Green Lentil Soup with Curried Brown Butter

I finally made a dinner worthy of the blog. As much as I normally love my quality kitchen time,  I've been a bit lazy about trying new recipes lately. This one is exceptionally delicious. I always say that, I know, but really, it is awesome. I actually went back for a second serving, because I couldn't resist the spicy, warm taste. I can't wait for lunch tomorrow! 

I served the soup with a piece of toasted garlic naan. The original author recommended pan frying a few paneer cubes in the leftover brown butter and topping the lentil soup with them. I must try that!

Original Inspiration: Super Natural Every Day

Serving Size: 5 big servings

WW: 8 pointsplus per serving

Ingredients: 

2 tablespoons extra-virgin coconut oil or unsalted butter

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

5 1/2 cups of vegetable broth 

1 1/2 cups (10.5 oz) green lentils, picked over and rinsed (you could also use green split peas)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, sliced into 3 or 4 pats

1 tablespoon Indian curry powder

1/2 cup light coconut milk

sea salt

fresh chives, minced 

Method: 

Melt the 2 tablespoons of coconut oil or butter in a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook for a few minutes, stirring regularly, until the onions soften. 

Add the vegetable broth and lentils, cover, and simmer until the lentils are tender. This will likely take between 25-45 minutes, depending on the lentils. It took about 30-35 minutes for me using sprouted green lentils. 

When the lentils are almost done, it is brown butter time. Listen carefully, my friends, as I had to do this twice since I burned my first batch.  This whole process will take about 3-4 minutes. Pull out a small, thick-bottom saucepan or skillet and set the 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Whisk the butter frequently as it cooks. Once the butter melts, it will start to foam up - keep whisking. When the foam subsides, watch the butter carefully and remove from the heat as soon as the butter starts to smell nutty and light brown specks start to form on the bottom of the pan. Whisk in the curry powder and stir until the spices are fragrant, which should take less than a minute. 

When the lentils are tender, remove them from the heat and stir in the coconut milk and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Then, puree with an immersion blender to your desired texture. You can leave it a bit chunky, as I did, or puree it until it is smooth. Stir in half of the curried brown butter and taste. You may need to add more salt at this point, depending on the saltiness of your stock. Serve drizzled with the remaining spiced butter and a healthy sprinkling of minced chives. 

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Spoon Bread

Happy New Year to my beloved readers! The holidays were great, but I am happy to be back in my routine and on track food-wise. Today was my first day totally on plan in a long, long time. 

I received a plethora of cookbooks for Christmas, so I am starting to crack them open to find some tasty new recipes.  I was most excited about getting Heidi Swanson's first cookbook - Super Natural Cooking. When I saw this spoon bread recipe, I knew that I couldn't live without trying it. I had never tried spoon bread before, but the idea of a casserole-like dish with sweet potatoes and goat cheese was exciting to me. I was surprised by the texture (like a cross between stuffing and mashed potatoes - in a good way), but the taste was as fantastic as I envisioned. It could be served as an entree with a green salad or as a side dish.

I'm posting the recipe now, because I want you all to see its sweet orange-y beauty, but I do think that I can get the points down a bit lower. Maybe a little less butter? I'll play around with it next time I make it and edit the recipe if I can drop a few points.

Original inspiration:  Super Natural Cooking

Servings:  6 generous portions

WW: 9 points plus per serving

Ingredients:

3 cooked medium-large sweet potatoes, peeled (I baked up some sweet potatoes last night and then just scooped out the flesh when I started cooking tonight)

1/3 cup unsalted butter

4 large shallots

6 ounces goat cheese

3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (or white whole-wheat flour)

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon salt

freshly ground pepper

1 cup boiling water

3 large eggs

Method:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Butter a 2 quart casserole dish.

Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat and then add the shallots. Cook the shallots, stirring frequently, until they are golden and the butter has browned, which should take 8-10 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk the goat cheese with a fork until it is fluffy and light. I needed to add a tablespoon of water, since my goat cheese was a bit dry.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Begin to add the boiling water slowly, first making a paste and then just working to make sure it is all incorporated. It is OK if the batter is a bit lumpy. Add 3 cups of the sweet potatoes to the bowl and blend. Stir in the shallots and browned butter. Then, stir in one egg at a time and mix until well combined.

Pour the sweet potato mixture into the prepared casserole dish and top with the whipped goat cheese. Using a spatula, press the goat cheese into the mixture and even out the top of the sweet potatoes. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the goat cheese begins to color and the sweet potatoes have set.

