Red Lentil Dal

Every time I see red lentils I want to buy them, but I'm paralyzed by my inability to determine how to cook them. On my last trip to the grocery store, however, I threw caution to the wind and got a giant bag full. More than I intended since they came out of the bin faster than I anticipated. Fine with me.

Evidently red lentils are amazing with curry since that's what most of the recipes I found were. I settled on one that at least allowed me to tap into separate spices instead of my curry powder (which I love). The Red Lentil Dal recipe is from Epicurious, though mine is slightly modified.

Red Lentil Dal

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1.5 onions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
  2 cups water
• .5 cup dried red lentils
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  
• .5 cup bulgur, cooked in 1 cup water until water is absorbed
• 2 plum tomatoes, chopped
• Salt and pepper

Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add half of onions and 2 minced garlic cloves and sauté until tender and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Combine water, lentils, remaining onion, 2 minced garlic cloves, turmeric, cumin and ginger in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are tender, about 15 minutes. Purée have of the mixture until smooth. Mix in sautéed onion mixture. Simmer 5 minutes to blend flavors. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon bulgur into bowls. Spoon dal over. Top with tomatoes and add fresh pepper to taste.

My first dance with red lentils was pretty good, only it really could have used some additional flavor, mostly cilantro. It made 2 good servings and was pretty easy to make, except I dirtied 3 pans in making it. Overall, I'm not as scared of the red lentil and will hopefully enjoy them again soon.

Curried Roasted Beet Soup

Today was the first evening this week that they predicted evening rain, so I actually had time to cook a good dinner instead of rushing to the dog park. I opted for the beets since I actually had time and they take forever to cook. This recipe came to me as I rode the Metro home, newspaperless because I was stuck in the Metro for 30 minutes this morning and already finished the sudoku, crossword, and all of the articles. So maybe this morning's fiasco was a good thing.

Curried Roasted Beet Soup

• 8 beets
• 1 red onion, sliced into half-rings
• Olive oil
• 1 ear white corn, uncooked with kernels sliced off
• 2 cups soy milk
• Curry powder
• .5c bulgur, uncooked

Fork holes in the beets and bake on 375 until tender, about an hour. Toss onion in olive oil and bake about 25 minutes (so 40 minutes after the beets go in). Meanwhile, cook the bulgur in 1 cup of water with a pinch of salt for 15-20 minutes until water is absorbed.

When beets are soft, let them cool down (I put mine in the freezer for a couple of minutes). Remove the skin, which will be soft and easy to take off. Chop the beets and add to a large pot or blender along with onions, curry, half (or all if you want it smooth) of the corn, and the soy milk. Blend to desired consistency. Spoon into bowl and top with bulgur.

This is one of my favorite dishes I've ever made! Since the onion and beets had cooled and the corn and milk were cold from the fridge, I chose to eat the soup cold. Usually I like my meals hot, but this was so good. It was sweet from the roasting and the corn, but the curry gave it a nice spice and flavor. The color was a beautiful magenta, and the chunks of veggies were delicious. I'm definitely making this again. And again...

Stuffed Tomatoes with Sauteed Beets on the Side

There was a lot of tension in the kitchen tonight as I took on both stuffed tomatoes and beets. Tonight, unlike the past, I came out a champ!

Sauteed Beets
4 beets, washed thoroughly, peeled, and chopped/diced
1 red onion, chopped/diced
1 TB olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Add oil to frying pan. When hot, add onions and cook 10 minutes until translucent. Add beets and cook 20 minutes until done.

Stuffed Tomatoes
2 beefsteak tomatoes
1/2 c lentils
1/2 c bulgur
1.5 cube veggie bouillon

I cut out the middle of the tomatoes, scooping the pulp into the pot. Then I simply boiled the lentils and bulgur together with the tomato for 15-20 minutes, adding the bouillon towards the end. I use vegan veggie bouillon with sea salt and herbs. It's amazing.

Once it was cooked, I scooped it into the tomato, which I did not cook this time.

I was pleasantly surprised by both. Last time I made the beets, I boiled them and ate them by themselves. It was a little too much. The onions helped tone it down some, and I think the cooking method improved the flavor some. The tomato was perfect as the stuffing was amazing. Delicious!

Split Pea and Bulgur Stuffed Tomato

I was so excited about these beaufiul beefsteak tomatoes at a decent price at the grocery this weekend. I couldn't resist. I knew exactly what I'd do- stuff 'em!

