CREAMY FRENCH LENTIL SOUP

Its still soup weather here in Western NY.  It hints sometimes of warming up but it is only a tease at this point.  I love winter but I am ready now for the weather to turn warm.  I'm ready for stuff to grow.  Ready for the Farmers Market and ready to get my own garden growing.

CREAMY FRENCH LENTIL SOUP

1 cup French Green Lentils or Black Beluga
2 pounds mushrooms
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons thyme
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic
1 quart beef broth
1/2 cup white wine
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
a couple grinds of black pepper

Bring a medium saucepan of water (about 2 1/2 cups) to a boil. Add the lentils to the water along with a fat pinch of salt. Simmer the lentils until they’re just tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a soup pot, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onions and stir. Cook the onions until slightly softened and translucent, about 4 minutes. Saute mushrooms until golden. Season with salt and pepper. Add the garlic and thyme to the pot and stir. Once the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds, add the white wine, broth and soy sauce to the pan. Add the lentils. Stir and bring the mixture to a boil. Lower heat and let simmer for about 20 minutes.

Just before serving add in the milk to soup.  Heat until just warmed and serve.

Lentil Tacos

This Tuesday Taco thing is going on is killing me.  You see we are not the typical household family. I am a foodie.  I have some things that I do every year but I like to try new things.  If I do Taco Tuesday like my daughter wants me to, this severely limits my exploration.  Not to mention beef can be pretty expensive and to my other daughter that is a vegetarian, it does not seem like a good idea at all.  Mind you, I am not complaining because these are good problems.  Having food and food choices is a very good problem.  What to do?...

Enter the lentil.  I could wax on poetic about the virtues of lentils. I probably have already done so in previous posts.  I actually was listening to The Splendid Table and learned even more great things about lentils.  They are my heroes.

It seems the lentil is quite a good crop to grow.  Lentils have the ability to take bacteria in the soil, combine it with nitrogen an make their own fertilizer.  Genius.  These fabulous little legumes are amazing!

Meatless Tacos

1 tablespoon Bold Chipotle Seasoning
1 teaspoon cumin
1 cup black beluga lentils*

3 teaspoons taco seasoning or a packet**
2 tablepoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
3 tablespoons water

In a sauce pan boil about 3 cups of water, Chipotle Seasoning, cumin and a cup of lentils.  Cook until the lentils are cooked but not falling apart.

Drain the water from the lentils.  In that same pan add in the taco seasoning.  Spoon in tomato paste. Keep it stirring.  Make a slurry of corn starch with about 3 tablespoons of water.  Pour the cornstarch mixture into the lentils.  Stirs until it kind of thickens.  Add in salt and pepper to your taste.

*If you can not find black beluga then just use brown.  But under cook them when boiling rather than overcooking.
**If you have a taco seasoning packet, skip the cornstarch and sugar.

Yellow Lentil Squash Soup

Have you ever heard of alternate day fasting?  Well, you know I was doing the 5:2 Program.  Which worked really well for me, I lost 24 pounds.  It was totally doable for me.  But then I hit a plateau.  A three month plateau.  Then the Holidays were here.  I had to cook meals for company, entertaining, stuff like that made the 5:2 very challenging for me.  I decided to give it up in December.  I gained 15 pounds back.  Ugh!  Not surprising.

Considering the oh, so many diets I have tried before, this si the thing that worked best for me so I am doing it again.  This time I am not doing the 5:2, I am doing Alternate Day Fasting.  If you know about the 5:2, Dr. Mosley did some research on the whole fasting thing.  Not real hard core research but rather asking around kind of research.  He came up with the idea of five days of eating and two days of fasting as a way that he could lose weight,.  Dr. Varady, who he interviewed, has been scientifically researching the Alternate Day Fasting idea.  You can read more about it in this interesting article by Healthista.

Dr. Varady has written a book about Alternate Day Fasting called The Every Other Day Diet.  She hosts a Facebook website as well.  Dr. Varady has been doing some serious research with alternate day fasting in Chicago.  She has studied many obese adults and followed the alternate day fasting routine.

Anyway, long story short I am switching to the Alternate Day Fasting routine.  My husband has been doing it since the summer.  He has lost about 35 pounds.  It works.  The nice thing about it is that you can pretty much east what you want to every other day.

On his fasting days my husband prefers to eat beans.  Which is great because I love beans.  Here is a fabulous lentil soup recipe.

