Red Lentil Soup with Greens

Taken from Moosewood Restaurant's Simple Suppers - I love this soup. It's a savory hearty winter soup packed full of flavorful nutrients but it doesn't leave you feeling uncomfortably stuffed. I recommend doubling it in order to use a whole can of coconut milk (an ingredient generally less often used).

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups red lentils
1 teaspoon salt + 1/2 teaspoon salt reserved
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I actually had leftover coconut oil from another recipe which I used this time and I thought it really added to the flavor, if you like coconut)
1 1/2 teaspoons black mustard seeds (the recipe says optional, but I think it's a huge bonus)
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel or anise seeds (I don't really like licorice-flavored stuff, so I always leave this out)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I usually do 1/2 tsp and it's not overpowering)
1 teaspoon ground ginger or 2 tablespoons grated, peeled ginger root
1 garlic clove, pressed or minced
4 cups rinsed, drained, and chopped fresh mustard greens, Swiss chard, or spinach (I used baby spinach and didn't worry about chopping)
3/4 cup coconut milk

Directions

Rinse the lentils until the water runs clear and drain. In a soup pot, bring 5 cups of water, the lentils, and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until tender, about 30 minutes.

While the lentils cook, warm the oil in a saucepan with a lid on medium heat, add the black mustard seeds, and cover until they pop (do this or expect a mess!!). Stir in the fennel (or anise), red pepper flakes, ginger, and garlic and cook for a minute, stirring constantly. Add the greens and the 1/2 teaspoon of reserved salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the greens are just wilted. Stir in the coconut milk and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

When the lentils are soft, stir in the greens and coconut milk mixture and add salt to taste.

Enjoy!

Shrimp Stir Fry

This is a very simple recipe I learned from a friend a couple summers ago. You can easily shake up the ingredients to customize it to your palate. Basic ingredients are vegetables, a meat product, dressing/flavoring and some rice.

For the pictured dish, I used:

Broccoli

Red & Yellow Peppers

Onions

Mushrooms

Other veggies I typically use or have tried include Carrots, Boc Choy, Green Peppers, Zucchini, Snap Peas.

Shrimp

Other meats I have used are Chicken, Beef.

Italian Dressing

Other flavoring I have used includes Soy Sauce, Oyster Sauce.

Prepare the meat the night/day before by deveining the shrimp (if necessary), or cutting up the chicken/beef to bite-size morsels. Marinate the meat overnight in your flavoring, you want the meat super saturated so be generous with the dressing. I will either put the shrimp/meat & dressing in a large plastic bag or in a large bowl. The next day, when it's dinnertime, cut up your vegetables, again into morsels. Peppers work better if you employ the "box cut" technique for vertical strips, as opposed to cross-section slices. Carrots you can julienne if you have skill or ambition, otherwise cross-sections are swell.

Now you can cook. Begin with the meat, either on the grill (tastes best), or cook it before the vegetables in your fry pan/wok. Once the meat is cooked, start dropping in your vegetables, being cautionary to cook speed (onions go in first, then carrots, then broccoli, save peppers and mushrooms for last). Basically it's just stir frying 101. Drop in some dressing/flavor whenever you feel it's drying up or needs some more sizzle. This veggie/meat combo is best over some white rice, so you can fire up a cup or two in the microwave or stovetop when you're starting the meat.

For portioning, I usually gauge it something like, 1 carrot per person, 1 pepper per person, a decent clump of broccoli per person. So a 6-person meal involves 6 carrots, 6 peppers and so on.

I will say this is an excellent dish to reactivate some leftover meats or vegetables. Also, if the meal produces leftovers they are an easy lunch the next day at work.

Pork and Sauerkraut

Early dismissal from school today gave me enough time to make a real meal in our crock pot! Had just about everything on hand which made things really easy:

5 Pork Chops (boneless, about 1/2 inch thick)
1 bag of Sauerkraut (I used the one pound bag from Giant)

1 large onion diced

1 cup of applesauce

3 tablespoons of brown sugar

2 teaspoons of Caraway seeds

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

5 Small to Medium Potatoes cut in halves or thirds

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl except for the pork chops and the potatoes. Put about a third of this sauerkraut mixture in the bottom of the crock pot. Add the pork chops and potatoes and top with the remaining sauerkraut and all the liquid in the bowl. Cook for at least 4 hours on high, more is even better. We also had a dinner roll and some delicious white wine :)

Honey Baked Chicken

Looking for a new chicken recipe with a flavorful kick? Honey Baked Chicken is easy and different, and especially tasty with herbed chicken cous cous. Bon appetit!

Chicken (we used boneless chicken breasts, 2-3 lbs., cut into pieces)
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tbsp honey
4 tbsp margarine/butter, melted
1/4 tsp ground black pepper (we used paprika)
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
2. Rub chicken pieces with garlic powder, salt and pepper. In a small bowl, beat egg yolk with honey and butter or margarine, then brush this mixture over chicken pieces. Place chicken pieces, skin side down, in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Bake at 325 degrees F for 45 to 60 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear, basting with remaining butter or margarine. Just before serving, turn chicken over and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes to cook the skin on the other side.

