Ham Lentil Soup Friday, Jan 11 2013

We had this yummy soup at a friends’ house a while back, and I had to get the recipe to share here! So yummy, and perfect for winter. 🙂

Lentil Soup

1 cup lentils (green)
5 cups water
2 Tbsp chicken boullion
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup ham, diced
1/2 cup carrots, sliced
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 large potato, diced (opt)

Bring water, seasonings and lentils to a boil and turn heat down and simmer for about 30 minutes. 20 minutes into the cooking, add veggies. When lentils are soft, add ham and simmer a few more minutes to warm it up.

Serve as soup, or cook until very thick and serve over rice.

 

This picture is the same recipe, I simply added some other beans to it. 🙂

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Rice and Lentils Soup Monday, Oct 22 2012

I cut a circle in a piece of fabric and inserted it between the jar’s lid and ring to dress it up a bit. Then I attached the recipe card with a rubber band around the jar.

I was looking for a soup-in-a-jar recipe to give to a friend (part of a housewarming gift). I came across this recipe and it sounded yummy. It looks so pretty layered in the jar! I made a batch of the soup for ourselves too, to make sure it tasted good before giving it away! 🙂  It’s a very hearty soup, exactly what my husband likes, and we quite enjoyed it.

We asked our 18-mth old (who was devouring bowls and bowls of it) if he liked it, and he quickly said “No!” while continuing to devour the soup in his bowl. Can you guess what his favourite word currently is?? 🙂  Gotta work on learning the word YES! 😉

Another way to dress up the lid if by cutting a large circle, and attaching it below the lid of the jar. This way hides the whole lid/ring, but also hides part of the layers of the contents.

Rice and Lentils Soup

2 Tbsp chicken bouillon powder
1/3 cup rice
1/3 cup red lentils
1 Tbsp parsley
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1/3 cup rice
1/3 cup green lentils
8 cups water
1/4 cup chopped celery (opt)
1 cup cooked chicken pieces (opt)

Layer in a 1 pint jar, in the above order (minus water, celery, and chicken, of course!). Seal with a lid and ring.

Attach a note to the jar:
To make soup, bring water to a boil in a large pot. Pour in contents of the jar and add celery and chicken, if desired. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and let simmer 30-45 minutes, until lentils are tender.

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Lentil Meatloaf Monday, Sep 17 2012

That’s right! Lentil meatloaf! And guess what? My family loves it! 😀  I’ve made it twice already, and both times my sons just gobble it up like there’s no tomorrow. That makes this mama happy! 😉  I’m so excited at this recipe. It’s an awesome vegetarian meal for sure!

Feel free to play around with the seasonings as this recipe is not overly strong in that area. I wanted it to be plain enough for my boys to eat. We eat it with extra ketchup on top. Yum!

Lentil meatloaf

3/4 cup breadcrumbs
2 cups lentils, cooked
1 large onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp worcertershire sauce
2 eggs
2 Tbsp kethup

Put onion and garlic in food processor until chopped up. Add remaining ingredients and proceed a little bit until all mixed. You don’t want to over puree your food, but have it mashed together a bit. Pour into greased bread pan (or any other pan!), top with ketchup. Bake at 350F for 40 minutes.

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Hearty Harvest Bread Monday, Mar 19 2012

I was wanting to make a very healthy bread, packed with nutrients, iron, and overall goodness. A bread that can boost the system, and help one recover from a long illness. So, I partially followed a recipe from Eat More Whole Grains, and adapted it to my preference. 🙂  Bread is versatile (other than the basic water, yeast, and flour!), so go ahead and experiment! I was pleased with how fluffy this bread turned out, even though it has so many hearty ingredients.

 

Hearty Harvest Bread

3 1/2 cups lukewarm water
3 Tbsp yeast
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup flax, ground (I use my coffee grinder)
1 Tbsp salt
1/2 cup cracked grain (I used Red River ceral)
2 eggs
1 cup lentil puree*
2 Tbsp vinegar/lemon juice (keeps bread more moist)
1 chewable vitamin C (I have powder vitamin C, keeps bread moist longer, optional)
3/4 cup oatmeal, cooked**
1/4 cup molasses (I used blackstrap, richer in iron)
11-15 cups flour (I used spelt)

If using regular yeast: dissolve yeast, and water, let sit 3 minutes. (If using instant yeast, simply add it in with the flour – saves a step!)