Yellow Lentil Squash Soup

1 tablespoon oil or ghee (clarified butter)
2 cups yellow lentils or red lentils
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon ginger
6 curry leaves
2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 onion
1 can lite coconut milk
6 cups water
4 cups chopped squash, I used kabocha here but you could use butternut, acorn, etc
1/2 jalapeno chopped tiny, seeds and rib removed
1 tablespoon kosher salt
5 cloves garlic
1 red bell pepper, chopped

Saute onions and bell pepper in oil. Add ginger, turmeric, mustard seeds and curry leaves.  Cook one minute.  Add in the remainder of ingredients.  Cook with gentle simmer until lentils are tender and falling apart. With the back of my wooden smooth I smashed most of the pieces of squash.  I like it because the squash melting into the soup gives it a more creamier texture.

Speaking of creamier texture.  A dollop of yogurt would be great in this soup.

Healthy Meatless Stuffed Peppers

This is a great, light meal- full of flavor and texture and deliciousness. Very 5:2 friendly.  And I am all about 5:2 Diet.  I have lost a total 22 pounds since Fathers Day.  Which may not be a lot to some but for me it is a milestone.  I don't lose weight very easily.  This plan is totally working for me.  Just recently though I hit a plateau so I switched it up to every other day. Dr. Krista Varady is the pioneer of that one. The Every Other Day Diet.  My husband has been doing her plan since Fathers Day.  He has lost 32 pounds.  Wow!

If you want to read more about it go here to James Clear for an excellent article outlining why it works. Or you can watch the documentary from the BBC from Dr. Mosley.  He later wrote the 5:2 Diet Book.

I am totally sold on it.  Works for me.  I can eat basically what I want most days and fast for 2 or so days a week.  Even on the fasting days its fun for a foodie.  Trying to find delicious, seriously low cal meals that fill your belly.

These peppers totally fill the bill.  I made them last week and I am making them again tonight! It may be a lot of steps but it is totally worth it. 

Healthy Meatless Stuffed Peppers
Makes six stuffed peppers.

1/4 cup dry quinoa
2 tablespoons black beluga lentils
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 basil leaves
4 large tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup asiago cheese
1 small onion
1 red bell pepper
2 teaspoons avocado oil (or whatever oil you use)
7 green bell peppers (1 for chopping the rest for stuffing)

In a small sauce pan combine quinoa and beluga lentils with 2 cups water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cover.

In another small sauce pan add tomatoes, garlic, salt, and basil. Bring to a boil and gently simmer uncovered until tomatoes are falling apart. Once the tomatoes are tender, puree gently.

While those are simmering away, chop up one green bell pepper, red bell pepper and the onion. Preheat oven now to 350F.

Once the quinoa and belugas are done, transfer to a bowl.  In that same pot sauté the peppers and onions until soft and tender. Transfer to the same bowls as the belugas and quinoa.

Cut tops off of peppers and scrape out the innards. In a pot with a little bit of water, steam the peppers until the are just soft.  The green color will lose its brightness and they will be a little flexible.  

In a 9 x 9 baking dish pour the tomato sauce. Place steamed peppers into dish and measure out a 1/4 cup of pepper/quinoa mixture into peppers.  Sprinkle a tablespoon of asiago and then layer another 1/4 cup of pepper quinoa mixture.  Then another tablespoon of asiago cheese.  If you like sprinkle some cracked pepper over top.  Cover with foil and place in the oven for about 30 minutes.

About 100 calories per pepper.

Rhubarb Lentils

I encouraged my daughter, being the Vegetarian she is, to try the lentils on a chip with sour cream and cheese.  Like, how can you go wrong?  But alas, she tried one and was not having any more of it.

I personally loved it but I like vegetables.  Let me rephrase that, I love vegetables.  But I didn't always, so, I will be patient as her taste buds grow up.

 

Rhubarb Lentils
I got the idea from a cookbook I have been looking at.  Its called Locavore. Though I seen a very similar recipe here on My Recipes. I didn't want a soup but rather a thick stew kind of thing.  

2 cups water for boiling
1 cup dried petite green lentils
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups finely chopped celery
1 1/2 cups finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cups chopped rhubarb (about 12 ounces)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

sour cream


In a saucepan sauté onions and celery in oil.  Once the onions are translucent, add in the water and lentils.  Add the remainder of the ingredients except for the tomato paste and cook until lentils are tender.  Add in past and bring to a boil again.  Remove from heat and serve with a dollop of sour cream.



