Whiskied Lentil Soup

Yes, you read that right.  I put whiskey into my lentil soup the other day, and it was fantastic - the best lentil soup I have ever made!  They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and I believe it's true.  I was going to make a standard, run of the mill lentil soup, but add some lemony sorrel to it, since I had some sitting in my fridge, but as I began gathering the ingredients, things began to go wrong.  First, I had only two carrots instead of three.  Then, I found that I only had one can of diced tomatoes which I wanted to keep for another recipe later in the week.  And lastly, I had no open bottles of white wine.  So, I scrambled through my cabinets and found some sun dried tomatoes in oil, and decided to glug in a bit of scotch whiskey instead of wine.   This is now my favorite lentil recipe!  Trust me and try it!  I guarantee that you will like it!

Whiskied Lentil Soup

3 carrots (or two if that's all you have), sliced into half-rounds
2 large stalks celery, sliced thinly
1 large onion, chopped
1 Tbs oil from sun dried tomatoes, or olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
10 sun dried tomatoes, chopped
2 C lentils, washed and picked over
1/4 - 1/2 C scotch
8 C water + 5 rounded tsp chicken bouillion granules or chicken broth
3 bay leaves
2 tsp Herbes de Provence, or mixture of your choice, like Italian
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Pick over the lentils carefully, removing any detritus, rinse thoroughly till water runs clear, set aside.  In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, saute the carrots, celery and onion in the oil over medium heat until the onion is translucent, stirring to keep from sticking.  Add in the tomatoes and garlic, bay leaves, herbes, and pepper, stirring well for a few minutes.  Then add the lentils, water or broth and bouillion granules and bring to a simmer.  Add in the scotch whiskey once it is simmering well, partially cover, and simmer until the lentils and carrots are done to your liking, around an hour.  I cooked it for 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Taste for salt - I didn't need any because the bouillion granules were salty enough to flavor the dish.

Oh my, was this delicious!  I sneaked a small portion into a friend's fridge anonymously, and he loved it!  On Monday, when I heated some up in the lunchroom at work, everyone asked what smelled so delicious!  I could eat this every day, and have done exactly that this week!

Fat-free Fruited Broccoli Salad - 1pts+

Sometimes, necessity is the mother of invention.  It was 4 pm, and I still didn't know what I was bringing to a July 4th party at 5 pm.  All I knew was that the host said "something fruity" and talked about a few side dishes - so, no dessert.  The day had simply gotten away from me, so I had to get inventive - and FAST!

Check the fridge: not much.... some carrots, scallions, lemon juice, soy sauce, two really ripe and juicy peaches.   Check the freezer:  broccoli florets and sunflower seeds.  Add in a diced apple and some craisins, and you have a salad that won't wilt!

This dressing is so amazingly delicious, but I just threw things together, so I knew I better write a post so I won't forget.  I will definitely want to make this dressing again and again and again!

Dressing:
1/4 C apple cider vinegar
1/4 C pure maple syrup
2 Tbs lite soy sauce
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs dijon mustard (already prepared)
1 C fat free plain yogurt

Whisk everything together till smooth, then taste for salt, sour and sweet.

make approximately 1 3/4 C dressing; entire dressing recipe is 10 WW points+
 1.5 pts+ per 1/4 C
1 points+ per 3 Tbs

Exploring Quinoa for Breakfast

I haven't eaten a lot of quinoa, but I've liked it very much the few times I've had it.  One memorable dinner was during Lent and featured lots of quinoa pilaf, shrimp and salad.  Very delish.  So, I bought some, put it in my freezer because I read somewhere that it gets rancid easily, and then promptly forgot about it. Last night, while rummaging through my freezer, I came up that year-old package of quinoa and promptly cooked the entire thing.  Now, I have quite a bit of quinoa in my fridge.

This is the breakfast that I packed for work this morning.  It is very yummy and only 8 WW points+.  This packs a huge nutritional wallop and make more than most people would eat first thing in the morning.  I'm a grazer, so this will all get eaten up by lunch time.





Quinoa Breakfast

1 cup cooked quinoa
1 apple, diced
1 cup fat-free plain yogurt
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon (to taste)
Stevia to taste

Quick Vegan Corn Chowder

I'm from New England, the land of chowders, which is fortunate, because I absolutely love chowder. Basically, a chowder is a soup which always contains milk, onions and potatoes, and is usually thickened with flour. You can add seafood, like clams or crab or fish, or ham, or my personal favorite: corn! Yes, corn chowder is my most favorite chowder. With all of the nondairy cream and milk available, its easy to make a vegan chowder, and that is what I did. You can substitute dairy products if you want. I usually don't thicken my chowders with flour; instead, I mash up some of the potato until it is the consistency that I want. If you want potato soup, add another potato at the beginning and leave out the corn. Simple as that!

