to the skillet, followed by the cumin, cayenne/chili pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer covered for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, the quinoa will have absorbed nearly all of the vegetable broth and will be fluffy, round little balls. Add the frozen corn and black beans to the pan and simmer for an additional 5 minutes, or until the corn is heated all the way through.  Transfer immediately to a serving dish, then cover with the cilantro for garnish.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of flavor this dish had on its own.  It was a perfect counterpart to the casserole entree, but it certainly stands up as a main dish on its own.  The quinoa has a mild, nutty flavor that reminds me of brown rice, but with a shape/texture more similar to tapioca.  I’m a sucker for anything with a black beans/cumin/pepper combination (I’m sure you can see the theme in my recipe choices), but this was a crowd pleaser, so I know it’s not just that I was an easy sell.  While this was good hot, I actually liked it even more as a cold salad the next day for lunch.  Besides the minimal amount of oil used to initially cook the onion and garlic, this dish is essentially fat free, has a ton of fiber, and is very cheap and quick to make. Quinoa is an extremely versatile grain, and I’m looking forward to incorporating it into more of my meals in the future!

Curried Lentil Soup with Lemon

This weekend, my hubby and I went to visit his grandparents in South Jersey for a joint celebration of both our birthdays.  One of my favorite parts of visiting them is when Grandma inevitably pulls out a stack of food magazines and cookbooks and lets me take whatever ones I want.  On top of a bunch of Family Circles, I was very excited to snag two issues from Vegetarian Times, a great magazine that I have pilfered from her in the past.  On the way home I read both cover to cover, and one particular recipe caught my eye.  Ever since I had a lentil lasagna at my friend Ruth's house, I've been meaning to try and recreate that unique but delicious dish. I bought the lentils, but never put them to good use until tonight, when I made this vegan soup from the October 2009 VT issue.


Curried Red Lentil Soup with Lemon
What You'll Need
2 cups (1 bag) red lentils, sorted and rinsed
1 1/2 qts. vegetable stock
4 cups water
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 1/2 large or 3 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
4 stalks of celery, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 heaping tbsp curry powder
1 heaping tsp cumin
2 tbsp lemon juice
Fresh cracked black pepper (to taste)

Simple ingredients make for big flavor!

Start out by preparing your mirepoix - ahem, your carrots, onions, and celery (I have just been itching to use that Top Chef-acquired term!). Get the veggies, including the garlic, cleaned and peeled.

Next, I sorted and rinsed my lentils, a tip that VT helpfully included below the main recipe. Very simply, I dumped the bag of lentils into a mixing bowl and covered them with a couple of inches of cold water. 

They tend to clump, so swirl them around with a fork to separate them, then let them settle.  Empty hulls and other debris may be present, which will float to the top of the water; skim this off with a large spoon or strainer, then completely drain the lentils. Bring the lentils, vegetable broth, and water to a slow boil in a large soup pot.  You may notice some brownish foam forming on the top - this is normal, just skim it away like you did earlier with the lentils (don't worry, they're worth the hassle!). Cover the pot, then lower the heat and slowly simmer for 5 min.

Lentils simmering, aka poopy brown water.

While the lentils were a-cookin', I chopped up my carrots, celery, and onion and minced my garlic. After the 5 minutes are up, add these to the pot and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.  You might need to increase the heat a bit at this point since the pot is so much more full.  Stir the pot every so often to make sure that the lentils are behaving, and bask in the lovely veggie scents that will continually waft out of the pot and make you extremely hungry.

After the first 20 minutes of simmering, the vegetables will have begun to cook down nicely, and the lentils will have plumped up considerably.  At this point, I noticed that there was not enough liquid in my soup - the original recipe called for only 1 quart of vegetable stock, but luckily I had an extra 1/2 quart that I threw in last minute.  If you use the 1 1/2 quarts at the beginning, you shouldn't run into this problem, but you can always add some water if you do.

For the final step, add the curry, cumin,  and cilantro, then cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the lentils are soft.  Mine were ready much faster than the original recipe stated, so I recommend taste-testing them periodically until you find the right texture.  If you're not familiar with lentils, they should have a 'toothsome' or al dente consistency, but not be mushy.  After the soup is done, add the 2 tbsp of lemon juice to the pot and give it a final stir.

Hearty and delicious!

I topped my bowl of soup with a healthy dose of freshly cracked black pepper but no salt, because the vegetable broth provides plenty.  One large bowl of this was more than filling enough for my whole dinner, but it would also be good with some whole grain bread for dipping. This soup smelled amazing, and the scent does not lie - it is a bold mouthful of flavors that combine wonderfully in each mouthful.  I wish I could serve this dish to people who argue that vegan/vegetarian cooking is bland and boring, because in this case it most definitely was neither. The curry flavor is very mild, so this doesn't end up resembling a traditional curry, but it blends well with the cumin to liven up the blandness of the lentils.  My lentils were cooked perfectly (go me!) and were firm enough to make this resemble a stew as opposed to a brothy soup.  I'm definitely looking forward to reheating this during the week for lunch, since it makes a LOT of soup (easily 5-6 large servings).  One of the best parts of all is the total cost for this dish - about $5.50, assuming you have the spices on hand.   I have already asked for a subscription to Vegetarian Times for Christmas, so hopefully I will be trying out many more of their recipes in the New Year!