 Anyela's Vineyards in Skaneateles NY- Finger Lakes Region.

5:2 Lentil Toss

5:2 recipes can be very easy if you have things made up before hand. I had these lentils already cooked so this dish was a breeze to put together.  Obviously, you can use any kind of lentil.  I used black beluga lentils here. They hold their shape nicely after cooking.

Lentils are a very healthy addition to this dish.

Lentils are "a rich source of numerous essential nutrients, particularly dietary fiber and protein supplying 122% and 52% of the Daily Value (DV), respectively. Micro nutrients in high content include folate (120% DV), thiamin (76% DV), phosphorus (64% DV) and iron (58% DV) (table).

With 26% of total food content from protein (table), lentils have the third-highest level of protein, by weight, of any legume or nut, after soybeans and hemp. Red (or pink) lentils contain a lower concentration of fiber than green lentils (11% versus 31%).

The low levels of readily digestible starch (5%), and high levels of slowly digested starch (30%), make lentils of potential value to people with diabetes. The remaining 65% of the starch is a resistant starch classified as RS1^, as a high-content resistant starch, which is 32% amylose. A minimum of 10% in starch from lentils escapes digestion and absorption in the small intestine (therefore called "resistant starch")^. Source Wikipedia, click here).

Lentil Toss
Calories are in parenthesis. 

1 cup fresh zucchini, diced (21)
1 small tomato diced (22)
1 cup lettuce torn into bite sized pieces (8)
1/2 cup lentils, cooked (115)
1 teaspoon olive oil (40)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
s and p, to taste

Toss this salad together and enjoy!
206 calories

Scolipasta Soup

That's what it was called in our house growing up.  What it literally means in Italian is strainer soup.  What does that mean?  Well, it is whatever is leftover in your fridge that you feel like using up and making soup with.  Obviously, I can't really tell you how to make it because that would mean I was at your house, looking in your fridge and saying, oh, this and this and this would be good.

Instead, I will tell you my formula for making it.  I start with a broth.  It could be store bought or homemade.  For the soup above I used my vegetable broth.

Next, I almost always add onion and garlic.  They are major flavor boosters.

Then some vegetables or meat or both.  Whatever is in my fridge that I feel like adding. Sometimes I feel like adding a starch sometimes not (rice, potatoes...).

Then some seasoning.  Now, this is the part where your soup will really come alive.  For instance, if you are making a soup and decide to go the dill seasoning type route, you could use pickle juice.  Or if you were making a Mexican style soup maybe add some jalapeno juice.

For example, I will give you an idea of where my head usually goes with soup.

Italian:

Italian seasonings : oregano, basil, garlic, little bit thyme and/or rosemary.  Then I might use some hard cheeses like peccorino romano or parmesan.

I made through in some pesto at the end to brighten the soup.

Mexican:

Mexican seasonings: oregano, cumin, garlic, chili powder... Then I would add some heat (because I like it- not that it is necessarily Mexican).  If I wanted to thicken the soup I might add masa.  I might add corn chips at the end.  My absolute favorite thing to add in to Mexican type soups is fresh veggies such as cabbage, radishes, avocadoes...  

To brighten up the soup I might add lime or lemon juice.

I don't know if that helps anyone.  It really is about learning what goes with what and tailoring things to your and family's taste buds.  Or as my youngest daughter calls them, taste bugs.  You also have to experiment and have a little confidence.  Its not rocket science.

For this soup I will tell you what I did. I had some vegetable broth in the fridge and I had some spinach that was starting to wilt.  I heated up the broth, added in the spinach and let that cook a little until I had a  moment on another day to finish it.  Today I added the rest of the ingredients.  I did add some leftover coconut milk.  Really it was not a lot but it needed to be used up.  So it kind of looks like dish water.  I was very tempted to add more coconut milk but the last thing I need right now is another opened can of something.

Yellow Lentil Soup

1 1/2 quarts vegetable broth
1/4 cup coconut milk (more if you have it)
1 cup yellow lentils
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon sriracha salt (my new favorite "spice")
4 cups fresh spinach
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper

Cook lentils in about 3 cups water with salt, cumin, sriracha salt, garlic, onion and salt and pepper. Cook until the yellow lentils become tender.  Add in the remainder of ingredients; spinach, vegetable broth and coconut milk.  Cook for twenty more minutes.