Roasted Butternut Squash and 10(?) Bean Soup

Last night, as a side dish to our roast, I made butternut squash. I roasted it in the oven with sage, oil, salt, pepper, and then finished it with cheese. For some reason, I wasn’t feeling it last night. Something didn’t quite taste right. Maybe I didn’t salt enough or maybe I was just feeling stressed about the evening and decided to take it out on the poor, unsuspecting squash. Disappointed, I just put it aside, and decided to make soup out of it later.

After the dishes were done and kitchen cleaned, I sauteed onion and garlic, and then added the squash cubes and simmered everything in stock for an hour or so, smashing the orange flesh against the sides of the pot until they were broken up. I seasoned it to taste, simmered it a bit longer, then put it in the fridge to be dealt with today. Today, when I thought about what I was going to do with it, I decided that I wanted to add some protein and substance to it instead of pureeing it and calling it good. I plan to take it for lunch this week to work and I need something more substantial to get me through the day. I hunted through my cabinet, peeked through various mason jars I have on my counter filled with broken pieces of pasta, lentils of all colors, beans, and barley–eventually, I stumbled upon a jar of assorted legumes. It has two types of lentils in it, white beans, garbanzo beans, split peas–so many different types of dried legume.  Definitely too many to count. So I settled on 10(?).

The first thing I did with these legumes was soak them in water for awhile.  Then I added them to my mashed butternut squash mixture with more  stock.  Now it’s simmering on my stove until the beans are tender.

It’s not much to look at, but it’s the perfect soup to take to work this week!

 

 

Orange Autumnal Stew

Henry got up this morning at 6:30.

We went round and round before bed last night–one of those arguments that never go away, but just need to be accepted. In those moments, when our backs are against the wall, we are so incredibly similar. Stressed. Tired. Defensive. But sleep always smooths over the rough edges of the night and circumstances really do seem a bit brighter in the morning.

He got up at 6:30 and didn’t say anything. I was awake, too. I stayed in bed and tried to listen to what he was doing. I heard the rustle of coffee filters. The water from the tap ran. A pan scraped against the stove’s heating element. I got up and stood in the kitchen, watching him with bleary, puffy eyes. He was at the stove, making me eggs in a basket. He said: I was going to bring it to you in bed, but you got up. He handed me a cup of coffee and we started our day better than we ended it.

The kids got back today and it’s our week with them. We cleaned and shopped today and by the time lunch rolled around, we were starving. This is what I rustled up.

Ingredients

• one onion, diced
• two cloves of garlic, minced
• a handful of baby carrots, chopped
• one stalk of celery, diced
• 4 cups of chicken stock or veggie stock
• 1/2-2/3 of a cup of red lentils…estimation…I just poured “some” in
• 2 cups of rotini whole wheat pasta…more estimation
• tsp of fresh rosemary
• salt and pepper
• bay leaf
• 8 ounces no salt added tomato sauce

Method:

Saute veggies until soft. Salt and pepper to taste. Add rosemary. Add lentils, tomato sauce, and chicken stock. Simmer for 20 minutes, until the lentils soften and thicken the soup. Add the pasta. I am not certain how much I added. The pasta absorbs a lot of liquid, so if you want it soupier, add less. Boil until the pasta is al dente. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Delicious, quick, healthy, and a beautiful color. Perfect for a chilly September day.

Middle Eastern Red Lentil Soup

Day two of following a meal plan: success. I made this delicious lentil soup, and Henry grilled some corn on the cob. Perfect.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup red lentils
• 1 large or two small red potatoes, diced
• five cups stock
• large handful of cherry tomatoes or 1 medium tomato, chopped
• one onion, diced
• several cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• salt and pepper

Method:

Add the lentils, stock, potatoes, and cherry tomatoes to a pot and simmer until the lentils are tender. Maybe 40 minutes and everything was soft and creamy.

In the meantime, saute onion, garlic, and spices until brown. Don’t be afraid to get color on the onion. It just adds so much to the final soup.

When the lentils are soft, add the onion mixture, add more water if you need to, and simmer to your heart’s content. Some might want to puree this, but I just left it chunky. We finished it off with sriracha, but cilantro and lime would have been awesome, too.

And to finish the night: We are making watermelon wine!  Wish us luck…

Experimenting with Veggie Burgers

I was considering doing a full post on these veggie burgers I am making, but I’m really just throwing stuff together and I’m not quite sure if they will turn out. But in case they do–in case they are delicious, here is the game plan:

• Roasting: zucchini, two tomatoes, half an onion, half of an orange bell pepper. They are salted, peppered, and olive oiled. When they are done, I will let them cool and chop finely. Most recipes say to use a food processor, but I don’t have one.

• A couple cups of black beans I cooked earlier in the week, seasoned with cumin, Mexican oregano, etc.I mashed ’em up good.

• 1 cup barley cooked with 1/3 cup red lentils.
• Bound together with an egg and toasted cornbread.

