Lentil Spinach Soup

I love simple recipes, especially simple soups.  Some days are so busy, that I truly appreciate a meal where I can just dump a few ingredients into my crockpot and walk away, knowing that dinner will be ready when it's time to eat.  Lentil Spinach Soup is one of those recipes.  It's also warm and happy on a cold, dreary day.  These are all ingredients that are fairly easy to keep on hand for when you need to just throw a meal together.  This recipe is also great for potlucks/lunch meetings.  Last year I took this to church for a meeting after worship.  I took all the ingredients with me and put them in the crockpot first thing.  It was ready by lunch.

Lentil Spinach Soup

1 lb. green lentils
12 oz mirepoix (soup starter: onions, celery, & carrots)
12 oz spinach
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
6-8 cups water

Sort and rinse dry lentils and place in crockpot.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Cook on low all day or on high for half the day.  Serve with whole wheat bread, if desired.

Chocolate-Raspberry Crepes

Enjoyed chocolate-raspberry crepes for breakfast this weekend!

The crepe recipe is from The China Study Cookbook by LeAnne Campbell.  They were so quick and easy to make.  I'm looking forward to trying some other fillings, although I have a traditionalist in the house who wants me to make them with just some fresh lemon juice and a dusting of sugar.

The chocolate is Chocolate Hummus from Jenny Sugar, of POPSUGAR Fitness.  This is one of my favorite recipes.  It makes a great filling, dip, and frosting for cakes/cupcakes.  It can also be made with black beans instead of chick peas.  If you don't have almonds, but have almond butter, just use 2 tbsp almond butter instead.

In The News

Eat More Legumes for Better Diabetes Control

Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans)

Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans)

Chickpeas, or Garbanzo Beans, are one of our favorite beans.  Traditionally, they are the main ingredient in hummus (see tomorrow's post!).  We also use them on tossed salad, in falafel, in bean salads, in grain salads with other fresh veggies, and as a replacement in chicken/tuna salad (just mash them up a bit).  You can sprout them to add sprouts to your salads or roast them for a crunchy snack.

Research shows that chick peas are great for decreasing your cardiovascular risk, increasing digestive health, and regulating blood sugar.  For more information on the health benefits of chickpeas, click here.

Chickpeas are an excellent source of many important nutrients.  In just one cup of cooked chick peas, you get 14.53g protein (that's a whopping 29% of the RDA), 12.46g fiber (50% RDA), 71% RDA folate, 8% RDA calcium (not found in just dairy), 26% RDA iron, 20% RDA magnesium, a high percentage of 11 amino acids, and much more.

Chickpeas are also great for the grocery budget.  Where we live, I can find a pound of dried, organic chickpeas for just under $3.00.  Once hydrated and cooked, there will be 3 pounds of chickpeas.  That's $1.00 per pound!  Talk about a great nutritional value for your dollar (literally)!

Tomorrow I'll be posting our homemade Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.  Until then, check out one of my favorite chickpea recipes:  Teriyaki Chickpeas from Happy Herbivore!

French Lentil Taco Filling

Over the last few weeks we've been making several of our favorite ground meat recipes (sloppy joes, taco filling, bbq) with a combination of green lentils and quinoa. Then we discovered French Lentils. They are smaller than green lentils and have more of a ground meat look. Perfect! Here's how we used them to make a taco filling this week. In the picture is a soft taco tortilla with brown rice (cooked with Sazon Goya con Azafran), French lentil taco filling, and roasted corn salsa (will post recipe in the summer).  Yum! 

French Lentil Taco Filling
In a large pot, saute until translucent:
1 lg onion
5 garlic cloves (minced)

Add:
1 lb French Lentils
4 cups water
2 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp cumin
3 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp salt
~20 grinds of black pepper

Simmer 45 min or until water is absorbed.

Cooking Beans

One of my favorite ways to save money and be environmentally friendly is to cook my own beans from dried.  It's really very simple and I know what went into cooking them (did you know that canned beans have a lot of salt and some even have corn syrup?).  One pound of beans costs less than 4 cans of beans, and I usually get at least that much, if not more, once I cook the beans.  When I do cook beans, I usually do 2 pounds at a time and freeze them in 1.5 cup jars (I'll do an entry on the freezing process later).  That's the same size as a can of beans, they're ready when I need them, and I know how they were prepared. 

