Lentil and Kale Soup

Nothing says soup like a snowy, cold, and windy day!  This soup was the perfect fix to our cold winter day.  Delicious and nutritious? Yup!  Savory and fresh?  Yup!  Lentil and Kale Soup is sure to become a new favorite with everyone in your family! 

 

We served it with crusty multi-grain bread, it would also be delicious with a salad or you can serve it all on its own!  It made great lunch leftovers (always a huge bonus in my book!).  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

 

Lentil and Kale Soup:

 

2 teaspoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 Onion chopped

2 Cloves Garlic chopped

2 Carrots sliced

28 oz can Diced Tomatoes (don't drain)

1 cup Lentils

1 bunch Kale

1/2 teaspoon Thyme

1/2 teaspoon Oregano

1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper

3 1/2 cups Broth (vegetable, chicken, or beef)

4 cups Water

 

In a stockpot saute the oil, onion, garlic, and carrots until the onions are translucent and the carrots are forkable.  Add in the lentils, tomatoes, thyme, oregano, pepper, broth, and water simmer until the lentils are cooked through (soft to bite, shouldn't be too chewy) about 40 minutes.  Add the kale and continue cooking until the kale turns a bright, vivid green.  I found the kale to be perfect at that stage, others may like it more done - the picture above was from a batch that got over-cooked (in my opinion).  Dish up this lovely soup and serve with bread, salad, or all by itself - Enjoy!

Chopped Taco Salad

 Are you catching a theme??  I LOVE Mexican fare!  It is so fresh and delicious I just can't help it!  And, this salad is a piece of cake to put together!  I whipped it up as a "Spring is coming" celebration meal - which ended up  bringing another snow storm, but hey, I tried :)

 

This is a very versatile salad - a great vegetarian meal, side dish, tortilla stuffer, or grilled chicken breast topper.  You can get very creative with it!  I hope you try it - I promise all the chopping will be worth it!

 

 

 

Chopped Taco Salad:

1/2 cup Cilantro chopped

1 Tomato chopped

3 Green Onions chopped

1/4 Jalapeno chopped (or to taste)

1 can Black Beans drained and rinsed

1 can Corn drained and rinsed

Squirt of Lemon Juice

Salt and Black Pepper to taste

1 Avocado chopped

Mix the first 8 ingredients together - if you want to refrigerate it go for it!  Or, eat it at room temperature.  Add the avocado right before serving, unfortunately in this salad the avocado does not keep well, so only add it as you are serving or it will brown up in your salad.  Enjoy!



 

Tabouli and Chickpea Salad

I can feel it coming...  SPRING!  And I had to make this bright and beautiful salad to celebrate!  Ok, so maybe we have gotten more snow in the last month than the other three "winter" months combined, but that means the grass will be even greener when it comes!  How can you not get excited to hear the birds chirp again? 

This salad is the perfect combination of fresh ingredients - the parsley, tomato, and lemon juice just sing (or chirp) in this dish.  And you can't forget the lovely chickpea - full of fiber, protein, iron, etc.  It rounds off this dish to make a complete vegetarian meal or a lovely side dish!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Tabouli and Chickpea Salad:

1 cup of cooked and cooled Bulgar (Substitute cooked Quinoa for GF)
2 1/2 cups of chopped Parsley
1 large Tomato chopped
2 Green Onions chopped (include the green and white)
1 16 oz can Chickpeas drained and rinsed

Dressing:
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil
1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
1 clove Garlic chopped finely

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl combine the dressing then toss with the previous ingredients.  You can chill it or eat it immediately - enjoy!

Fresh Salsa

 

 

 

Are you catching a theme?  Yes, I LOVE Mexican food!  Now I understand this is not legitimate Mexican fare... when we went to Cozumel the food all but knocked my socks off with heat!  My husband loves the spice, I tend to be a bit more reserved - I prefer to feel my tongue at the end of the meal if you know what I mean.

Anyways, I went to this incredible little market the other day and bought every vegetable and fruit on my wish list - I kid not, this place was amazing!  If they would have let me, I would have stayed there forever.  It felt like an summer farmer's market (and mind you I went in the middle of blizzard Nemo, what can I say?  I needed fruits and veggies!) with fruits, vegetables, meat, cheese, spices, a bakery counter, you name it, they probably had it!

Okay, so that wasn't the point of this post either... The post is about salsa.  Delicious, spicy, juicy, tangy, lovely salsa.  Made with less spice than Mexican salsa and all the fresh ingredients I picked up from my favorite new market!

