Curried Carrot Pepper Lentil Coconut Soup

Sometimes I can be pretty bad at keeping track of the last time I posted a recipe. I'll think "oh, it was just a few days ago" or "it must have been last weekend, I can wait a little longer." Usually 'last weekend' seems to be two weeks ago and I guess I still have yet to grasp what a Gregorian day is. Ignore me, I'm probably just making excuses for pure laziness. For example, I'm watching Felicity for the first time on Netflix and the messiness of my hair is starting to rival hers. Actually, dismiss that earlier announcement of laziness and let me plead insanity for losing track of the days. I have the madwoman hair to prove it.

Before I get to the food, I need to talk about this mug. Yes, the children on it are slightly creepy in their frozen exuberant states. No, I didn't buy these. Yes, this pair of soup mugs is one of my more cherished hand-me-downs from my childhood. I can't remember exactly when they slipped from the shelves of my parents house into my kitchen, but I'm going to assume it was sometime during college. 

I remember growing up and eating tomato soup from these mugs on snow days as a kid. When I wanted a particularly large cup of cocoa, I would reach for these and hope my mom wouldn't notice. The love scratched spoon lines prove that they've been used for decades and probably will be for many more. Moral of the story, these mugs just make things taste better.

As these kids are showing you, dear readers, this soup is M'm! M'm! Good! Really good. As in sometimes I would sneak a chilled spoonful or two out of the tupperware just to make sure it still tasted awesome. The best part is I made the soup with surplus ingredients from the Super Bowl and some of my pantry staples. 

Roasting the carrots and peppers really brings out their sweetness while adding a nice depth of flavor. You'd also be a fool not to throw in some coconut milk too, trust me. When I first served myself a bowl, I realized I had run out of coconut milk. The soup was good, thick and hearty, but it lacked the creaminess factor I was lusting after. I later stirred in a can of light coconut milk and let me tell you, the difference was remarkable. It also doesn't hurt that it added almost another full serving of soup!

Curried Carrot Pepper Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• 5 large carrots
• 2 medium sized bell peppers (preferably yellow or red)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• ¾ cup red lentils
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced (you may substitute with powdered ginger)
• ¼ teaspoons chili powder
• 5 cups veggie broth
• 1 can coconut milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F and line a roasting tray with baking paper. Peel and chop carrots into 1 inch chunks, cut bell peppers into 1 inch squares and place them in the tray. Drizzle over about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper and toss to coat. Bake for about 45 minutes until carrots & peppers are golden and tender. Remove from oven and set aside.
2. In a pot over medium high, heat up another 2 tablespoons of olive oil and tip in the chopped onions and garlic. Sauté for about 5 minutes until onions are transparent and starting to brown.
3. Next, add lentils, curry powder, ginger, and chili powder. Stir and let cook until spices become fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Stir in veggie broth and bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, cooking until lentils are soft, 10-15 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and using either an immersion blender or a regular blender, puree until soup is smooth. Return soup back to stove, stir in coconut milk, and heat soup for another two minutes, tasting and adding spices as you like.

Chickpea, Butternut Squash and Red Lentil Stew

This soup is neither red, heart shaped nor will it make your beau swoon. Ok, well, it might do the last part because I think I saw 'A' teetering on swooning when I made this for dinner last week. He may have also been falling asleep sitting up but I'm going to be positive here and settle on swooning. Regardless of the holiday at hand (Valentine's Day for all you people reading this any other day but 2/14), I think this soup is fitting for the one who makes your heart beat a little faster because it will keep your heart healthy for all valentines to come.

To help save money, I've become that lady at the supermarket checkout with bags upon bags of bulk items. Nuts, grains, peanut butter filled pretzels… you name it, I have it in a twisty tie bag or old glass jar somewhere. As my pantry was starting to seem a little overwhelmed, I lightened the load and put some lentils and chickpeas to good use. Along the way I may have picked up a butternut squash the size of my head but hey, who are we kidding here, they're delicious.

With all our key players at hand, I crafted the most magnificently large pot of stew ever. Even after sending 'A' off with leftovers for work, I had enough to feed me for about a week. Towards the end the stew was probably a bit questionable, but as it goes with stews, the longer it is left to age the better it tastes. True story. As the soup is 100% vegan, my logic was that the lack of dairy meant it would last longer. Right? Even if I'm wrong, let me float along in blissful ignorance.

So if you want to keep you and your valentine's heart strong for years to come, save money AND have a delicious dinner, why would you want to make anything else?

Chickpea, Butternut Squash and Red Lentil Stew

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• ½ teaspoon chili flakes
• 2-3 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
• 1 cup red lentils
• 1 quart vegetable broth
• 1  28-oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into ¾ inch cubes
• 1 can chickpeas
• juice of one lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• small bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped (save some for garnish)

Directions:

1. Heat a large dutch oven (or saucepan) and dry-fry the cumin, chili flakes and garam masala for 30 seconds or until they start "jumping" around the pot and release their aroma.
2. Add the olive oil, onion, carrot, garlic and jalapeño and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion and carrot are softened.
3. Stir in the lentils, stock, tomatoes and butternut squash, then bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils have softened.
4. Stir in the chickpeas, lemon juice and salt/pepper to taste, heat gently. Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro. Serve and finish with a garnish of cilantro.