Ingredients
1 medium/large red onion, chopped or diced
.5 cup yellow split peas
.5 cup bulgur
3 TB nutritional yeast
Salt/pepper to taste
2 beautiful beefsteak tomatoes

In a medium sauce pan, bring 2-3 cups of water to a boil and add onions and split peas. Cook for 15 minutes, then add bulgur. Cook for 15 minutes until the bulgur is done. Stir in nutritional yeast and salt/pepper.

Meanwhile, carefully massacre tomatoes by cutting off top and carefully scooping out the middle. Try not to rip the side or cut through the side or bottom. Put guts into stuffing and let it cook for a few minutes (5 to 15).

Add stuffing mixture to tomato and put in oven on 350 for 10 minutes or so. I'm only guessing because I royally messed this part up. I put them in for maybe 20 minutes while the stuffing cooked. I opened the oven and they had deflated. Good thing I have no camera to produce any evidence. I took my flattened tomato and topped it with the...former stuffing, now topping. I use these ingredients together all of the time, but this was definitely one of the tastest ways I've combined them. Probably because I usually mix the tomato in with it, but his time it was separate and I could really taste it.

It made 2 delicious servings and I can only imagine how amazing it would have been if the tomatoes and been little serving bowls. Next time, my friends...

Cream of Spinach Soup with Bulgur

I got home from work late after attending a less than stellar networking event/seminar on advocacy. And I decided to walk the 2 miles home without changing into my sneakers. Sometimes I'm brilliant like that. At least the event gave me time to plan dinner, which needed to be fairly easy since I was getting home late. Not too inspiring, but what can you do...




Ingredients

• 1 TB vegan margarine (I love Earth Balance)
• 1 medium red onion, diced or chopped into whatever size you prefer
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 bag fresh spinach, washed and chopped
• 2 TB flour
• 1 cup unsweetened soy milk
• 2 cups water
• 1.5 cubes veggie boullion
• 1 TB Better Than Cream Cheese
• .5 cup bulgur + 1 cup water

I followed the same process as my Cream of Mushroom Soup. I heated up the margarine and added the onions, cooking for 10 minutes until translucent. Then I added the garlic for 2 minutes and the spinach until it sarted to wilt. I added the flour and stirred for a minute or so (I evidently don't "get" how to use flour as a thickening agent), then the soy milk and water. I stirred, hoping it would thicken, and it didn't, so I assumed that would never happen and added the bouillon and cream cheese. Once it was all melted and mixed in, I removed from heat. While that was cooking I also got the bulgur going- simmering with the lid on for about 15 minutes or until the water was absorbed.

It hit the spot after a long day. And I'm too tired to think of ways to improve it. Ok, well maybe make it all milk with more cream cheese, but then I'd get fat again.

Red Beans and Bulgur with a Side of Roasted Green Beans

Culinary mental block is no joking matter. Especially when you rely on yourself to prepare all of your meals.

I thought long and hard all day about what to make for dinner to no avail by the time I got home. A quick trip to the corner grocery netted peanut butter and oatmeal- no good for dinner. Somehow, luckily, while I was walking the dog in the bitter cold I thought of red beans and rice, probably because I associate chili with the cold weather. I have something against rice, even brown rice, though. So I went with bulgur, the grain love of my life (as are barley and quinoa).

It was pretty simple- I sauteed some red onion until translucent, added 3TB tomato paste, .5c bulgur, and 1 can dark red kidney beans. Seasoned with Tony Sacheries and voila, dinner.

I also made one of my favorite things of all time: roasted green beans. Really, you can pretty much roast any vegetable and it will be my favorite. I just rinsed from fresh green beans, snipped off the ends, and tossed lightly with some olive oil and salt. I roasted them on 400ish for 20ish minutes, stirring every so often. These barely made it to the table before I devoured them.

Save the Vegetables! Soup

Evidently I overpurchased on veggies last week, which means that I didn't need to buy much this week, but I had to come up with a way to use them up because the thought of throwing out food makes me want to cry. So I did what I love to do- threw it all in a pot to make a soup.



On hand:

1 medium onion

6 cloves garlic (I had to buy a giant pack of garlic becuase I needed it one day and the only nearby place tht had it sold it in 6 bulb packages)

3 large yellow squashes

4 plum tomatoes

4 cups of green beans

1 medium head of cauliflower

1 cup frozen corn



1 can light kidney beans



.5 cup barley (my favorite grain)

.25 cup each quinoa and bulgur



Simply seasoned with seasalt and pepper. If it was topped with avocado, it would contain all essential food groups! It's a nice summery soup and should feed me the rest of the week- it made 5 gigantic servings.