This stuff is so easy peasy to put together - I promise.  And, there is a special bonus to this stuff but make it first and then I'll tell you!

Fresh Salsa

1 Large Tomato chopped
1 Green Onion chopped (I included the white and green parts)
1/4 of a Jalapeno finely chopped
1/8 cup Cilantro chopped
Squirt of Lime Juice (fresh is best, but bottled works too)

Mix together and use immediately - it can be stored, but I think it is best fresh!

Now, if you and your family are anything like me and my husband, you may have to make two bowls of this stuff, one spicy and one mild.  These amounts are very flexible to personal preferences, so feel free to adjust things as you'd like.  Also, this is a small batch because only two of us ate it, but feel free to double, triple, etc.

Bonus #1: My amazing Mexican bowl!  I had been itching to make something Mexican so I could use this beauty.  I bartered life and limb to buy this bowl... ;)

Bonus #2:  To make guacamole I simply take some of this salsa and mix it in to my mashed avocado.  It is an incredibly light and tasty combo.  In fact, it is the only guacamole I have made that I would actually eat... Yup, it was a successful night in my kitchen!

 

 

 

 

The Feel-Better Quick Drink

We all know that feeling... that tickle in your throat, the headache, the chills ahh yes, flu season!  Yuck!!  Well, this little drink is here to save the day.  Yes, it really is that good!  I know there are some recipes out there with vinegar and spicy pepper powders but, I don't think I could handle that when I don't feel well.  So, I concocted this little beauty and I am in love!  Three times I have felt colds coming on and I have made this and felt better in about an hour.  That is perfection during the flu season...

The Feel-Better Quick Drink

• Fill your favorite mug with warm water
• Add lemon juice, I add a lot - as much as the pucker-test can handle, add what you can handle
• Honey, local is best (it helps with local allergies) but really, this is just to sweeten it up
• Ginger, I had some fresh on hand, but powdered also works, once again do as much as you can comfortably handle

Now sip this and adjust to your tastes if you need, and feel better quick!!

 

Curried Rice with Chick Peas

Much to my dear husband's dismay I have started incorporating more vegetarian recipes into our menu-planning.  I am not planning on going vegetarian or vegan anytime soon, but, I am interested in learning more about how my body works and what foods are best for me.  So, I was looking at meat-free meals and came up with this one.  I adapted it from a recipe on Healthy Girl's Kitchen http://healthygirlskitchen.blogspot.com/2012/01/sweet-curried-rice-with-carrots-and.html.  I cut the recipe down in size (just in case it wasn't a hit), cut back on some of the seasonings, and used raisins instead of dates.  We enjoyed it and I hope you will too!

Curried Rice with Chick Peas

2 Cups of Cooked Brown Rice
1/2 Onion Chopped
1 1/2 Cups Carrot Chopped
1 Teaspoon Chili Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
Shake of Cayenne Pepper
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Tablespoon Curry Powder
1 15 oz Can Chick Peas Drained
3/4 Cup Raisins

Saute the onion until golden brown, add the carrots and saute them until they are tender-crisp.  Combine all of the seasonings into the cooked rice and add the sauteed vegetables.  Add the chick peas and raisins last and gently combine them making sure to not crush the chick peas in the process.  Serve warm with a side of salad or, if you want, add cooked, cubed chicken.  It makes a wonderful, quick meal and reheats well for a yummy lunch - Enjoy!

Chicken Corn Chowder

Brrr.... if your weather has been anything like ours the last few days a bowl of chowder sounds like just the thing you need!  I love this recipe - I finally got it just right.  Through trial and error with several recipes I finally gave up and made my own!  When I sit down to chowder for dinner I want it to be chunky, rich, creamy, and healthy (do you see why none of the recipes out there worked?).  I hope you find this recipe to be all of those things!  So get your crockpot out, this deliciousness is awaiting you!

Chicken Corn Chowder

4 Washed, Cubed Potatoes (I keep the skin on)
1 Chopped Onion
2 Cans of Corn Drained
2 Chicken Breasts Cooked and Cubed*
1 Clove of Garlic
1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper (or to taste)
4 Cups of Chicken Broth
8 oz Low Fat Cream Cheese

Layer the ingredients into the crockpot as listed above.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4.  Before serving stir the cream cheese into the chowder.  Serve warm with crusty whole grain bread - Enjoy!

* Sometimes I place my chicken into the crockpot raw and whole and let it cook then, before serving the chowder I take the chicken out, chop it up, and stir it back in.  Saves a step and time!