Monday
Bree's lentil soup (recipe in the comments)
Grainy bread and butter
Butter lettuce salad with baked goat cheese, dried cherries, and pecans
Hot tea
English toffee
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It was gloriously warm here today, but has turned rainy and the temperatures are dropping, prefacing a decent size snow fall over the next couple of days. Soup was an ideal dinner choice. Somehow lentil soup; though warm and perfect for this cold, damp night; reminds me of spring - a reminder I need in these early March days! This is a recipe we've had for a long time and that we both really like. The standard procedure is to saute everything and then simmer for an hour. This makes it a less than ideal dinner for a weeknight, and I have long wanted to convert it into a slow cooker recipe. Tonight was the night and I cannot believe how much better this is as a crock pot soup! I was simply hoping for more convenient prep, but the slow cooking really allowed the flavors to marry and made an incredibly tastier end product. Fantastic! The baked goat cheese was another new experiment. We sliced goat cheese and briefly broiled it to brown and then let it cool to room temp. Another success!
Prep Notes
Difficulty: Long unattended simmering (in a crock pot or on the stove), but super easy prep.
Chopping: Onion, garlic, goat cheese
Time: 20 minutes prep; 1, 4, or 8 hours of cooking
Make ahead: This is excellent leftover and makes a huge amount, so it's great to freeze.
Reaction
J: "I can't believe this is SO much better!"
M: "Chevre me timbers and lentil it be!"
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It's been said that the average American family is stuck in a ten dinner rut, meaning they repeat the same ten meals over and over, week after week. I can't believe that's true, so here's a forum to write about "what's for dinner?". I want to cook a wide variety of meals that are tasty, easy to prepare, inexpensive, healthy, and sustainable. Is that too much to ask? I don't think so.
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4 comments:
Bree’s Lentil Soup –M&J (inspired by Cooking Light)
Serves 8
1 T olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 t turmeric
1 t ground cumin
1 t chili powder
¼ heaping t cayenne
½ t salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 ½ cups water
6 cups chicken broth
2 ⅓ cups brown lentils
⅓ cup cilantro, chopped
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, UNDRAINED
Chopped fresh tomato
Cilantro
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté for 3 minutes. Add turmeric, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, salt, and garlic. Sauté for 1 minute.
Spray the inside of a 6 quart slow cooker. Add onion mixture, water, broth, lentils, cilantro, and tomatoes. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Puree with immersion blender. Serve with sprinklings of fresh tomato and cilantro springs.
I, also, LOVE my crockpot! (More so with each additional child.) I am now struggling with my conscience regarding the chicken broth and making this for dinner on Friday (it's not REALLY meat, now, is it?).
I have *certainly* not counted chicken broth as meat on many a Lenten Friday! That said, i have road tested this with veggie broth for our vegetarian friends and it comes out great. Just a thought for your consideration :)
Oh, yeah...good idea...
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