Here are the steps for cooking your own dried beans:

Sort beans and place in a large bowl.  Dried beans are natural and have been sorted to remove rocks, dirt clumps, etc.  However, most of this is done mechanically and some pieces make it through with the beans.  So, you'll want to go through the beans and check for anything that was missed.  I actually enjoy this step.  It makes me slow down a bit, I feel more connected to the food I'm preparing, and I know we're getting a natural, whole food - not something processed.

Rinse and cover beans with plenty of water (approx 8 cups/lb).  For this step I like to use a colander sitting inside a bowl.  This allows easy rinsing and draining of the beans by just lifting the colander, leaving the water behind in the bowl.  Let beans soak at least 6 hours.  I like to start them soaking either first thing in the morning or the last thing at night, depending on when I need the beans to be done.

Drain and rinse beans - they'll be much larger than when the started soaking.

Place beans in large pot or crockpot (my preferred method) and add water until the water is about an inch above the beans.  Turn on the heat.  The length of cooking time will vary depending on the temperature and the size of the beans.  I'd give you a chart, but there are really too many variables.  On example though is that I will let pintos cook all night and all the next day on low heat.  It's about the same for garbanzo beans.  If you want to cook your beans fast, I believe you can replace 2 hours of cooking on low heat with 1 hour of cooking on high heat, with the crockpot.  If you want to cook your beans on the stovetop, you'll want to allow at least 3 hours.

I usually season my beans with salt, about 1-1/2 tsp per pound - still much less than canned beans.  I also wait to add the salt until the end of the cooking time as salt can slow the cooking time of the beans.

Now you're ready to enjoy your beans however you usually do with canned beans.  My goal in a few weeks is to cook a big pot of one kind of bean and then do a week's worth of recipes with that batch - and then share them with you!  Until then, here are some previously posted recipes for you to try:

Taco Soup

Rice and Beans

Pinto Beans

In The News

Nutrition Notes: Beans are a healthy source of protein

For bean recipes, just click on Beans/Legumes on the list on the right.  Enjoy!

Blessed Earth and Vegetable Barley Soup

One of the books I am currently reading is Go Green, Save Green: A Simple Guide to Saving Time, Money, and God's Green Earth.  Nancy Sleeth has written an excellent biblically-based book of tips on how to live an environmentally friendly life and save money.  In writing this book, she follows in the footsteps of Dr. J. Matthew Sleeth, her husband, and Emma Sleeth, her daughter, who have each written books about how and why we should be and can be taking better care of this place we call home.  The Sleeth family is an incredible inspiration in many ways.  Rather than repeat their story here, I encourage you to learn about them and their mission by visiting their website Blessed Earth, which I have added to the links section on the left, and/or reading any of their books.

Several years ago, Guidepost Magazine printed this recipe from Nancy Sleeth.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.  It's wonderful in that it can change with the seasons, depending on what produce is available.  We've actually replaced the barley (which can get a bit gummy) with Quinoa, to add more protein as we move to a more vegetarian diet.  We've also used about a cup of lentils instead of kidney beans.


Vegetable Barley Soup

2 quarts vegetable broth
1 cup uncooked barley
1 large onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cups diced tomatoes or 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 (15 ounce) can dark kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3 bay leaves
3 tablespoons Italian seasonings
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups fresh or frozen vegetables (peas, corn, string beans, squash)
Salt
Pepper

1. Heat broth in a large pot. Add barley, onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, beans, bay leaves, seasonings, garlic. Bring to boil; cover and simmer for 90 minutes.
2.  Add additional fresh or frozen veggies; cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Notes:

• Experiment with different vegetables.
• Double everything if you’re expecting a large crowd. 
• Add 1–2 cups cooked chicken for a non-vegetarian dish. 
• Freezes well.

In The News

Red Meat Linked to Increased Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Combating nature-deficit disorder in kids

Pinto Beans

We go through a lot of Pintos Beans around here.  We do pintos with rice and cheese, burritos, tacos, refried beans, or, like tonight, Mexican Pizza.  As I have written before, we cook our own pintos from dried beans.  The recipe I use is from The Feast of Santa Fe.  They have a lot of flavor and make excellent refried beans just by mashing them (so much better than canned refried beans).  As usual, I make 2 pounds of dried beans in my crockpot.  I use them for a meal and then freeze 3 containers of 3 cups each.


