Lentil Chili

I've been looking for a copycat recipe for the TastyBite Madras Lentils for a little while without any luck, but tonight I was craving some healthy chili goodness so I found this recipe on AllRecipes.  I wound up adapting it quite a bit, but I love the use of the bulgar wheat.  It creates a similar mouthfeel to the ground beef substitute that we put in chili sometimes, but isn't so many questionable chemicals, and it's cheap.  And we have it in the house.

I adapted the recipe quite a bit, so this is what I did:
Ingredients:
5-10 cloves garlic
1 cup lentils
1 cup bulgar wheat
1 onion chopped/1 tbsp dried onion
2 cans diced tomatoes
3 cups vegetable broth
2-4 tbsp chili powder
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup heavy cream (optional)

Process:
1.) Soak the lentils for an hour or so or boil them for a bit - maybe for about 10 minutes.
2.) Saute garlic and onion until clear.
3.) Add lentils and bulgar, then toss in tomatoes and juice, and vegetable broth.  Add chili powder and salt and pepper.
4.) Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 20-30 minutes, adding more water/broth if necessary.
5.) Once lentils are soft and delicious, serve up and add heavy cream to taste.  I find I need a bit of it to help offset the heat of the chili powder.

You could also do this in a crockpot by just tossing everything in and cooking for 4-6 hours on low.

Butternut Squash Apple Soup

Mr. Barefoot and I went out recently to spend a gift certificate we got at a silent auction and tried a wonderful butternut-squash apple soup.  I found this recipe when I was looking for healthy recipes to eat during the stressful and overindulgent holiday season and plan to try it this week.  It combines leeks, apples, ginger and butternut squash, so I feel like it must be delicious.
Ingredients:

1 1/2 Tbsp ginger root, fresh, grated  
1 medium leek(s), white part only, coarsely chopped  
4 3/4 oz frozen apple juice concentrate (undiluted), about 1/2 cup  
3 large apple(s), Golden Delicious, peeled, cored and cut into eighths  
3 pound(s) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut in chunks (about 1 large squash)
4 cup(s) canned chicken broth, divided (I'll be using veggie bullion)
1/2 tsp table salt  
1/2 tsp black pepper  
1/2 cup(s) fat-free half-and-half

Procedure:

Combine ginger, leek and apple juice concentrate in a large pot; cover and simmer until leeks are tender, about 10 minutes. Add apples, squash and 1 cup broth; cover and simmer until very tender, about 1 hour. [I will probably do this in the slow cooker.]

Purée soup in pot using a hand-held immersion blender. Or purée soup in a blender in small batches (be careful not to splatter hot liquid) and return puréed soup to pot.

Add remaining 3 cups broth, salt and pepper; simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes. Stir in half and half and serve. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

I'll be updating as soon as I've tried this.  We'll probably serve it with goat cheese crostini.

Just tweeted my first full recipe.

Yes Virginia, homemade tortilla chips are so easy that you can fit the recipe into 180 characters!  Plus, tasty and low in fat.  We're using them for a tortilla soup we haven't made in ages, but is one of the reasons I agreed to marry Mr. Barefoot. 

Meatless Monday: Winter Lager Soup

I'm a big fan of cooking with beer, so when I was looking through a seasonal cookbook (Local Delectables: Seasonal Recipes from the Pioneer Valley) gifted to me by a friend and found a Winter Lager Soup, I was eager to try it. We cooked it in the crockpot even though it's a stovetop recipe, and it came out okay. There are some changes I would make for next time.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp sunflower oil (I used olive oil)

3 ½ cups white onion, diced (I used one small onion - I think next time I would use the full 3.5 cups)

6 large cloves garlic, minced (we only had 2 cloves)

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried tarragon

1 tsp salt (I needed to add way more than 1 tsp)

3 lbs Russet potatoes, cubed (I think I came out with less than 3 lbs because the potatoes they had at Cross Street Market were lousy and full of eyes. Also, cube them fairly small - bite sized - something like 1/2 inch cubes)

1 ½ cups lager beer (I used Yuengling)

7 cups water (I used 6, because I was crockpotting. I think next time, with the crockpot, I would reduce this even more and use 3-4)

In a large stock pot, heat oil over med-high heat; sauté onions and garlic until lightly browned.

Stir in spices, potatoes, beer, and water.

Bring soup to a boil, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cover and cook for 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. (Or put in your crockpot which cooks on crazy high heat and cook for 2.5-3 hours on high.)

Serve topped with whole wheat toast covered with melted Gruyere cheese. (I used whole wheat toast with melted parmesean cheese, but it added a whole other dimension to what would have been a watery broth. I also covered the soup with parm, which was also a nice addition.)

I also added a box of mushrooms to the soup, which gave it some more stuff, since we were eating the soup for dinner and not as an appetizer.

Verdict: The soup was okay - I think next time I would add more stuff to it, like carrots, celery, and white beans. It did smell amazing, and was nice and warm for the winter.

Sweet Potato Coconut Bisque

Okay. So if you were on my moot court team, you would find bisque funny. But you aren't, so I'm not gonna bother. This came out a little thin this time, but its pretty good. It's based off of this recipe. I sorta halved it - using only one sad potato that we had left and a half an onion.
Ingredients:
4-5 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 sweet yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 c. broth
1 (15 oz.) can Coconut Milk
1 1/2 c. Milk
salt and pepper to taste
Procedure:
1. Saute onion and garlic in frying pan. Add to slow cooker stoneware.
2. Add sweet potatoes to stoneware.
3. Pour in broth.
4. Cook for 6 hours.
5. Use immersion blender to blend sweet potatoes and onions.
6. Add coconut milk and milk. Cook for another hour or two.

Thanksgiving at my folk's place doesn't usually involve theatrics and pagentry and "lets all admire the beautiful dinner". (Pretty much everything is served out of Pyrex dishes and Corelle bowls. My mom finally bought a set of casserole dishes. We don't use them.) But I think that a giant stuffed pumpkin with soup inside it might be amazing...

Minestrone

This is my favorite soup. Well, one of two. We used to make it a lot, back when we were in college. Sam really liked it too, and I think even Tom would eat it. It's especially good with some focaccia bread to dunk. It's perfect for today's chilly fall weather.
Ingredients

• 1 large onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 carrots, diced
  
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1 large potato, diced
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can kidney beans
• 4 cups vegetable broth (I use bullion. It's cheaper and takes up less space in the cabinet.)
• 1 cup water.
• 1/2 cup pasta
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
  

Equipment

• 1 large pot
• Cutting board
• Vidalia Chop Wizard (its one of those as-seen-on-TV things, but it totally works and I swear by it).

Procedure

1. Saute onion and garlic until transparent
   
2. Add carrots and celery and saute for a few minutes
   
3. Add potato, continue to saute
4. Add tomatoes, beans, and broth
5. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes
6. Add pasta
7. Bring to a second boil for 15 minutes
8. Add rosemary
9. Let continue to simmer for another 10 minutes, or until carrots are soft.