Lentil Creamed Spinach with Garlic Quinoa

I thought I'd be creative and make a creamed spinach with soy milk and pureed lentils. I envisioned a thick "cream" sauce so I could eat my spinach on a plate next to my quinoa. That's not quite what I got. And I dirtied 3 pans and numerous other utensils in the process. It was better than watching TV.

Lentil Creamed Spinach
2 small/medium red onions, chopped
1TB olive oil
2 TB flour
1 bag spinach, chopped
3 portabellas, cubed
.25 cup lentils
.75 cup soy milk
touch of nutmeg (1/4 tsp)
salt/pepper to taste

Cook lentils in small amount of water until all of it is soaked up and the lentils are mushy. You may need to keep adding water as necessary. In a blender, puree lentils with soy milk and nutmeg.

Meanwhile, in a frying pan heat olive oil and add onions. Cook on medium-low heat until they start to brown and carmelize, which may take 20 minutes or so. Add flour and stir. Add cream mixture and stir like crazy. I had to add water because it was too thick (and evidently I added too much). Add spinach. Let it cook down for a minute or so, then stir in with the sauce. Add mushrooms and let cook until spinach is bright green but wilted. Remove from heat and let cool, praying the sauce thickens.

On the side I made some garlic quinoa (toast some garlic in olive oil, then add quinoa and cook as usual).

The dish was not amazing, mostly because it wasn't what I pictured when I dreamed it up. It was alright and could have used some more flavor, though I'm not sure what. Maybe some lemon would have helped it? This will not be my last lentil sauce attempt, but I probably won't make this again.

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.

Christmas Recap

Since my grandmother is still recovering from her April cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment, I spent Christmas in Georgia with her and my parents. To ease my mom's constant burden of being her caregiver, I thought I'd cook dinner. Little did I realize, however, that I'd have no access to internet or cell phone because I was back in 1955 rural Georgia. Let's just say my improvisational skills were really tested.

I settled on:
Stuffed acorn squash- I cooked barley and lentils in some veggie broth and added some cranberries, cilantro, and hot Mexican-style chili powder, then stuffed it into the squash. The colors were delightful and very Christmas-like
Pecan stuffing- I made stuffing with a little extra margarine for flavor and some pecans since my grandmother has a pecan orchard and they were fresh off the trees
Sweet potatoes- I added roasted garlic, chives, and margarine to some boiled (w/skins) sweet ptoatoes
Sauteed spinach with caramalized onions
Beer bread

I also wanted to make some gingerbread cookies, but alas, no blog access for the recipe, and I didn't want to buy molasses because I knew no one else would ever use it and it would just get tossed. So I searched my computer and found this recipe for Chocolate Chip Walnut Pumpkin Cookies that I luckily had saved. I omitted the eggs, forgot the baking soda, subbed unsweetened apple sauce for the oil, used pecans instead of walnuts, and added a cup of cranberries. I think it had too much chocolate (blasphemy!) and I'd probably leave it out altogether if I was going to make it again.

I ate these damn things left and right as if I was going to die if my stomach wasn't completely full with cookies. Every 10 minutes I'd scarf down 2 more to the point where I wanted to vomit. Yet I kept eating...

I've Been Waiting All Day to Make This Pizza

Because I haven't been feeling well (jetlag from my ridiculous LA overnighter), I decided to cheer myself up with food. I need to overdose on veggies since I am not feeling well, and I wanted to sneak in a little protein that is not peanut butter. What's better than pizza?

I used my onion-herbed beer bread recipe (3c flour, onion, herbs, 1 bottle beer) as the basis for crust. I flattened it out into 4 mini-crusts on a greased cookie sheet. I put it in a 375 degree oven for a few minutes while I assembled the sauce, which is strangely similar to my creamy tomato soup- 3 regular tomatos, 2TB tomato paste, 1 package of firm silken tofu, 4 cloves garlic, and salt/pepper- using my handy dandy immersion blender. I slapped the sauce on the pizza and put it back in while I made the other toppings- spinach (2pkg frozen), mushrooms (10 white), and thinly sliced red onion (.25c). I added those to the pizza and put it back in while I chopped up 2 roma tomatoes and 10 black olives. Last time out, I added the tomato slices, olives, and capers (the greatest ingredient ever). I let it cook a few more minutes then turned the broiler on for a few more so the tomatoes would roast a little.

I had to write the blog while it cooled, otherwise I'd have burned my mouth. It's pretty good- though the sauce could have been stronger (more salt/tomato paste maybe?. And I used frozen spinach, which made the crust a little soggy in the middle because I didn't strain it very well.

Still hit the spot.

Easy Meals for the Lazy Chef

Coming back from a long Thanksgiving and then preparing for another one-night stand with a celebrity in LA (relax, it's just an overnight dash from the East coast over to the West coast to play with someone famous), I hoped to minimize my time in the kitchen. So lunch the next 2 days is a strange concoction that somehow tastes fabulous:



Creamy Tomato Green Bean Soup

Boil .5 cup brown rice in 1 can veggie broth for about 10 or 15 minutes. Add 3 cups fresh green beans (and more water/broth if necessary) and cook until green beans are done. Meanwhile, using your handy dandy immersion blender attachment (or a blender), blend .5 block of silken tofu (firm), 2 TB tomato paste, and some canned chipotle in adobo sauce. When the green beans are done or almost done, add the creamy mixture to the pot and add salt to season. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Enjoy the strangest but most delightful concotion you've had in awhile.