Pinto Beans

1 lb dried Pinto Beans, soaked all day or overnight in 8 cups of water

Drain and rinse beans (save water and pour it over your garden to save water!).

Put beans in crockpot and cover with water to about 2 inches above the beans.
Add:
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp whole cumin seed
1/2 tsp cracked pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt (I use Kosher)

Cook on low for 18-20 hrs or on high all day.

Taco Soup, version 2

I have gradually been converting our canned bean recipes to dried beans.  There are several reasons for this.  First, dried beans are cheaper than canned.  Canned beans are a great for the budget, but considering you can get the equivalent of 4 cans of beans from one pound of dried beans for less than the cost of 2 cans of beans, dried beans are even better for the budget.  Personally, I use the savings to buy organic dried beans from the bulk section of our local Whole Foods (it doesn't have to be expensive to shop there).  Secondly, by using dried beans, I control the amount of salt that goes into our food.  Thirdly, we avoid cans coated with BPA.

My goal was to convert the previous version of Taco Soup, but have inadvertently ended up with a whole new version that has received thumbs up from around our table.  So, I'm inclined to not mess with it too much more.  It's taken me a while to post this recipe because I kept mental notes of what I was doing, got caught up with life around here and didn't write it down, and then I had to make it again to refresh my memory.  This happened several times over a few months.  However, I think I have it down now, committed to memory.  At the encouragement of my sister, I made it again this week just to be sure so that I could post it.  I had to laugh late last week when she e-mailed me and asked me to convert the previous version to dried beans - I hadn't mentioned this project to her.  So, Karen, this is especially for you!

This does take a while to cook.  I cook it on low for about 16 hours.  You could also cook it on high for 8 hours.  This gives the beans plenty of time to soften.  Also, you can add the additional ingredients whenever you'd like once you start cooking the beans.  However, I've read that adding the salt too soon lengthens the amount of time it takes for the beans to soften, so I would at least save the salt for later.  Speaking of salt, please adjust as necessary for your palate.  We have gradually been reducing our intake of processed foods (even canned) and have become used to less salt in our food.  Therefore, my recipes tend to not be as salty as most are used to.  I am not the least bit offended by someone who picks up the salt grinder to adjust for this.

Taco Soup

2 lbs Dried Beans (combo of pinto, black, and kidney)
2 Portabella Mushroom, finely chopped
1/2 Onion, chopped
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 28oz can Diced Tomatoes
1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
1 Tbsp. Cumin
Taco or Southwestern Seasoning mix, equivalent to what you would use for 2 lbs ground meat for tacos
1-2 tsp Kosher Salt

Sort, rinse, and soak dried beans in water all day (I do this in my 7 qt crockpot.  I put the rinsed beans in the crockpot and fill it nearly full with water).

Drain and rinse beans and put them in crockpot.  Fill crockpot 3/4 full with water and cook overnight on low.

Cook onion, mushrooms, and garlic on stove until cooked through and crumbly.  Pour mixture into crockpot with the beans.

In the morning, add meat mixture and all other ingredients to the crockpot and continue to cook on low all day.  Soup will be ready for dinner.

Serving ideas:

1. Top with shredded cheese and/or crushed tortilla chips (great for crumbs at the bottom of the bag).
2. Serve over brown rice and topped with shredded cheese.
3. Use as taco and/or burrito filling.
4. Use as a topping for nachos.

This makes plenty of soup for a large crowd or to put away for future meals.  Our family had it for dinner the other night, my husband and I are having it for lunch today, and I put a couple of lunch servings away in the freezer for future use (it's so easy to grab a cup of soup from the freezer and put it in a lunch box for work - saves money and it's healthier than eating out).

Powercooking Tip:  When cooking the meat, I used 2 lbs ground bison, 2-3 large portabello caps, 2 onions, and 4 cloves garlic.  I used one quarter of the mix for the soup and put away 2-3 containers in the freezer for future use in soups or pasta sauces.  Cook once, use several times.  Love the time savings!

Meatless Mondays:  Replace the meat, but use the onion, garlic, and portabella to make it a vegetarian dish.