Lentil, Roasted Turnip and Chard Soup

I'm baaacccckkk. Wait, what... you didn't know I was gone? Oh, this is awkward... well, I was gone. I even left the state of Washington and headed on down to California for the first time ever. You read that right, I had never never been to California before this vacation. I can finally call myself an American. I did what you'd expect me to do while on vacation. I took silly pictures with my little sister:

Smile, Caroline, you're on TGC!

 Hung out in touristy parks doing touristy things like taking ironic pictures with my iPhone:

See that yellow house in the middle? Yeah, the Tanner family lived there!

 And essentially took a sight-seeing flight back home to a (gratefully) sunny Seattle:

Sup Shasta?

I know you though, you're here for the food.

 A soup recipe in the middle of August? I know, it’s cruel and highly unusual considering 99.9% of the country in melting away in 100+ degree heat waves. But you see, I live in the .1% of the country whose summer only just started. Yes, you read me right, most days we don’t crack 80 degrees. Just two or three weeks ago, it was in the 60’s, raining and I was eating my body weight in Pho just to stay warm. My family was out visiting and I found myself saying over and over again “I swear it’s nicer in Seattle in the summer, I swear.” Then I left for San Francisco and when I came back, it has been continual high-70’s sunny days. With low humidly.

I probably shouldn’t have told you that. Now you’re all going to move here and my rent will go up.  Please ignore the last paragraph and read all my other posts about the rain here.  And STAY AWAY.

So this soup – it’s healthy, full of fresh veggies and relies on (hopefully) some of your pantry staples. If you don’t have lentils continually on hand, please, head over to your nearest Whole Foods/Food Co-Op/bulk grocery store, grab the biggest bag you can find, fill it up, don’t break your back carrying it home and enter lentil land.

You’ll thank me.

I’m also happy to say this recipe is 95.6% my own. Researching the contents of my CSA box, I had never cooked with turnips before, and looking at what's in my pantry, this soup just kind of came to be. It’s pretty adaptable for any ingredients you have on hand. Just replace the turnips with another root vegetable (taters, carrots... bigger turnips), the chard with another cooking green and you could even substitute the lentils with white beans, or something of the like.

Greek Lentil Burgers

Many of you may not know that I took Modern Greek for two years in college.  That's right, I can totally remember everything.  Well, everything that includes the basic niceties, "I'm sorry," "where is the toilet?," how to order some food and I can probably curse on par with a Grecian sailor.  What can I say, my Greek professor taught me well!  Even though I can't remember the Greek language very well, I do remember how much I love Greek food.  If I pass a γύρο (gyro) stand, it's so hard to resist buying one.  Sometimes, I even wish I could bathe in τζατζίκι (tazatziki) sauce… I have a feeling it would at least be moisturizing!

Well, now that you know some of my intricacies, I should let you know that these lentil burgers probably aren't legitimate Greek fare.  I used the Moosewood Restaurant's Cooking For Health and these were 'inspired' by the taste of the Greek islands.  All is fine with me, because these were pretty dang delicious.  They were meaty, worked well plain or in a salad and stored well seemingly forever (they didn't last long enough my my fridge to validate this claim).  Best part?  These are incredibly budget friendly and fit well into my "eat something for a whole week" plan.

Hearty Lentil Soup

It's even better with Gruyère & Dubliner grilled cheese!  Mmm!

There is nothing worse than making a recipe… then completely forgetting what you did to make it.  All I have is this picture and a few remnants of taste memories in my mind.  Blerg.  I think it is enough to write a recipe on, I mean, lentil soup is lentil soup.  And I remember making it with only ingredients I had on hand, which means this soup is very adaptable.  At the time, I remember only having some onions, so I used onions.  However, if you have celery, carrots or even potatoes, feel free to add those in too!  The possibilities are endless!  Side note: why does lentil soup have to be so ugly and brown?  Is is SO delicious and SO healthy, but it's just so… brown.

This month I have really been trying to keep way under my budget (which isn't that large to begin with) so I started off by going to Whole Foods and completely raiding their dry and bulk food bins.  Five pounds of lentil in a bag bigger than my head?  Check.  Dried black beans, kidney beans and some white beans for good measure?  Check, check, check.  But let's not forget about the brown rice!  Double check on that one.  Oy, where is the check out?  I think you all know where I am going here… I have been making a lot of soups on Sunday and eating them through the week.  It really has been quite nice (until it gets to Friday and I am sick of eating the same thing) and I like being able to have a "home cooked meal" on Wednesday without having to lift anything more than a small saucepan to reheat my soup!