Add remaining ingredients, except flour, and mix briefly. Add flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Knead to develop the gluten. Depending if you knead by machine or hand, it may take 8-12 minutes (4 minutes for spelt flour). Place in a slightly greased bowl, cover, let rise until it doubles in volume (about 1hr). Punch down, let rise another 30-45 min until it has risen again. Punch down, divide into 4 sections, shape into loaves. Place in greased bread pans, cover and let rise until doubled. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cover the tops with foil paper towards the end of cooking time if the crusts get darker than desired. Cool completely on cooling rack.

Freezes well! When thawing out, remove loaf from bag so the moisture doesn’t make bread soggy.

* I cooked red lentils until mushed, similarly to oatmeal! 1/2 cup lentils and 1 1/4 cup water, bring to a boil and let simmer for 20-30 minutes until cooked and mushed. Can blend in blender, if desired. I used it as is.
** I put 1/3 cup of quick oatmeal in a bowl, add 2/3 cup water, microwave for 1 minute, and voila! Ready to throw into the bread. 🙂

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Tomato Lentil Pasta Sauce Wednesday, Oct 19 2011

I’ve been incorporating more beans and lentils into our meals recently. Why? Because it has great health benefits, and because it’s much cheaper than meat! Also, we eat way more meat than we need, so this is a way to reduce that and hopefully become even healthier. I found this Tomato Lentil Pasta Sauce recipe in a Canadian Living magazine. I made it on pasta like they recommend, but I think it would taste great on rice too!

Tomato Lentil Pasta Sauce

2 Tbsp oil
1 onion, minced
1 carrot, diced
1 rib celery, diced
3 clove garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp thyme
3/4 cup dried green lentils
1 can (28oz) whole tomatoes
1/4 cup dry red wine or water
1 1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, or chopped celery leaves

Heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and thyme, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, about 8 minutes. Stir in lentils, tomatoes, wine/water, and 1 1/2 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened and lentils are tender, about 35 minutes. Discard bay leaves, stir in parsley/celery leaves. Serve over pasta or rice.

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Lentil Chili Friday, Oct 14 2011

I’m always on the lookout for new recipes that use beans and lentils. They are so healthy for us, reduce our meat intake (which is a good thing!), and stretch the food budget. I was excited to come across this lentil chili recipe over at Raising Olives. I tried, using soy protein instead of ground beef, making it a completely vegetarian chili. It is very different than a traditional chili, but tasted wonderful! We ate ours over brown rice and really enjoyed it. I will definitely be making this again, and again, and again!

Go ahead and try it! 🙂

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Kusherie (Lentils and Rice dish) Wednesday, Sep 21 2011

A very tasty vegetarian meal. I love the combination of rice and lentils! Thanks to my sister Milca for sharing her recipe!

 

Rice and Lentils

(Serves 6-8)

1 1/4 cup lentils
1 1/2 cups rice*
2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
dash pepper

Heat in a heavy saucepan 2 Tbsp oil, add lentils, brown over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add 3 cups boiling water or stock, salt, and pepper. Cook uncovered 10 minutes over medium heat. Stir in rice and 1 cup boiling water or stock. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, and cook 25 minutes.

* This recipe uses white rice. We used brown rice and simply cooked it longer once we added the rice to the lentils.

 

Tomato Sauce

3/4 cup tomato paste
3 cups tomato juice, puree, OR sauce
1 green pepper, chopped
chopped celery leaves
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne peppers, or crushed chilis
3 onions sliced*
4 cloves garlic, minced

In a saucepan, heat together all ingredients except onions and garlic. Bring sauce to boil, reduce heat, and simmer 20-30 minutes. Heat a little bit of oil in a small skillet. Saute onions and garlic over medium heat until browned.

*I only used one onion, and added the garlic to the sauce. It’s versatile!

TO SERVE: Put rice and lentil mixture on platter, pour tomato sauce over, and top with onions and garlic.

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Sweet and Sour Lentils Friday, Jul 29 2011

We enjoy having a meatless meal once in a while, and this is a favourite. This time, we made it as a little side dish to our yummy salad supper. It was delicious! Thanks to my friend Lynne for sharing this recipe with me a few years ago. Here’s one easy, yummy recipe. My sister thinks it needs a bit more “bite” to it, so alter it as you wish. We like it just as it is!

Sweet and Sour Lentils

1 cup red lentils
2 cups water
2 tsp veggie/chicken bouillon powder
1 bay leaf
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup apple/pineapple juice
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 onion, diced and sauteed (optional)

Bring water to a boil. Add bouillon, bay leaf, salt, and lentils. Simmer 20 minutes or until cooked through. Add remaining ingredients, heat until bubbly. Serve over rice.

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