On two separate occasions I have tried to make red lentil soup, but both times I end up with not enough soupiness.
But both times the dish was so enjoyed by everyone that it doesn't seem to matter. I made it last night where it was eaten by vegetarians and carnivores alike. It's 100% healthy, involves very few ingredients, and is one of the easiest things in the world to make.
First thing you'll want to start is your pilaf, as this takes a bit longer to cook. Here's what you'll do for 4-6 people. Reduce the recipe if you're just cooking for yourself; or make it all, and have some tomorrow (I prefer this method as it means I won't have to cook one meal the next day).
Basic Brown Rice Pilaf
-2 cups brown basmati rice (long grain)
-Olive oil
-1/2 a white or yellow onion, chopped
-1 or 2 stalks of celery, chopped
-Sea salt
-Black pepper
-Flat leaf parsley
(To move this recipe from basic to fancy, you can add pine nuts and currants. I keep it simple as we will be putting a flavorful dish on top).
Measure your rice into a sieve/strainer and rinse. Heat the oil in a pan deep enough to hold about four cups of rice. Add your onion and celery and saute until both have become soft and translucent. Then put in your salt and pepper, to taste. Now put in all your rice, and stir it very well. You want the rice to absorb the oil and to become well coated in the flavors. You should mix it around for about 2-3 minutes. Now add 4 cups of water. (1 cup rice = 2 cups water; 2 cups rice = 4 cups water, and so on). Stir once, then turn the flame to high to let it come to a boil. Once it is boiling, bring the heat to low, cover it, and let it simmer for 40 minutes.
In the mean time, you can start your lentils.
Red Lentil "Soup"
-Olive oil OR very high quality coconut oil**
-1/2 a white or yellow onion, chopped
-1 organic carrot (optional), chopped
-1 tsp cumin
-1 tsp coriander
-Sea salt
-Black pepper
-2 cups dried red lentils
-1 large container (32 ounces / 4 cups) of Imagine Low Sodium Vegetable Broth (You can buy this at Whole Foods or Sprouts. If you can't find this one, just make sure it's an organic, low sodium broth. This one is extremely high quality which means your soup will be of a high quality as well.)
(Replace salt and pepper with allspice if you have it.)
**Post on coconut oil to follow
In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat a few teaspoons of olive or coconut oil on medium heat. The coconut oil will not make your soup taste coconut-y. Instead it will give it a wonderful flavor, and coconut is most appropriate here as many Indian recipes contain coconut milk and the like.
Place your chopped onion and carrot in the pot, and stir for about five minutes until the onion is translucent. Now add all your spices: the cumin, the coriander, salt, and pepper (or allspice). Note: if the spices are getting stuck to the bottom of the pan, you don't have enough oil. Make sure there is plenty oil to coat all of your ingredients.
Place your red lentils in a sieve or small-holed strainer and rinse them. Do this now rather than earlier because your lentils will start clumping together if you do this too early. Once the spices and oil have thoroughly coated the onion and carrot, add in your two cups of rinsed lentils and stir very well. Coat the lentils with the spices and make sure everything is mixed together evenly.
Now add in your four cups of vegetable broth. If you are using the Imagine brand, this will be the entire 32-ounce box. Stir everything around so your lentils do not stick to the bottom of the pan.
Now bring the flame to high and let the soup boil. Once it starts to boil, turn it down to a simmer, and let it cook for 30 minutes with a lid on, but partially opened.
Stir occasionally. Once your thirty minutes are up, open the lid and you'll have a very thick, rather un-soupy dish of delicious lentils to place on top of your pilaf.
30 October 2011
16 October 2011
POMODORI al RISO!
Today was a beautiful day. It's the beginning of fall, but today was warm. It was a perfect kind of warm: low 80s, all sunshine.
Anyway, mamma and I have started working on our winter garden. I'd love to post pictures but it's still a terrible mess. We were out there with our saws and clippers, because we're making a natural fence out of sapling wood to protect our snap peas (we have dogs who love to trot through our vegetables).
It was a lot of work: we were cutting young, green branches from our trees. Then we had to dig deep holes in the ground to put the wood in, and from there, we threaded thinner, younger branches to create a fence.
After a while, we sat to look at the mess of leaves we'd created. "Want to eat?" she asked. Yes. I was hungry.
So off to the kitchen I went to figure something out. There were two organic tomatoes on the counter, and our basil plants are just on their way out but still have a few leaves left.
This is what I made, because we often have these ingredients on hand.
Pomodori al Riso (Rice-stuffed tomatoes)
For two people, you'll need:
-2-4 round tomatoes (preferably organic, but most certainly very red and aromatic. Roma will not work here. You want short, big, and round, not tall and oval.)