Quick Vegan Corn Chowder
4 large potatoes (about 2 lbs), peeled and diced in 1/2 inch cubes
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
olive oil for sauteeing
1 Tbs veggie broth powder
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 heaping Tbs salt (I use Adobo Seasoning Salt which adds a slight yellow color and garlic flavor)
generous pinch each of: rosemary, sage and marjoram
2 generous pinches thyme
4 C water
2 C corn kernals
2 C nondairy creamer
1 Tbs non-dairy margerine like Earth Balance

Saute the onions, carrots, celery and potatoes in olive oil until onions are transparent and veggies are starting to soften. Add cayenne, salt, rosemary, sage, marjoram and thyme and saute for another minute. Add the broth powder, then pour in the water and stir well. Simmer for 15 minutes until all the veggies are very tender. Use a potato masher or a hand-held immersion blender to puree the veggies, giving the soup more body. I prefer to use the potato masher because it leaves a white colored soup with little orange and pale green flecks which is so pretty! Pour in the creamer and the corn, and heat until the corn and soup are piping hot. Adjust seasonings. Serve with a little shaving of margerine on top for added richness.

Yum!

Chowders lend themselves to endless variations in spicing and ingredients, but sometimes its nice to chow down on a plain old New England classic like corn chowder.

Kale Braised with Carmelized Onions and Rutabagas

One thing I've learned about cooking is that you can never have too many carmelized onions! They are so very delicious that sometimes I eat them as a vegetable. I should have gone food shopping yesterday, but didn't want to brave the Saturday crowds, so I had a look in the fridge to see what I could put together. I had a lovely bunch of curly kale and a medium-sized rutabaga as well as a few onions, so this dish was born. Its really a riff on Italian minestra, which is garlicky greens and beans, and southern-style turnip greens with turnips. Whatever it is, it certainly is delicious - so delicious that I ate half of it in one sitting. Luckily, its pretty healthy, so no problem. The rest was packaged up for work lunches this coming week.

Kale Braised with Carmelized Onions and Rutabagas
2 Tbs butter or margerine
4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 onions halved and sliced very thin
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium rutabaga, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 Tbs smoked paprika
1 Tbs garlic salt/Adobo seasoning
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 bunch curly kale
2 Tbs water

In a large pot with a tight fitting lid, melt half the butter and 1 Tbs of oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute, stirring often, for about 10 minutes until starting to carmelize and brown. Add the remaining oil, minced garlic, rutabaga, paprika, salt and pepper, stir well so that everything is coated with oil and spices. Turn heat down to medium, cover tightly, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring twice, until rutabagas are just barely tender. Add water to keep from sticking if necessary - this should not be necessary if your pot is nonstick. Uncover, add the kale and stir well. Cover again and let steam for about 4 - 5 minutes, until kale is wilted. Stir well and adjust for salt and pepper.

The onions continued to carmelize as the other veggies were cooking and ended up sweet and almost sticky, as did the rutabagas, which also were beginning to carmelize. This would be yummy with a spritz of lemon juice, or even balsamic vinegar to cut the buttery richness of the oil. I used Earth Balance spread rather than butter, since that's what I had in the house (Lent is upon us, you know), and it was yummy. I think this would be a fabulous base for a pasta salad - just stir in about a half pound of pasta, cooked al dente.

Again, I have no photo, and I apologize. I've unpacked the camera, but haven't found the charger yet, so photos will have to wait. Suffice it to say that this was a very pretty dish, with the small orange cubes peeking out from the dark green of the kale.

In the Orthodox Church, the Rite of Forgiveness at vespers this Sunday afternoon is the official beginning of the fast, of Great Lent. Every person in the parish, from the youngest to the oldest, will line up and ask forgiveness of each other for what they have done and what they have failed to do during the past year. There is always much hugging and many tears as hurts are forgiven. It never fails to move me, and humble me as well. So, in the spirit of Forgiveness Sunday, dear brothers and sisters, I ask you to forgive me for my sins and offenses, for what I have done and what I have failed to do, for how I have consistently missed the mark and fallen short of Christ's example.

Ribollita

I live in the deep south, and as such, there are certain types of food which I cannot easily find. Savoy cabbage is one thing that I think I've found just twice in the last 10 years. Last weekend, though we were in Atlanta and made a visit to the Decatur Farmer's Market. Oh JOY! Oh BLISS! Oh HEAVEN ON EARTH! As soon as I walked in, I told DD that I wished I had brought my little two man tent because I was moving in! They had everything I ever wanted and then some, and everything was perfect and everything was very, very inexpensive. If I shopped there regularly, I think my food bills would go down maybe 25% . I saw a perfect, small savoy cabbage and brought it home. Tonight, I cooked half of it in a traditional Tuscan soup called Ribollita.