Lentil Soup

I have tried working with lentils several times in the past. When I first started, lentils were the one food my not-too-picky-eater (at the time) would not eat. It didn't matter how I fixed them. They were off the list, especially lentil soup. So, when we finally started to reintroduce them, we called them by a different name - split peas (split peas were loved - go figure). We started with red "split peas" for dahl. Then we took a favorite recipe, Cincinnati Chili, and made it with lentils instead of meat. At first we didn't say anything, but it went over well and we quickly confessed. Next we tried Taco Style Lentils and Rice, another hit. We are finally over our issues with lentils. Yesterday I decided it was time to reintroduce lentil soup. This time I consulted several cookbooks and came up with my own version using what I had on hand. The soup went over very well, especially paired with rice. As an added bonus, I have enough leftover to put away for future lunches, saving money and providing a healthier option at noontime.

Lentil Soup

2 cups (1 lb.) Lentils
8 cups Broth
3/4 cup Onion, chopped
1 Carrot, thinly sliced
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 can (14 oz) Diced Tomatoes

Sort and rinse lentils. Put all ingredients in a stockpot or crockpot and simmer for 2 hrs. Serve with rice (optional).

Taco Style Lentils and Rice

This recipe is from my friend Laura. We tried it for the first time this week and it was a huge hit! I hope you enjoy it as well. Thanks Laura!

Taco Style Lentils and Rice

3/4 c. dry lentils
3/4 c. brown rice
4 broth
2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cumin
1 t. onion powder
1.4 t. garlic powder

Bring water to a boil and then add all. Bring back to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer with lid on for 45-50 minutes. Fill tortillas with lentil rice mixture and top with sour cream, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, etc.

Notes:
1. You can add a can of diced tomatoes
2. This would be good with a little "kick"--like a dash of cayenne. It's up to you! Without it, it is more kid-friendly.
3. I used homemade bison broth instead of water and bouillon cubes.
4. I used 1/4 of a large onion and a clove of garlic, chopped instead of the onion and garlic powders
5. We blended this with an immersion blender for a refried bean-like texture.

White Bean Dip with Pita Chips

A couple of years ago, my mom bought me Giada de Laurentis's book Everyday Italian.  I have leafed through it and used a recipe or two, but had not explored it in depth.  Then, I recently watched The Food Network's Chef0graphy about Giada de Laurentis.  Even though it was late, I was inspired to grab her book off the shelf and go exploring.  The next morning I made two recipes to eat at a picnic we were going to that day.  One of those recipes was the White Bean Dip with Pita Chips.  It essentially is the Italian version of hummus.  It is so incredibly good!  Last night my husband asked if there was any left to dip some vegetable sticks in.  There wasn't, but there is now.  I actually made a double batch.  I hope there's still some left by the time he gets home from work!  Just kidding.  It's tempting though.  It's also wonderful in tuna salad instead of using mayo.  It adds more flavor, not to mention nutritional value.
White Bean Dip with Pita Chips
1 (15 oz) can cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup (loosely packed) fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves (or 2 tbsp dried)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (from about 1/2 lemon)
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
In the bowl of a food processor, combine all ingredients except the olive oil.  Pulse on and off until the mixture is coarsely chopped.  With the machine running, gradually mix in the olive oil until the mixture is creamy.  Season with additional salt and pepper to taste, if desired.  Serve with pita wedges, toasted baguette slices, vegetable slices, etc.
Personal Note:  I substitute half the olive oil with plain, low-fat yogurt.  I also usually make a double batch since it goes so quickly

Cincinnati Chili with Lentils

I know there’s a group of Cincinnatians out there just cringing right now. I am messing with a classic. However, you probably weren’t too thrilled with my use of bison and TVP in my last entry either. This adaptation was inspired by a recipe a friend of mine e-mailed to me. It was another version of Cincinnati Chili with Lentils. It started me thinking about using lentils in the recipe in my previous post. So, I gave it a try and it turned out pretty well. No, it’s not exactly the same. However, if you are looking for a healthier, vegetarian, or a more economical alternative, this will work. It also passed with flying colors with the rest of the household, which is a major plus.

Cincinnati Chili with Lentils

3 cups lentils
9 cups broth
3 cups onion, finely chopped
4 ½ cloves garlic, minced
22.5 oz tomato sauce
3 Tbsp chili powder
3 Tbsp chocolate chips
1 ½ Tbsp vinegar
3 Tbsp honey
1 ½ Tbsp pumpkin pie spice*
1 ½ tsp cumin
¾ tsp cardamom
3/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon

Place all ingredients in stock pot. Bring to a simmer (you may want to save adding the chocolate chips until now) and let simmer for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally. When lentils are cooked, blend mixture. I used my immersion blender, but you can blend a bit at a time in a regular blender. This will give it the same texture as the original recipe.