-Arborio rice OR short grain brown rice (I used the latter because it's healthier. Arborio rice is the traditional way to make this, and cooks faster)
-Extra virgin olive oil
-Fresh basil
-Fresh oregano (or dried)
-1 clove of garlic, minced
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Wash the tomatoes, pat dry, and then cut the tops off. You'll be saving these for later. If your tomatoes come on a vine, leave the stem on, for cute purposes.
-Using a sharp-ended spoon (like a grapefruit spoon), scoop out all of the pulp and seeds from the tomatoes and save in a bowl.
-Place the carved out tomatoes in a baking dish, and sprinkle each with some salt on the inside.
-Mince your garlic and put it in a medium sized bowl.
-In the same bowl, add your rice: about a handful per tomato.
-Add in torn oregano and torn basil, and then dress the whole thing with olive oil. Now stir.
-Now take the bowl of saved tomato pulp. You remembered to save it, right? Using a knife and fork, cut the chunks and then mash them with your fork. (Note: if you're making more than two tomatoes, then just pour it into your blender and blend it for just a few seconds. I use a fork for smaller amounts because I hate having to wash the blender later).
-Spoon about half of the tomato into the bowl of rice, and mix.
-Now, spoon the rice mixture into your tomatoes all the way to the top.
-Put the tops back on the tomatoes, pour the remaining tomato juice over them and into the pan, and drizzle with some extra olive oil.
(I added in a yellow pepper because I had extra rice left over. If you want to do this, follow the same method as with the tomatoes, but cut the top down so that the rice reaches the top of the pepper. Then add the cut slices into the pan so they can cook as well.)
-Cover with tinfoil, and into the oven it goes. For arborio rice: cook for 40 minutes. Short-grain brown rice: at least an hour, perhaps longer.
Check after noted time to make sure rice is cooked thoroughly (use a fork and taste it). If not, put it back in the oven for some time. When finished, add some more oregano and basil into the dish and re-cover with the tinfoil until ready to serve. The end result should have your tomatoes soft and delicious, overflowing with rice, and it will be irresistibly aromatic.
Anyway, mamma and I have started working on our winter garden. I'd love to post pictures but it's still a terrible mess. We were out there with our saws and clippers, because we're making a natural fence out of sapling wood to protect our snap peas (we have dogs who love to trot through our vegetables).
It was a lot of work: we were cutting young, green branches from our trees. Then we had to dig deep holes in the ground to put the wood in, and from there, we threaded thinner, younger branches to create a fence.
After a while, we sat to look at the mess of leaves we'd created. "Want to eat?" she asked. Yes. I was hungry.
So off to the kitchen I went to figure something out. There were two organic tomatoes on the counter, and our basil plants are just on their way out but still have a few leaves left.
This is what I made, because we often have these ingredients on hand.
Pomodori al Riso (Rice-stuffed tomatoes)
For two people, you'll need:
-2-4 round tomatoes (preferably organic, but most certainly very red and aromatic. Roma will not work here. You want short, big, and round, not tall and oval.)
-Arborio rice OR short grain brown rice (I used the latter because it's healthier. Arborio rice is the traditional way to make this, and cooks faster)
-Extra virgin olive oil
-Fresh basil
-Fresh oregano (or dried)
-1 clove of garlic, minced
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Wash the tomatoes, pat dry, and then cut the tops off. You'll be saving these for later. If your tomatoes come on a vine, leave the stem on, for cute purposes.
-Using a sharp-ended spoon (like a grapefruit spoon), scoop out all of the pulp and seeds from the tomatoes and save in a bowl.
-Place the carved out tomatoes in a baking dish, and sprinkle each with some salt on the inside.
-Mince your garlic and put it in a medium sized bowl.
-In the same bowl, add your rice: about a handful per tomato.
-Add in torn oregano and torn basil, and then dress the whole thing with olive oil. Now stir.
-Now take the bowl of saved tomato pulp. You remembered to save it, right? Using a knife and fork, cut the chunks and then mash them with your fork. (Note: if you're making more than two tomatoes, then just pour it into your blender and blend it for just a few seconds. I use a fork for smaller amounts because I hate having to wash the blender later).
-Spoon about half of the tomato into the bowl of rice, and mix.
-Now, spoon the rice mixture into your tomatoes all the way to the top.
-Put the tops back on the tomatoes, pour the remaining tomato juice over them and into the pan, and drizzle with some extra olive oil.