I also need to give some credit where credit is lovingly due, to my sister!  This not grainy and well lit photograph is sponsored by Santa Sister, i.e. my Christmas gift from my sister!  I would like to assume that my family follows my blog in a cult like fashion, and anyone else who does would know that I am frequently at a loss for light.  The shy Seattle sun sets mighty early in the winter (around 3 pm!) and as a result, I do most of my cooking after dark.  The lights of my kitchen or a harsh flash bouncing on every which wall of my apartment do not bode my food well.  So yes, pre-light box, I bitched about lighting a lot.  Now post-light box, I can take pictures any time of the night (I feel like an evil laugh would be appropriate here)!!  So thank you, Caroline, so very very much for giving me a light box for Christmas!  This post is solely dedicated to you!

Tomato Spinach Lentil Soup

I'm on a very healthy kick right now… minus the few pieces of chocolate I need to get me through the week.  I also am not inspired to spend a few hours in the kitchen every night.  My solution?  Soups!  Oh no, not just any soups, lentil soups.  As I am a little tight for money right now, I am looking to make things that are not only healthy and inexpensive, yet utilize fresh produce and are fun to make.  Cue lentils, spinach, tomatoes and onions.

When lentils were on sale at Whole Foods a few weeks ago, I bought a couple pounds.  However being that they only cost $1.50 a pound, I didn't have to resort to digging for quarters in my couch.  On top of their surprisingly low price, they are high in health benefits!  Worried about your cholesterol?  They have an app for that (too far?)!  Lentils are a good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber and this helps to manage blood sugar levels due to their high fiber content.  Vegetarian and worried about nutrients?  Lentils supply six important minerals, two B-vitamins and protein with (essentially) no fat.  This is just the tip on the bean stalk, if you want to find out more, head over to The World's Healthiest Foods.

I presume you're here for the main act, the soup, so I will stop with the smoke and mirrors.  Simply put, this soup has a very full and rich flavor.  It has a thicker texture than tomato soup, but the lentils provide a good amount of texture.  While the flavor of the spinach isn't too prevalent, the brightness of the tomatoes is instantly noticeable.  The amount pictured above is what I ate for lunch one day and I was very full until late in the evening.  It was a good full though; I was satisfied and full of energy.  I still have a lot of lentils to use, so I hope to post some more lentil-centric recipes in the near future!

Tomato Spinach Lentil Soup
Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon  Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 
1 Onion, diced
• 
1 Carrot, diced

• 4 Cloves Garlic, crushed

• 2 tablespoons dried thyme
• 
43 oz. Can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
  4 cups vegetable stock
• 
1 1/2 cup Lentils, rinsed and picked over for debris
  2 handfuls of baby spinach
• 
Salt & Pepper to taste


Directions:

1. Heat large cast iron pot over medium-high heat, add the olive oil.  Once oil is hot, slowly add the onions and carrots until onions are translucent, about 6 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for a minute.  Pour in the tomatoes along with the vegetable stock, spinach and lentils.  Stir to combine and bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer for 25 minutes or until lentils are tender.
3. Once lentils are tender, blend the mixture with an immersion blender (a lot easier!) or in a blender.
4. Serve and enjoy!

Red Lentil Spinach Curry

Ladies, gentlemen and casual readers of my blog, I have officially made my first legitimate meal in my new kitchen!  What better meal to make than one that's smells linger for hours afterward - curry!  Rachel, my new roommate, came home about 3 hours after I had made the curry (and cleaned up) and proclaimed that the entire condo smelled wonderfully!  Win!

I originally had intended to make this after yoga on Wednesday, but it turns out that I was in too zen of a place and lacking tomato paste.  After a quick trip to Trader Joe's (the one that I can see from my patio) on the way back from running errands, I picked up some tomato paste, some Belgian raspberry beer, a hunk of fresh ginger and a double pack of tofu.  I had originally intended to make the shopping trip much more substantial, but my shopping list had other plans.  It laid itself to rest at the bottom of a Target shopping cart... I think.

Either way, this recipe is amazing.  I don't have too much experience cooking with lentils; out of all the varieties red lentils are the easiest to cook with.  Primarily they just don't take as long to cook, hence hurry curry.  Another bonus is that you probably have most of these ingredients somewhere buried in your cupboards.  However, if your curry powder was discovered in the back of your pantry... you might want to consider replacing it; curry powders go stale pretty fast.


Lentil Spinach Hurry Curry
Adapted from Kitchen Demure

• 1 cup red lentils
• 2 ¼ cups water
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp ginger, grated
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp of Garam Masala
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• A couple of handfuls of chopped spinach
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a small to medium pan add the oil and the onions. Turn the heat to med/high and saute, stirring constantly until they soften a little.
2. Add the garlic and the ginger and continue to stir. When the mixture is lightly golden, add the curry powder and stir for another 20 seconds or until you can smell the spices.
3. Add the lentils and water and bring to a simmer. Let the lentils cook for 15-20 min.
4. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the spinach leaves and serve.