Chipotle Polenta with Lime Infused Spinach/Artichoke/Roasted Garlic

I'm fairly certain you can guess from the title what's in it. I boiled some polenta, salt, and chipotle powder (which I will use for chipotle brownies soon!) until creamy. At the same time I boiled one package of frozen spinach and one package of frozen artichokes, which I didn't know existed. I added some salt and roasted garlic and cooked until piping hot. I added the lime juice, stirred, then piled atop the chipotle polenta and added jennilicious' favorite plant- cilantro. Some of the bites were amazing...and some were just ok. I'm not sure how that can happen. Yes, that's my unsweetened homemade cranberry ginger ale.

"Creamed" Spinach

I had been dreaming about this dish all afternoon because I thought it was simply brilliant. Of course I would, I thought it up.

I steamed a head of cauliflower (left over from last week and about to be unusable), then used my badass immersion blender to cream it along with a touch of unsweetened soy milk, 2 cloves of raw garlic, salt, pepper, mustard, and nutritional yeast. I also added some water to make it soupier. Then I added an entire bag of fresh spinach (that I'd torn) and cooked until the spinach was wilted.

While brilliant in my head and no too untasty, it wasn't what I hoped because the cauliflower was so thick- the idea was that the cauliflower would be a "cream" sauce. I like creaming cauliflower, though. Well, I just like cauliflower. I'd like to make it again with some onions and mushrooms. And maybe some Better Than Cream Cheese. But still good.

I'm repurposing it tomorrow- on top a bed of yummy quinoa.

Lentil Delight

Lentils rock.

I wanted to try something a little different (for me) with lentils so I dreamt up this concotion. I cooked .25 cups lentils for about 10 minutes, added a cup of diced yellow squash, a cup of frozen diced zucchini, and .5cups frozen chopped spinach (trying to get rid of stuff in the freezer to make room for the aforementioned soup). While that was going, I used my badass immersion blender attachment to blend together .25 block silken soft tofu, some dried dill, a little (too much) salt, and a splash of soy milk. I put the "sauce" in the fridge to keep chilled and when the lentils/veggies were done, they went in the freezer to quickly cool. I mixed the two together for a lentil delight. And it makes a big bowl that's around than 200 calories.

I dried draining the lentils/veggies and throught I got most of the water out. Not as much as I'd hoped, so instead of a creamy mixture, it's a little more watery than I envisioned. But at least the oversalting of the "sauce" wasn't noticeable since I didn't flavor the lentils/veggies otherwise. To make it a more complete meal, it might be good with some bulgur or quinoa.

The "sauce" is actually really good and I might start making this often and using it as a dip for my baby carrots. I can imagine it with some sundried tomatoes and basil or maybe rosemary and garlic. Yum.

Spinach Chickpea Goodness

The past few weeks have been hectic with board meetings, travel 2 weekends in a row, and my workload picking up significantly. So, I haven't had the time to cook, much less blog about what I'm eating. Sadly, 2 days last week I had to settle for (don't take it the wrong way, I love it, but it's no homemade treat) peanut butter sandwiches. But I did go to a "Tex Mex" place (as you'd suspect, DC "Tex Mex" doesn't even come close...) and was proud of myself for avoiding the chips and then only eating half of my veggie burrito. I brought the leftovers back with me, but decided they weren't worth my time.

This afternoon's meal was not quite what I expected- but pleasantly surprising. I sauteed some onions and garlic in about 1/3TB olive oil. I added 1 cup of chickpeas. There was a moment of panic when I looked in the cupboard and couldn't find them. But after moving every single can of beans out of the cabinet, I found the garbanzos hiding in the back. Whew.

I added an entire bag of fresh spinach, about 2TB of white wine, 1.5TB nutritional yeast, and lots of mustard. And salt (amazingly not too much) and pepper. This is clearly my favorite easy sauce for things.

Once the spinach wilted (5 min), it was ready to be devoured. The only thing I'll do differently next time (and I will be making this again) is to cut up the spinach before dumping it into the pan.

Monochrome Mealtime

The past few days I've been making quick, easy meals. But they have all tended to be very monocrhomatic.

Thursday- Green
I made green split peas with frozen spinach. I then added some balsamic vinegar at the end for a little flavor. By the end of the bowl, I wanted to vomit. I don't like balsamic vinegar. Give me red wine vinegar any day.

Friday- Yellow
I boiled some yellow squash with onions and added yellow split peas. Seasoned with salt and pepper. Quick, easy, and tasty.

No pictures, though.

Balsamic Creation

I've been intrigued lately by balsamic vinegar and decided to bite the bullet and purchase some during my last shopping spree. As usual, I had some items to get rid of in my fridge- asparagus, snow peas, and spinach. While I originally thought I'd use the wok to stir fry all the veggies with some balsamic vinegar, I also wanted to make some polenta. I didn't feel like making it and waiting for it to congeal, so thought I'd bake the veggies with polenta on top.

I made three servings of dinner (about 400 calories)- 3 cups snowpeas, 27 stalks of asparagus, and 5 cups of fresh spinach mixed with balsamic vinegar and pepper (the grocery didn't have sea salt, so now I get to go to the organic grocery and probably snag some more Better than Cream Cheese and other goodies). Meanwhile, I sauteed 6 large gloves of garlic in olive oil spray and added 5.25 cups of water when the garlic browned. On the side I mixed 1.5 cups cornmeal (my weird baking mix) with 1.5 cups cold water. Once it boiled, I added the cornmeal and stirred for 10 minutes or so until creamy. I then poured it on top of the veggies and popped it into the 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

So how was it? I'd say average...It needed something else...probably salt. I'd love to add some mushrooms and maybe veggie broth to it.