(I added in a yellow pepper because I had extra rice left over. If you want to do this, follow the same method as with the tomatoes, but cut the top down so that the rice reaches the top of the pepper. Then add the cut slices into the pan so they can cook as well.)
-Cover with tinfoil, and into the oven it goes. For arborio rice: cook for 40 minutes. Short-grain brown rice: at least an hour, perhaps longer.
Check after noted time to make sure rice is cooked thoroughly (use a fork and taste it). If not, put it back in the oven for some time. When finished, add some more oregano and basil into the dish and re-cover with the tinfoil until ready to serve. The end result should have your tomatoes soft and delicious, overflowing with rice, and it will be irresistibly aromatic.
12 October 2011
Blanch Time
A recent study has declared that broccoli, and other cruciferous vegetables (such as kale and cabbage) are depleted of their best nutrients after cooking too long. They are no longer so good at fighting cancer.
I read this on an npr article, which claims that the best way to eat such vegetables is raw.
Perhaps if this were several hundred years ago and the soil in this country were good and clean and healthy, I would agree. But I take issue with eating raw, even after a good wash. For one thing, raw food is difficult to digest, but on top of it all, our soil is so full of nasty bacteria and farming practices are so wretched that I have a hard time eating raw food and thinking it's nothing but good for me.
There are many proponents of a raw-foods diet. However, I know many health conscious people who feel the opposite about it.
All of this brings me to a happy alternative, which makes food taste good but does not deplete it of its best nutrients: Blanching!
It's so easy and quick: you boil a pot of water, you drop your vegetables in there for maybe 30 seconds or one minute, and then you pull them out and submerge them in iced water. Alternatively, you can blanch them in the water and set them aside to cool. And, voila. No bacteria to cringe about, no digestive issues to worry about, and alas, vegetables that are still intact, still full of all their nutrients, and oh so tasty.
All week we've been in an October heat wave, a sudden change from last week's storm. Here is a spring/summer recipe that still works in October (as long as you can find the broccoli and cauliflower). It's a salad with a killer dressing, but not the kind of salad with iceburg lettuce where you pour ranch on top and think you're somehow doing something good for yourself. No, no no: this is all vegetables my darlings.
Cruciferous Salad with Garlic Parsley Dressing
2 cups fresh organic broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cups fresh organic cauliflower, cut in bite-sized pieces
2 cups leek, sliced thin
2 organic carrots (optional)
-fill a medium sized pot with water and bring to a boil. Individually blanch each vegetable for 1 minute, then set aside in a large bowl to cool.
Garlic Parsley Dressing
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup parsley, minced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (preferably Bragg's)
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt to taste
For dressing: combine all ingredients in a blender. Add water to achieve desired consistency.
Pour dressing over your blanched vegetables. Oh mah gaw. It's delicious!
I read this on an npr article, which claims that the best way to eat such vegetables is raw.
Perhaps if this were several hundred years ago and the soil in this country were good and clean and healthy, I would agree. But I take issue with eating raw, even after a good wash. For one thing, raw food is difficult to digest, but on top of it all, our soil is so full of nasty bacteria and farming practices are so wretched that I have a hard time eating raw food and thinking it's nothing but good for me.
There are many proponents of a raw-foods diet. However, I know many health conscious people who feel the opposite about it.
All of this brings me to a happy alternative, which makes food taste good but does not deplete it of its best nutrients: Blanching!
It's so easy and quick: you boil a pot of water, you drop your vegetables in there for maybe 30 seconds or one minute, and then you pull them out and submerge them in iced water. Alternatively, you can blanch them in the water and set them aside to cool. And, voila. No bacteria to cringe about, no digestive issues to worry about, and alas, vegetables that are still intact, still full of all their nutrients, and oh so tasty.
All week we've been in an October heat wave, a sudden change from last week's storm. Here is a spring/summer recipe that still works in October (as long as you can find the broccoli and cauliflower). It's a salad with a killer dressing, but not the kind of salad with iceburg lettuce where you pour ranch on top and think you're somehow doing something good for yourself. No, no no: this is all vegetables my darlings.
Cruciferous Salad with Garlic Parsley Dressing
2 cups fresh organic broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cups fresh organic cauliflower, cut in bite-sized pieces
2 cups leek, sliced thin
2 organic carrots (optional)
-fill a medium sized pot with water and bring to a boil. Individually blanch each vegetable for 1 minute, then set aside in a large bowl to cool.
Garlic Parsley Dressing
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup parsley, minced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (preferably Bragg's)
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt to taste
For dressing: combine all ingredients in a blender. Add water to achieve desired consistency.
Pour dressing over your blanched vegetables. Oh mah gaw. It's delicious!
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