Ribollita means "cooked again" in Italy, and refers to the long, slow cooking that gives this soup its characteristic thick character. However, since I had two starving teenagers to feed, the soup did not cook a long time. Its now after dinner, and the leftovers are quietly simmering on the stove, so I expect the soup to be perfect tomorrow. This soup is also a candidate for the crockpot; just set everything to cook in the morning and come home to a delicious dinner.

In Tuscany, the preferred green vegetable is a variety of black kale and the preferred bean is cannelini. Here in America, any type of kale or cabbage will do, but sharply flavored greens such as mustard greens would overpower this simple dish. Cannelini beans are easily available, but any white bean such as Great Northern, flageolets, or even navy beans would be good substitutes.

Ribollita
Extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
3 - 4 oz pancetta, diced (optional) OR 1 tsp liquid smoke
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 leek, cleaned well and diced
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 Tbs Herbes de Provence
1 Tbs dried basil or 3 Tbs fresh basil, minced
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes in juice
1 15 oz can cannelini beans, drained
6 C chicken (or vegetable stock)
1 bay leaf
A 3-inch piece of dried out parmesan rind
6 - 8 oz (half a small head) of savoy cabbage, sliced into ribbons

Put about 2 Tbs olive oil in the bottom of a large, thick bottomed pot. Over medium high heat, saute the onion, leek, celery, carrot, and pancetta if you are using it, until beginning to brown, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the edges of the vegetables are just beginning to turn golden. Stir in the salt, pepper, herbes de Provence, basil and bay leaf and saute for a minute, then add in the tomatoes with their juice, the drained cannelini beans, the stock, parmesan rind and cabbage. Stir well, bring to a simmer, and reduce heat to medium low to keep it slowly simmering. Simmer for at least 30 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender. If you can simmer for a few hours, it will be more delicious, but its plenty good after 30 or 45 minutes.

Serve with large croutons. To make croutons, take a slice of bread, drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on one side, and toast until golden brown. I used greek flat breads and they were delicious.

Place a crouton in the bottom of the bowl and ladle the soup over it. Sprinkle with parmesan if you want (we didn't) and enjoy!

DD has a new boyfriend, hereinafter known as TBF2, and he liked the soup enough to ask for the recipe, so I guess this is a winner!

To make this vegan is simple: Use vegetable broth, or use 6 C water plus 1 1/2 Tbs Vogue Veggie Base. Omit the pancetta, but towards the last 15 minutes of cooking, stir in 1 tsp liquid smoke, which is what I did. You can omit the parmesan entirely and its still a delicious soup.

Spanikorizo

I love Greek food, I really do. I've often said that my idea of a perfect vacation would be to eat my way through Greece!

Last Sunday, my church worshipped together with the local Greek Orthodox Church for the Sunday of Orthodoxy, which got me thinking this week about Greek food I have known and loved. The best - the most fun, with the best dancing and best food and best stuff to buy - Greek Festival I've ever attended was in San Francisco, CA, but my sentimental favorite, of course, is St. Nicholas in San Jose. Oooooh..... I'm salivating just thinking about it! And the Greek restaurants! Oh yeah....

Anyway, I was thinking about cooking something Greek this week, and I had some perfect, tender, organic spinach so it was a no-brainer to make spanikorizo, or Greek-style spinach rice. In many ways, Greek food is like Italian food - rather simple, depending on perfectly fresh, high quality ingredients. Here in America, we just don't understand the concept of fresh, high quality ingredients. But my spinach fit the bill. I had already eaten half of it as a salad and wanted to cook the rest.

This was absolutely delicious! When Lent is over, Iwould serve this garnished with a little bit of crumbled feta cheese, but its still delicious without it. To make this a one pot meal, add in some chickpeas or a large white bean such as canellini.

Spanikorizo
2 Tbs olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 3/4 C chicken or vegetable broth
1 heaping Tbs dried dill, or 1/4 minced fresh dill
1/2 C dry white wine
1 15 oz can of petite diced tomatoes with their juice
1 scant tsp salt
a couple of pinches of cayenne (add less or more depending on your taste)
1 1/4 C long-grain white rice
1 or more lbs fresh baby spinach (you can use up a lot of spinach in this dish)
1/4 C pitted and sliced kalamata olives

In a large saute pan, heat the oil to medium high and saute the onions and garlic till translucent. Add the dill, rice, tomatoes with their juice,white wine, salt and pepper and spinach and stir till the spinach is wilted. Add the broth, stir well so that the rice is well distributed among the other ingredients, bring to a simmer, cover tightly and cook rice for the amount of time on the bag of rice - I cook my rice for 20 minutes and taste to see if it needs more time. When rice is cooked, stir in the olives and serve mounded on a plate. Sprinkle with some crumbled feta when its not Lent!

