Hearty Lentil Soup

I never got around to making lentil soup this winter. I always planned on it but never grabbed the ingredients at the store. A few weeks ago, a coworker was asking me about lentil soup and how I make it.... then I had to make it! I never had lentil soup until I spent a semester in Spain and my senora made it for us. And then when I worked in Boston a while ago, there was a bagel place that I had a delicious lentil soup as well. They had a perfect balance of lentils and vegetables and the broth was a nice thickness.


Hearty Lentil Soup

1 1/2 cups dried lentils, rinsed
4-5 potatoes, 1/2 inch cubed
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 onion, chopped
3 shallots, minced
a few swigs of balsamic vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (48 oz) low-sodium chicken (or vegetable) broth
2 leaves swiss chard, chopped
1 tbsp thyme (fresh or dried; I used dried)

In a stock pot, add some olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add onion and sautee for 5 minutes, then add shallots in and sautee for another 5 minutes or until onion is golden. Add garlic, thyme and balsamic vinegar and stir for about 1 minute. Add in potatoes, carrots, lentils and chicken broth.

Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 30 minutes and then toss in the chard. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Add in salt & pepper as needed.

A Snowy Day + Football Dinner

I'm in heaven right now... I've been wanting to make garlic knots for over a year now. I cannot figure out why I waited so long for these amazing rolls! They are incredible! I am in love! I paired them with chili and that was our nice, snowy- football watching meal. I tend to load as many vegetables into my chili as possible so that it's a nice inclusive meal.

Turkey Chili
My own concotion

1 package ground turkey meat
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 cup carrots, diced/ sliced
1 summer squash- cut in half lengthwise then sliced
1 cup (or more) spinach
1 cup (or more) mushrooms, sliced (Market Basket was out of mushrooms today)
zucchini, butternut squash, celery and whatever else you want can be added as well
2 cups whole wheat elbow macaroni, cooked al dente
3+ tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp red pepper flakes
Salt & pepper to taste
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes (no salt added)
1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can chicken broth (reduced sodium)
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed

In a large pot, saute onions until clear/ golden in color. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add turkey meat and cook until no longer pink. Once meat is cooked, add everything else and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer for 45 minutes or so. The seasonings are just an estimate of what I used-- I think this time I used more of everything.





Garlic Knots
Amber's Delectable Delights adapted from I Heart Food for Thought adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients


Dough
3 cups + additional 1/4 cup as needed bread flour
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup + 2 tablespoons lukewarm water

Glaze
2-4 cloves peeled, garlic
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 teaspoon Pizza Seasoning or Italian seasoning, optional

Directions
1. For the dough - In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the dry ingredients together then add the olive oil, milk and water. Using the dough hook, mix and knead to form smooth, elastic dough, adding additional water or flour as needed. I added about 1/4 cup additional flour and no extra water. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, turn once and cover it, and allow it to rise for about 1 hour, until it’s doubled in bulk. I spray the plastic wrap lightly as well.


2. Divide the dough into 12 pieces, and roll each into a rope about 10 inches long; tie each rope into a knot. Place the knots on a lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for 45 minutes to about an hour, until very puffy looking.
 
3. To make glaze - Unpeel garlic cloves. Chop the garlic in a food processor (or you can use a garlic press), with the melted butter.
 
4. To bake - Bake the knots in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes. They should be set, but only very lightly browned. Remove the knots from the oven, and brush or drizzle them with the seasoned butter.

Wild Rice is hard to find!

My BFF, Kelly, is an awesome cook... she is one of the people I aspire to be like because she creates meals without a recipe in front of her! I'm starting to do that more often but she is just an incredible cook and a truly great friend.

Photo from our rehearsal dinner

Kelly has told me all about her mushroom and wild rice soup that she creates... I'm always hounding her for her recipes-- she told me a bit about what how she makes it and I found a similar recipe on one of the blogs I follow so I mixed the two together. I had heard that Wild Rice was relatively hard to locate so I stopped at Whole Foods thinking that would be my best option... their bags of exotic wild rice were a ridiculous price! I walked out of there with a box of Near East Long Grain & Wild Rice. On the way home, I ran into Market Basket to grab an onion that I forgot on my first trip and decided to breeze down the rice aisle to see what they had. Low & behold, they had Reese Wild Rice which happens to be perfect since Kelly is originally from Minnesota, just like the rice! Kelly has also told me about her sweet potato biscuits that she has made several times and how she loves them. I came across a recipe for sweet potato rolls the other day so I knew I needed to try it.

Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup
based on my BFF Kelly's recipe & Sweet Cheeks in the Kitchen

olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup leek, chopped
2-3 tbsp butter
1 cup + 4 tsp dry white wine
4-5 carrots, peeled & sliced
3 celery sticks, sliced
12ish crimini mushrooms, sliced (you can use whatever & how ever many mushrooms you want)
5ish shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 large portabello mushroom, sliced
1 package wild rice, cooked
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
basil, cumin, chili powder, salt & pepper to taste
4 tsp flour

Sprinkle olive oil in a pot on medium heat. Add onions, garlic & leeks- cook for about 10 minutes. Add butter and stir. Add carrots & celery, cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and let sit for a few minutes. Add wine and simmer for 5 minutes. Add broth & spices, bring mixture to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Mix flour & remaining wine together. Add flour-wine mixture and rice, bring mixture to a boil again and let simmer for another 15 minutes. Salt & pepper to taste.

Sweet Potato Rolls
Recipe from http://backtothecuttingboard.com/; adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients
2 1/4 tsp. (1 package) RapidRise yeast (you can use normal active dry yeast, but this is much faster)
2 tbsp. white sugar, divided
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
4 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 cup fresh, cooked and pureed sweet potatoes or canned sweet potato puree (I used fresh)
3 tbsp. margarine, softened
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
5 cups flour, or however much you need (I used 4 1/2ish cups)

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast, warm water, and 1 tbsp. white sugar in a large mixing bowl. Let stand 5 minutes.
2. Add remaining sugar, sweet potato, butter, salt, and eggs. Mix well. I used my stand mixer, because I think I think it’s easier to mix bread in it, but you can still make this without a mixer.
3. Add in 4-5 cups of flour. The goal should be to get it form into a ball, but that never really happened for me. I think I had about 4 1/2 cups of flour and switched to the dough hook of my mixer and mixed for a few minutes to get it smooth. Turn out on a very floured surface and knead lightly for a few minutes. If you mixed with a dough hook you shouldn’t need to do this for too long/at all. The goal is to get smooth dough. Shape into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, turning to coat the surface. Cover and let rise about 1 hour or longer (shouldn’t need more than an hour with the RapidRise yeast, but if you have time to let it sit longer, that’s better because it will develop more flavor). Alternately, you should be able to make these the night before and let them rise slowly in the fridge. Take them out of the fridge the next day and let stand for an hour before proceeding.
4. Punch down, and allow dough to rest for 2 minutes. Divide into 16 to 20 balls (it was still sticky, so I had to make sure my hands were covered in flour the whole time), and place on a greased cookie sheet or in a 9×13 inch pan. Allow to rise until doubled.
5. Bake at 375 degrees (F) for 12 to 20 minutes (depends on how big you made them). Serve warm, topped with butter.

Makes 16-20 rolls

I only baked 3 of these and froze the rest! I'm excited to have them another time. I really really liked them!!!

My husband hates soup!

So while he's away, I decided to bust out the immersion blender and try my hand at Butternut Squash Soup. I love butternut squash and I've been on a search for a healthy, no (or light dairy) soup recipe. I saw a recipe in September's Cooking Light and knew I had found something to work with. It turned out pretty nicely if I must say so myself. I was impressed with the thickness and felt it had good flavor. Update: I spoke to my husband and told him I made this soup and his response was "yucccckkkkkkk!". Good thing I made it while he's traveling!

Butternut Squash Soup
adapted from Cooking Light September 2009
1 tablespoon butter

3 1/2 cups cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
3/4 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
2 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup fat-free half-and-half
1/8 teaspoon salt
cinnamon & nutmeg, to taste

(note: I did not measure out my ingredients- I had more than 1 1/2 pounds of butternut squash so I added a bit more of each ingredient)

1. Melt butter in large saucepan on medium-high heat.
2. Add squash, carrot, onion & apple and cook for about 12-15 minutes.


3. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and add the half-and-half and salt.
5. If you have an immersion blender, combine the ingredients in the saucepan until smooth. If not, use a food processor and blend until smooth.
6. After blended, sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg to taste & mix to combine.

Next time, I may sprinkle toasted walnuts or pecans for some added excitement.