Inspiration: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt over at Serious Eats did an amazing vegan burger about a month ago. Check it out.

I haven’t been blogging lately, I know. Lots going on over here. Bought a new car, trying to sell old car, busy with work…and in a short while, I’ll be moving. As things settle down, I will be blogging more. Hope you are all having a great spring! It’s beautiful in Eugene today! 🙂

Daily Dishes: Recipes that Caught My Eye

Dal Makhani from Indian Simmer.  This is easily one of my favorite new food blogs. Please check it out.  Gorgeous pictures, delicious recipes–this is my go-to blog for authentic and user-friendly Indian recipes.

Asparagus Salsa  I have never seen a recipe like this before. And, this original recipe is from Sunnyside, Washington, where I grew up.  It’s a small community in the Yakima Valley.  Small world.

Bucatini with Rita’s Spicy Baby Octopus Sauce  I have tried my hand once at cooking cephalopods and it was disastrous.  This inspires me to try again.

Pad See-Ew from She Simmers.  If Indian Simmers is my new go-to Indian food blog, She Simmers blows me away with her beautiful and graceful Thai recipes.

Sunday Morning Menu Planning

Sunday: 

• Lunch:   Out.  I think we will take a long walk this afternoon and eat wherever we end up. 
• Dinner:  Tacos.  Market of Choice has some ground beef on sale right now.   It wasn’t on sale, but I bought some anyway. 

Monday: 

• Lunch: Soup and/or sandwich
• Dinner: Leftovers

Tuesday:

• Lunch: Trader Joe’s convenience lunch.  Something frozen.  We’ll see what looks appetizing today.         
•  Dinner: French Lentil Caviar Salad with a Poached Egg

Wednesday:

• Lunch: Hummus, crackers, veg
• Dinner: Breakfast

Thursday:

• Lunch: TJ’s convenience lunch
• Dinner: Out (payday!)

Friday:

• Lunch: Out
• Dinner: Wing it

I’ve decided to micromanage my week’s meals a bit more than usual.  What I usually do is make a list of a few dishes on the weekend, cook them, and divvy them up for lunches and dinners and call it good.  The problem I still run into, however, is the temptation to eat out, even when we cannot afford it–even when we have leftovers.  I am so tired when I get home–too tired to cook and leftovers just don’t sound good on some nights.  So, I’d like to start choosing some quick and easy meals that I can cook in minutes on weeknights so that I don’t have any excuses to eat out.

Sunday Menu Planning

 The husband and I just got back from grocery shopping.  I’m not an Easter or Jesus-y person so I really didn’t plan on making an Easter dinner, per se, or doing anything special, but old habits die hard and I remember my mom always making an Easter dinner for us, so I caved and bought a whole chicken.

So, along with a roasted chicken, I will also make:

Swiss Chard and Caramelized Onion Tacos

Red Lentil Hummus

Farro Salad with Roasted Mushrooms and Parmesan

I’m thinking I will make the taco filling and stick it in the fridge for later in the week.  It looks like a super easy and delicious vegetarian recipe–and I’m sure it will reheat nicely.  We bought beets from the Saturday Market, and Jeff’s friend gave us some red chard, so I will mix the beet greens and chard for this dish.

The red lentil hummus will be good for an easy and light weeknight meal.  We picked up some pita and fresh vegetables to go along with it.

Lastly, the farro salad sounds like it will accompany my chicken well.  Except, I couldn’t find farro at the MoC, so I bought some wild rice instead.  I bought some mushrooms (shiitake, maitake, and lion’s mane) at the market yesterday, too, so I will use those and make the salad with rice.

Let’s see…anything else?  I also have some leeks and the beet root in the fridge that I will need to use as well.  The leeks would go good with the chicken and the beets can be roasted in the oven, too.

Stay tuned for pictures and the process later today.

Baby Steps into Indian Cooking

Let me be the first to admit:  I know nothing about Indian cooking.  Not one damn thing.  And the term “Indian food” is pretty meaningless if you consider, according to Wikipedia, there are over 30 regional styles of cuisine in India.  What someone cooks in Northern India is going to be completely different from what someone cooks in Southern India.  So, as I peruse recipes, I feel completely lost–geographically and gastronomically. For your information, here is a list of the regional cuisines.

 

 

• Andaman and Nicobar Islands
• Andhra Pradesh
• Arunachal Pradesh
• Assam
• Bihar
• Chhattisgarh
• Daman and Diu
• Goa
• Gujarat
• Haryana
• Himachal Pradesh
• Jammu & Kashmir
• Jharkhand
• Karnataka
• Kerala
• Lakshadweep
• Madhya Pradesh
• Maharashtra
• Manipur
• Meghalaya
• Mizoram
• Nagaland
• Orissa
• Puducherry
• Punjab
• Rajasthan
• Sikkim
• Sindh
• Tamil Nadu
• Tibetan
• Tripura
• Uttar Pradesh
• Uttarakhand
• West Bengal

(Daunting, yes?)