This recipe made three large main-dish servings, so it would probably feed 6 - 8 as a side dish.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1/4 large pot

Amount per Serving

Calories 180

Calories from Fat 46.5

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 5.17g 7%

Saturated Fat 0.64g 3%

Cholesterol 1.67mg %

Sodium 1908.49mg 79%

Total Carbohydrate 25.14g 78%

Dietary Fiber 3.63g 14%

Sugars 5.08g

Protein 4.87g 9%

Est. Percent of Calories from:

Fat 25%

Carbs 55%

Protein 10%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/spanikorizo/#ixzz1ASN8sTi3

Crunchy Blueberry Muffins

I made a batch of these for a meeting at work last week, and everyone seemed to really love them! Sorry, no photo, but I'll be making these again soon. It should be very easy to veganize this recipe for Lent.

Muffins
1 egg
1/4 C melted butter
1/2 C milk
1 1/2 C white flour
1/2 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 C fresh or frozen blueberries
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray 12 muffin tins. Beat egg, milk and melted butter together. In a large mixing bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients. Stir in blueberries, making sure that each berry is coated with the flour mixture. Lightly mix in the wet ingredients, being careful to not break too many blueberries. Mix just until dry ingredients are moistened - its ok for there to be lumps. The less you stir, the lighter and fluffier the muffins will be. Fill the muffin tins a little more than half full. Its good to use an ice cream scoop for muffins because there is less mess and all the muffins will be the same size. Sprinkle the topping evenly over all the muffins. Bake 18 - 20 minutes till golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Topping
2 Tbs raw sugar, or other large grained sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg or apple pie spice

Makes 12 medium to small muffins

To Veganize:
Instead of the egg, use egg replacer such as Energ-G to equal one egg
Instead of the melted butter, use 1/4 C vegetable oil plus 1/2 tsp butter flavoring or vanilla extract
Instead of the milk, use 1/4 C vanilla soy milk, plain soy or other non-dairy milk, or apple juice

Fatfree "Cream" of Mushroom Soup

Today the weather was cold, raw and rainy, just crying out for soup. I had already planned on using some mushrooms that needed to be eaten (I had roasted portobella mushrooms a few days ago), so maybe cream of mushroom soup. Yes, the ultimate comfort food. I remember frosty nights in New Hampshire at our little country inn in Lake Sunapee when my Mom would make cream of mushroom soup (my favorite) and sandwiches for my Dad and me. Those were sweet days, full of love and the wondrous Lake Sunapee ringed by mountains. Sweet, sweet memories.

But, I ended up staying late at work, and dear daughter is at a friends for dinner, and I have no milk or cream in the house. I stood in front of the fridge wishing that some milk or cream would appear, but no.... then I remembered that I had bought a little box of skim milk powder for bread baking! Yay!

So, here is what I did - it was very yummy, and I ate almost all of it. There is just one good sized bowl left for lunch tomorrow.

Fatfree "Cream" of Mushroom Soup
4 C hot water
3 Tbs flour
1 C skim milk powder
1/2 C soft style tofu (Mori Nu brand)
10 almonds
4 roasted portobella mushrooms, about 3" in diameter
1 tsp broth powder
1 tsp salt
pinch or two of cayenne
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/3 C sherry

I put the hot water in the Vitamix together with the flour, milk powder, tofu, almonds, broth powder, salt, garlic powder and cayenne and let it blend on hi until steaming, about 4 or 5 minutes. Taste for saltiness. Put one mushroom in and let it be blended completely. Add the sherry, blend and taste. Turn the blender off. Slice the mushrooms into quarters and place in the blender, and blend at the slowest setting for about 20 seconds until they are chopped and distributed throughout the soup.

It was delicious, surprisingly so, since there was no fat at all. It would have been tasty without the sherry, but I adore sherry in my mushroom soup, so I went for it.

Altogether, this soup took around 8 or 9 minutes to make, and I am STUFFED! I couldn't eat another morsel of anything if you offered me a million dollars! (Well, maybe for a MILLION.... grin)

You could easily make this on top of the stove - it would just take longer. Basically, you are making a white sauce and adding mushrooms - that's all it is.

Happy eating!