Lentil Soup

I know what you're thinking.  Another soup recipe?  Seriously?!   In my defense, I didn't mean to... Honestly.   This bag of lentils was meant for a "higher purpose" other than another batch of soup.  I had seen a recipe in one of the numerous food magazines that arrives at this address using lentils.  It looked so good.  It was all gloss and glamour, the kind of photo that belongs tucked inside of a black plastic wrapper.  You know the kind of photo I'm talking about.  It made lentils look sexy and that my friends is no easy task.

Well, that was my intention.  And then a cold front came through.  Goodbye sexy lentils and hello lentil soup.  So you see, it really isn't my fault at all that I'm posting yet another soup recipe.  Blame Mother Nature, she can take it.

The best part of this endeavor: the soup was so good, it was inhaled before I had a chance to take a decent shot for this post.  Slight oversight, my apologies. 
The actual best part of this is that you probably have a good portion of the ingredients already and thus a trip to the store may not even be necessary (hooray!!!). 
I, on the other hand, am still in pursuit of sexy lentils so off to the store I go.  Call me if you need anything.



Lentil Soup

1 1/2 cups lentils, rinsed (do not soak)
2 stalks celery, small dice
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut in small dice
1 medium-large yellow onion, small dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 can diced tomato, with juice
5 oz baby spinach or baby kale
2 quarts vegetable (or chicken) stock
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

In a medium-large stock pot, heat oil until barely shimmering.  Add onion, celery and carrots.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook over medium heat until starting to soften, 5 - 10 minutes.  Add garlic and cook another 5 minutes, stirring frequently. 

Add tomatoes and their juice, cook 2 - 3 minutes then add stock, bay leaves, thyme and lentils.  Season again with salt and pepper.  Taste and adjust if necessary, adding more salt and/or pepper if needed.   Stir to combine, cover and simmer until lentils are beginning to soften, about 15 minutes.

Add baby spinach (or kale) and stir in to wilt.  Simmer an additional 10 - 15 minutes until vegetables and lentils are soft.

picture does NOT do soup justice...

 

 



Can't Stand the Heat...

Summer time is when I really enjoy salads.  The anemic tomatoes of winter are happily forgotten and replaced with gleaming, juicy, bright red beauties.  The delicious, but boring cucumbers can go on hiatus along with their carrot friends. 

The same ol' stuff that routinely finds its way into your salad can go by the wayside to make room for things like stone fruit! 

Sometimes we are on auto-pilot and occasionally get stuck in a bit of a rut. Considering all of the amazing things available to us in the summer, this is the time to branch out and mix it up.

Making a salad for dinner is a great option. The clean up is pretty minimal and the ingredients are merely a suggestion.  Use it as a jumping off point for an idea;  if you don't like an ingredient, swap it out for something you do like...

Perhaps the most important reason to go with a meal that takes about 10 minutes from start to finish:

Generally speaking, most of us are less inclined to spend hours in front of a stove during a 90+ degree heat wave.  The air is stagnant.  It just hangs there... completely still, while your tolerance for anyone within a 5 foot radius decreases exponentially by the minute.


Spinach Salad with Nectarines & Blue Cheese
serves 1 hungry girl

• 3 oz fresh baby spinach (a little more than half of a 5oz container)
• a handful of toasted, sliced almonds
• 5 -6 dried figs, sliced in half or quarters
• 1 ripe nectarine, pit removed & thinly sliced
• 2 oz blue cheese, broken into bite size pieces

Mis-en-place

There are only 5 ingredients in this salad, so make sure they are of the best quality you can get.  Spring for the good cheese, don't buy the stuff that is already crumbled.  It tastes like Styrofoam.  Make sure the nectarine is ripe & luscious, under ripe fruit doesn't have any flavor.

Normally when I make this salad, I add in crispy prosciutto.  Place a few paper-thin slices of prosciutto on a non-stick (Silpat) silicone baking sheet if you have one or parchment paper if you don't, put this on a rimmed baking (cookie) sheet and bake at 350 degrees until super crispy.

Fresh mozzarella works beautifully in this salad if you don't like blue cheese.  As with the blue cheese, get the good stuff, not the shredded cheese in a bag that you would throw on a pizza.