Note: We cut the chicken breasts in half (to make them thinner), bumped the temp up to 350, and baked for 30-35 minutes. We turned it about halfway through and it turned out great. Flavorful, juicy, and best of all, easy! Inspired by recipe at http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/honey-baked-chicken-i/Detail.aspx We'll definitely make this one again :) P.S. I'm loving this blog! Can't wait to keep reading everyone's recipes and try some of them out myself.

Whipped Butternut Squash

This is a great wintertime side dish. The squash I used for this recipe was about 2.5 pounds, if your squash is bigger/smaller just adjust the ingredients at the end.

1 Butternut Squash- cooked- To cook this whole squash quickly I cut it in half, removed the seeds, and put it on a microwave safe plate and covered it with plastic wrap. I microwaved it for 10 minutes, removed it from the microwave, and let it cool a bit. It was softened but not cooked all the way through yet. I peeled off the skin and cubed up the squash and put it in a pot on the stove with some water (just enough to cover the squash). Let the squash boil for about 10 minutes or until it is easily pierced with a fork.

If you buy already cut up squash then just let it boil for a few minutes until it is soft. (it's easier this way, but cheaper to buy a whole squash).



Drain the squash when it's soft and put it in a mixing bowl. Add the following ingredients:
2 tbsp. Butter
1/2 cup sour cream
a sprinkle (maybe 2 tbsp.) brown sugar


Whip everything together using a hand mixer until everything is smooth. If you want it creamier add more sour cream, sweeter add more brown sugar. Garnish with cinnamon :)

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I made these while babysitting back in high school and after coming across the recipe again this weekend, decided to make and bring them along to a friend's house for dinner. They were so easy to make, used very few ingredients and are absolutely delicious if you're a peanut butter & chocolate fan like me! Enjoy...

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 lb. unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
3 cups oatmeal

Combine sugar, cocoa, butter, milk, peanut butter and salt in large heavy saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a soft boil. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla, then oats. Drop by tablespoonfuls on waxed paper and let harden. If transporting, place layers of cookies between wax paper in container so they don't stick together.

This batch made about 16 large cookies for us, but we could've easily made them smaller and gotten 20-25.

Crescent Roll Pizza- a favorite for all ages!

I'll post pictures the next time we make these (made them this weekend, but they were eaten too fast to get a good snapshot)! I've been making crescent roll pizza with kids while babysitting since high school and have recently decided to share it's awesomeness (and easy-ness) with family, friends, and all of you. Here's what you'll need:

1 jar tomato sauce
2-4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 or 2 tubes of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (each will make 8 rolls, people tend to eat between 2-4)
Optional: toppings- pepperoni, sausage, pineapple, pepper, anchovies, extra cheese, etc.

Roll out crescent roll triangles. Put on sauce, cheese, and toppings. Roll up. Follow baking instructions (usually 11-13 minutes in oven) and enjoy!

A fun idea: get lots of different toppings and have a crescent roll pizza party! Each person can create their own pizza rolls and enjoy in just a few minutes.

Sweet Potato and Barley Chili (Slow Cooker Recipe!)

taken from The Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Judith Finlayson

Step one can be done ahead of time and kept in the fridge for up to 2 days (just add an extra 1/2 cup broth before cooking since the barley soaks up liquid from sitting).

Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil (I used vegetable)
2 onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano (I skipped by accident)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup barley (I upped to ~3/4 cup)
28oz coarsely crushed tomatoes with juice
1 cup vegetable broth
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1-in cubes (I only had 1)
2 cups cooked red kidney or black beans (I used a 15 oz can, but the recipe says that 1 cup of dried beans, reconstituted and cooked works as well)
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp lime juice (dissolve the chili powder in this)
1 jalapeno pepper minced, or 1/2 to 1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced (the chipotle makes it smokier - amounts can be adjusted to desired spiciness, I used ~1 tbsp jalapeno relish that I always have in the fridge)
1 green bell pepper, diced (this was optional so I skipped)
finely chopped cilantro for garnish (I didn't have, but it sounds yum)
sour cream for garnish (also yum)

1. Dissolve chili powder in lime juice. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring until softened (~3 mins). Add minced garlic, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add barley and toss to coat. Add tomatoes with juice and bring to a boil (my crushed tomatoes were more like a sauce, so I only heated until it bubbled briefly in order to keep from over-thickening). Transfer to slow cooker stoneware.

2. Add vegetable broth, sweet potatoes and beans. Cover and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours or on High for 3 to 4 hours, until barley and sweet potatoes are tender. Stir in chili powder solution, jalapeno pepper, and bell pepper, if using. Cover and cook on High for 20 to 30 minutes, until flavors have melded and bell pepper is tender (since I didn't use the bell pepper, I only did 10 minutes). To serve, ladle into soup plates and garnish with roasted pepper strips, if using, and sour cream and cilantro.

This recipe turned out delicious. It was nice and hearty and included a grain so I didn't bother adding any sides - it was a great stand alone. I'll probably serve it again tomorrow night with Baked Hominy and Cheese. My recipe book says it's easily halved, and we got ~6 servings out of it. Of course, the ace in the hole for us is that it's Sadie-approved!