Serve over spaghetti with the following toppings:
Shredded cheddar cheese (for a 3-way) plus
Red beans OR chopped onions (for a 4-way)
Red beans AND chopped onions (for a 5-way)

*Pumpkin Pie Spice (substitute, 1 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves


While we all loved this, we are still playing around with the technique of making this recipe.  Why?  Because we think it's fun to experiment with different ways of doing things.  We're going to try running the lentils alone through the grinder to see what that does to the texture and I'm going to try making this in the crockpot.  I will ammend this post with the results of our effort - so be sure to check back!

Refried Beans

I'm currently reading In Defense of Food:  An Eater's Mainfesto by Michael Pollan, in which he states "Eat Food.  Not Too Much.  Mostly Plants."  It is the third book of his that I have started to read.  My problem is that I have been so busy lately that I get about 30 pages into one of his books and then I have to return it to the library.  I can't renew it because there's a wait list for it.  So far I'm doing much better with this one as I'm on page 69.  We'll see how it goes.  I'm dangerously close to just ordering them from Amazon so that I can read them at a pace that I have time for.
Michael Pollan is a Professor of Journalism at Berkeley and has written several books about food.  His books are easy to read and full of interesting information.  I recently read that someone took a class that included one of Mr. Pollan's books on the reading list and it was the most entertaining book they had to read that semester.
Anyway, we hear all the time how we need to eat more whole grains, fruits and vegetables.  Actually, Mr. Pollan would point out that we tend to translate this into the idea of eating more.  What we really need to do is replace some of the non-whole grains, fruits, and vegetables in our diets with whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, thereby changing the ratio of the types of foods we eat.  This has me finally (again) trying to accomplish this feat.  Therefore, tonight's dinner was burritos made with homemade refried beans and brown rice.  As you sit there potentially thinking I have too much time on my hands if I'm making homemade refried beans, I am going to show you how simple it actually is and the taste is SO much better than what you'll get from a can.  I found this recipe in Huntly Dent's The Feast of Santa Fe.  I love this cookbook!  It not only has wonderful, authentic Southwestern recipes, but he does a lot of teaching about the hows and whys of cooking Southwestern-style foods (a major ingredient in an awesome cookbook - pun intended).
Refried Beans in Butter
3 cups cooked black kidney, or pinto beans, plus cooking liquid (a 27-ounce can, approximately)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Wedges of lime for garnish
Drain the cooked beans and reserve the liquid.  Combine the onion, garlic, butter and seasonings in a 10-inch skillet, stir over medium heat, and cover to allow the onion to wilt, about 5 minutes over low heat.  Uncover, turn heat up to medium, and add the beans.  Using a large slotted spoon, roughly mash the beans as you are heating them.  but not to the point that the beans lose all their shape.  Thin out of necessary with some of the reserved liquid.  Serve garnished with wedges of lime to squeeze on as the guests are served.
If you don't want to mash the beans yourself, you can also put half at a time into a food processor and pulse to the desired consistency.
Personal Notes:

1. I have used canned black beans or pinto beans as well as dried beans that I soaked and cooked myself (the crockpot is wonderful for this).
2. The amount of cayenne listed makes for quite the spicy dish.  I use about 1/4 of what is called for (i.e. 1/8 tsp)

Coming soon:
A series on potatoes (requested by my sister, who I'm sure is through her bag of potatoes by now - sorry!)
Treats for our K9 family members

Taco Soup

Tonight I spoke with a wonderful group of women about Budget and Power Cooking.  This has put me in the mood for sharing something that is budget friendly and easy to double or even triple so that you can freeze extra for future use.  This Taco Soup recipe is quick, easy, and delicious.  Our friend Judy served it for dinner one night and I had to ask for the recipe.  I believe she found it through Weight Watchers.  While it does not call for any meat, feel free to add ground meat or precooked chopped chicken.
 Taco Soup

3 cans beans, drained
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can corn, canned, undrained
1 cup water
1 package ranch-style dressing mix
1 package taco seasoning mix

Put ingredients into pot on stove.  Simmer about 20 minutes.
Top with shredded cheese, if desired.
Personal Note:  I also rinse my beans.  This is a great way to reduce your sodium intake.