Fig Vinaigrette

• 1/2 shallot
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 3 tbsp fig balsamic vinegar (not the sweet, reduced balsamic glaze)
• 1 1/2 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a blender (or with a stick blender) combine all ingredients EXCEPT oil.  Blend on medium speed until thoroughly combined, then lower speed and slowly drizzle in olive oil. 

(If you are fighting the urge to do your worst Bill Cosby impression, then clearly your dressing resembles chocolate pudding and you've taken your vinaigrette too far.  Thin it out with a splash of vinegar or a tbsp of water.)

Devour.



.

Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy

It is (almost) officially summer and that means lighter meals.  Most of us love cooking and ALL of us love eating (please tell me it isn't just me), but let's be honest for a minute...  Wouldn't you rather be outside instead of stuck in front of a stove on a blissfully perfect summer day?

This pasta dish comes together in record time.  From start to finish it's about 15 minutes and then it's off to the beach or hanging out in the backyard.  There is no heavy sauce here, just a light "vinaigrette" that comes together from the oil of the sundried tomatoes & artichokes,  a squeeze of lemon juice and a splash of starchy pasta water.

A few big handfuls of spinach give it color and make a healthy addition to the pasta.  Spinach is rich in iron and the nutrients are more easily broken down and absorbed by your body with the addition of fresh lemon juice (and it's just good!)

Lemon Squeezy Pasta

• 1/2 lb pasta
• 3 big handfuls baby spinach
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
• 3/4 cup marinated artichoke hearts in olive oil
• juice & zest of 1 lemon
• Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp butter
• salt & pepper
• pasta water

Cook pasta according to instructions.  I like a short pasta with this particular dish, but use whatever you have on hand,  it isn't worth a special trip to the store.  

Reserve 3/4 cup of the pasta water before draining.  In a medium sized bowl, add butter to drained pasta along with the spinach.  Toss to combine.  The heat from the pasta will slightly wilt the spinach. 

Then add in artichokes & tomatoes, lemon zest and juice.  Toss again to combine.  The oil from the artichokes and tomatoes will make a light sauce with the lemon juice.  Add enough pasta water to get the consistency of the sauce that you like,  you may not need the entire amount you reserved.

Season with salt & pepper.  Using a vegetable peeler, shave a few curls of Parmesan on top and garnish with a little extra lemon zest.

There are endless variations on this pasta dish.  Try it with broccoli instead of spinach.  Add a few handfuls of broccoli to the pasta during the final 3 minutes of cooking, drain with the pasta and continue on...  Another addition that is delicious is ricotta cheese.  Stir in a half cup of ricotta just before adding the pasta water.

Doing My Part to Prevent Scurvy...

Every now and then I buy random things and hope I can make something good with the various items that have found their way into my cart.   Once in a while I'll stumble upon something magnificent, on (thankfully rare) occasions it's been a disaster, in which case the pizzeria is on speed dial and more often than not it's pretty good, although I'm in no way getting sassy about it...
One of the ingredients that found their way home with me were finger limes.

They are rather interesting... inside the lime are little pearls that resemble caviar.   It's a great garnish for fish, drinks, hors d'oeuvres or even desserts.

A beautiful piece of wild grouper had also found its way home with me in my ever-present quest for eating healthier, so this was my jumping off point.  A couple of years ago, on a trip to Punta Cana in the  Dominican Republic I had grouper grilled on the beach and that is where my love for this fish was born. 

Grouper is a mild whitefish, similar in flavor to snapper or orange roughy.  For those who don't care for "fishy" tasting fish, this is a great option. 

Soy-Glazed Grouper with Crispy Skin

• 2-  6oz pieces grouper
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy)
• 1 tbsp sriracha (or other hot sauce)
• juice and zest of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 finger lime
• sauteed spinach

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Make the marinade: combine soy sauce, kecap, sriracha, lime zest & juice in a bowl.
3. Place the fish in the marinade for 10 minutes, remove and pat dry. Season with salt & pepper.
4. Heat an oven safe saute pan over med-high heat.   Add canola oil.
5. When oil is hot, place grouper in pan skin side down.  Cook undisturbed for 2 - 3 minutes.
6. Turn fish over and slide into the oven for 5 - 6 minutes.  Remove from oven and let fish rest for a few minutes before serving.
7. Serve over sauteed spinach and garnish with finger lime.