Barley Soup with Ham

This soup really hit the spot on today's chilly football filled day :)

Ingredients:

1 cup pearl barley

9 cups water

1 tablespoon beef bullion

2 carrots, chopped (we used 4 because we like vegis)

1 large onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 leeks, chopped

1 large potato chopped

8oz ham steak cooked and diced

2 bay leaves

1 tea. oregano

salt and pepper

In a large pot bring the 9 cups of water to a boil, add the barley and bullion and let it simmer for about an hour. After an hour, stir in all the vegetables, potato, ham, and herbs. Simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the barley, potatoes, and vegetables are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper, another serving suggestion was to sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on top. We had ours for a late lunch with some warm cornbread, yummmmm!

Broccoli Mac & Cheese

Source: Rachael Ray, 365: No Repeats
Servings: 4 (although it lasted us a LOT longer than 4 meals!)

Ingredients:
1 lb. elbow macaroni
2 1/2 c. broccoli florets
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (skipped)
1 tsp. paprika
3 c. whole milk
1 c. chicken stock or broth (we used broth)
3 c. grated sharp yellow cheddar (we used 2 c. cheddar and 1 c. mozzarella)
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
*optional: black pepper

Tools/Appliances:
stove
large pot (we used a stewpot)
small saucepan
large spoon
whisk
knife/chopper (we used the Tupperware QuickChef- so quick and easy!) for the onions

Recipe:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt to season the cooking water, then add the pasta. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the broccoli and cook for 3 minutes more or until the pasta is cooked al dente and the florets are just tender. Drain well and return to the pot.

While the pasta cooks, heat a medium sauce pot over medium-low heat. Add the olive oil (EVOO- recommended, but we used regular OO and it was fine) and heat with the butter until it melts. Add the onions and cook for 3-5 minutes to sweat them out and turn the juices sweet. Raise the heat a bit, then whisk in the flour, cayenne and paprika. Whisk together until the roux bubbles up (we just looked for bubbles!), then cook for 1 minute more. Whisk in the milk and broth/stock and raise the heat a bit higher to bring the sauce to a quick boil. Once it bubbles, drop the heat back to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens, 3 to 5 minutes (it took a bit longer for ours to thicken, but it did eventually).

Add the cheese to the thickened sauce and stir to melt it, a minute or so. Stir in the mustard and season the sauce with salt and pepper. Pour over the broccoli and cooked pasta and toss to combine. Adjust the seasonings, transfer to a large platter and serve.

Review: We LOVED this recipe! It would be awesome (and more filling) with chicken, fish, beef, or shrimp mixed in, but is already delicious and a great side or meal by itself. Definitely a keeper and although the mozzarella was a last minute decision, we're glad we added it. It might even be good with a 3rd cheese next time! Enjoy :)

Snow Day Apple Oatmeal

I got the call at 5:09 am that my school was closed for the day so what better thing to eat on a snow day... oatmeal! Found this recipe online and tweaked it... and it was delicious!



Slow Cooker Apple Oatmeal


- 1 cup of old fashioned oats
- 2 cups 1% milk
- splash of vanilla extract
- sprinkle of brown sugar
- 1 large apple chopped up (we used golden delicious)

Mix all the ingredients in your crock pot and cook on the high setting for 1-2 hours. Ours cooked for about an hour and a half and it was great. Jason and I both had a bowl and we have a serving left over. I could not believe how creamy and sweet it was. Top with cinnamon and enjoy :)

Things you could add that would probably taste good: chopped nuts, raisins, maple syrup instead of the brown sugar, bananas instead or with the apples

Beef Barley Soup

Well, snow changed our plans today. Shayna, Jason, and I were supposed to go to the farm show in Harrisburg but with the snow we thought it might be a bad idea. So, what to do on a snowy day inside? Make soup! And this beef and barley soup really hit the spot. (sorry, no pic)

Beef Barley Soup
- 1 1/2 pounds of stew beef cubes (found these at Giant on sale, I'm sure you can use other types of beef)
- 2 large onions
- 1/4 cup pearl barley
- 1/4 cup green split peas
- 3 large carrots, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 large leek, chopped
- beef bullion

In a stock pot add 1/2 onion chopped, stew beef cubes, and about 5 cups of water. Boil for 30 minutes or so. If beef cubes are bigger than bite size (mine were) take beef out of pot using a slotted spoon, let cool so you can handle the meat, chop into small pieces, trim off any fat, and add beef back to the pot. Chop the remaining onion and a half finely and add to pot. At this point it will look like there is A LOT of onions, but they cook down and really added flavor so don't worry :) Once the mixture comes to a boil add in about 5 more cups of water, barley and split peas (don't season the broth yet or the peas will not soften properly). Let this simmer for 30 minutes. Next add in the carrots, celery, leek, and beef bullion to taste (I think I used 3 teaspoons). You can also add salt or pepper. Let everything simmer for an hour and enjoy.

The recipe also called for 2 white turnips chopped, but the supermarket was sold out, so we just left them out. Next time we might add 1/2 cup of peas instead of 1/4 cup and chopped potatoes.