According to Wikipedia:

“India is a diverse country with many regional cultures, each region has its own food specialties, primarily at regional level, but also at provincial level. The differences can come from a local culture and geographical location whether a region is close to the sea, desert or the mountains, and economics. Indian cuisine is also seasonal with priority placed on the use of fresh produce.”

The first and only time I ate real Indian food was at a friend’s wedding.  Since then, I have timidly tried my hand at a couple recipes.  Most have been disastrous.  I made a recipe a few months ago, with garam masala, and even though I thought it was terrible, Jeff said he liked it and ate every last bite.  I think my mistakes so far have been not really knowing what I’m aiming for, or what a dish is supposed to taste like before I make it.

Knowing my shortcomings and being completely intimidated by the scope of Indian cuisine, I went ahead last night and made some Indian food.  I got the recipes from Smitten Kitchen.  I made a yellow dal, a shredded cabbage salad, and black-eyed peas in a spicy goan curry.  The recipes were a little involved–but once I got the process down of cooking the pulses separately from the spices and vegetables, which need to be caramelized in their own pan, it got easier.  So, the worst part is that these recipes were a several pot and pan operation. That being said, it was worth the mess and dishes to clean afterwards.  Well worth it.

Cabbage salad

With last nights’ successes under my belt, I plan to make a couple more dishes today.  These Indian spiced potatoes look amazing.  And I will also make a red lentil recipe from Madhur Jaffrey.  The recipe is below.

Red Split Lentils With Cabbage (Masoor dal aur band gobi)

Madhur Jaffrey, Indian Cooking

From Smitten Kitchen

Serves 4 to 6

200 grams (1 1/4 cups) red split lentils (masoor dal), picked over, washed and drained
1.2 liters (5 cups) water
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 to 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and cut into fine slices
225 grams (1/2 pound) cored and finely shredded cabbage
1 to 2 fresh, hot green chilies, finely sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 medium tomato, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon peeled, finely grated fresh ginger

Put the lentils and water into a heavy pot and bring to a boil. Remove any scum that collects at the top. Add the turmeric and stir to mix. Cover, leaving the lid very slightly ajar, turn heat down to low, and simmer gently for 1 1/4 hours. Stir a few times during the last 30 minutes.

When the lentils cook, heat the oil in a 20 to 23 centimeter (8 to 9 inch) frying pan over medium heat. When hot, put in the cumin seeds. Let them sizzle for 3 to 4 seconds. Now put in the garlic. As soon as the garlic pieces begin to brown, put in the onion, cabbage and green chilies. Stir and fry the cabbage mixture for about 10 minutes or until it begins to brown and turn slightly crisp. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Turn off the heat under the frying pan.

When the lentils have cooked for 1 1/4 hours, add the remaining 1 1/4 teaspoon salt, the tomato and ginger to the pot. Stir to mix. Cover and cook another 10 minutes. Add the cabbage mixture and any remaining oil in the frying pan. Stir to mix and bring to a simmer.

Simmer uncovered for 2 to 3 minutes or until the cabbage is heated through.

Lentils and Bone-in Chicken Breast: Recipe Request

I got a facebook message from a friend asking for recipe ideas for lentils and bone-in chicken breast.   The first thing that comes to mind is some sort of stew with fresh herbs, the lentils and chicken, red wine…like some variation of this, but with lentils or over lentils.

Or just poaching the chicken and adding it, shredded, to lentil soup.

Moroccan Chicken and Lentils sounds good, too.  Here’s another Moroccan recipe.  It looks a bit more involved–definitely more ingredients.

Any other ideas?

Sweet Potato and Red Lentil Curry

The dish I am making today is a combination of two recipes I found this morning.  The first one is from The CopyCat Cook.  The combination of creamy sweet potatoes and red lentils sounds like a good pair.

This curry seems to be (and I’m definitely not a curry expert) an Indian-inspired curry (cumin, turmeric, and lentils) and I’m in the mood for Thai, so I found this recipe, which calls for Thai curry paste, cilantro, and fish sauce:  Sweet Potato Thai Curry.

The final dish will use green curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce, spinach, lentils, ginger, garlic, onion, cilantro, and of course,  sweet potato.

(Vegetarians should omit the fish sauce!)

Finals Notes:

I decided to partially cook the sweet potatoes and lentils in their own pots prior to adding all the ingredients together in the curry.  I wanted to make sure that all the ingredients were cooked through at the same time, spent the right amount of time in the curry sauce, and cooking those ingredients separately seemed the best way to do it.  It was a bit more work, but I felt I had more control over the final dish this way.  No crunchy lentils or potatoes for me!

As I added the potatoes and lentils to the curry sauce, I also added some veggie stock to thin out the coconut milk.  Green curry also tends to taste soapy to me (am I the only one?) and the veggie stock mellows out the curry paste.

I ended up leaving out the fish sauce and the spinach and adding a healthy dose of lime juice at the very end of cooking.

This is, by far, the best curry recipe I’ve ever made.  I highly recommend it!