Heidi Swanson recommends serving the spoon bread topped with a little Parmesan cheese, but I found it unnecessary. The sweetness from the potatoes and tang of the goat cheese didn't need anything extra. Enjoy! 



Quick & Hearty Orzo Soup

Happy Thanksgiving, my loyal readers! Sorry for the delay in posting. I didn't make many healthy recipes during the holidays, I have to admit. Thanksgiving was spent at my parents' house in Maine. My parents and sisters don't really cook much, but we had the usual standards for the holiday. They consider me to be a bit of an overly adventurous chef, but I did bring some good stuff to the table. I made homemade gingersnaps to serve with Pumpkin Mousse Dip, the not-really-Thanksgiving-y, but nonetheless always requested Cooking Light Spinach Artichoke Dip, and a big spinach salad with roasted sweet potatoes, feta, and candied pecans. I made some delicious Brown Sugar Rosemary Pecans to add to my salad. Any weight I gain this week is likely due to my inability to keep my hand out of the pecan jar. 

After several days of utter gluttony, I needed to get back on track and cook something healthy. I also organized my overflowing cupboards and realized I had several open boxes of orzo. A little recipe hunting and voila - a healthy, incredibly easy orzo soup for this chilly Sunday night! I'm giving you two topping options below for both the spice lovers and the wusses out there. 

Original Inspiration:  101 Cookbooks

Serving Size: 6 servings

WW: 7 pointsplus (1 1/4 cups of soup, 2 tablespoons of tomato mixture, 1/2 ounce of either feta or parmesan)

Ingredients: 

7 cups vegetable broth (I used low-sodium Kitchen Essentials chicken stock, as it was all I had on hand)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat orzo

3-4 cups spinach or chard, chopped

3 egg whites

sea salt (to taste)

Topping options:  For either choice - make sure that your olive oil is good quality. In my opinion, the greener, the better. This soup is so simply flavored that you want the best quality ingredients you can find. Also, I recommend the Muir Glen Organic fire-roasted diced tomatoes. I stock up on them when I find them on sale. Great product. 

Spicy

14 ounces fire-roasted diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons harissa

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

6 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

Mild

14 ounces fire-roasted diced tomatoes

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 - 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

3 ounces fresh, grated parmesan cheese

Method:

Bring the broth to a boil in a soup pot or medium-sized dutch oven. Stir in the orzo and cook until tender, which should take around 8-10 minutes. Add the raw, chopped spinach. 

In a separate, small saucepan, add your tomatoes, evoo, and red pepper flakes or harissa and cook on low until warm. Taste and add salt, if needed. 

Right before you are ready to eat, whisk the egg whites into the soup quickly. The whites will give the soup almost a creamy consistency. Taste and add salt to the soup, if you need to brighten up the flavors a bit. I added a few turns of fresh ground black pepper as well. 

Serve in individual bowls each topped with the tomato mixture you chose and about a tablespoon (1/2 ounce) of cheese. 

This is such a quick and easy recipe - I had a hearty soup perfect for the cold weather on the table in less than 30 minutes. I served the soup with a heat and serve mini baguette that I had in the freezer. Fresh rolls or bread would be even better. Enjoy!

Heirloom Bean & Farro Stew

There's nothing better than a hearty vegetable stew bubbling away on the stove once cold weather hits. This one is excellent and a great base that can accommodate a variety of different greens, beans, and grains. I cooked a mixture of organic heirloom beans from scratch, but I think you could use canned kidney or pinto beans if you are short on time.

You could top the stew with a healthy amount of freshly grated parmesan cheese or another salty cheese. I followed one of the original blog's suggestions and mixed together 1 tablespoon of harissa, 1 teaspoon olive oil, and .5 ounces feta cheese to dollop on top of each bowl. Exceptional.

Original Source: 101 Cookbooks
Serving Size: 10 servings (approximately 1.5 cups each)
WW: 6 pointsplus per serving

Ingredients:

1 pound (16 ounces) red beans (or mixture of heirloom beans, if available), soaked for at least 4 hours, then drained
10 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
28 ounces canned whole, peeled tomatoes, drained and chopped
8 ounces new potatoes, chopped (I used organic fingerling potatoes)
2 cups (13 ounces) pearled farro
2 cups vegetable stock or water
1 large bunch kale, destemmed and chopped (you could use chard, spinach and/or savoy cabbage)
sea salt & pepper

Method:

Cook the beans in a large pot with 10 cups of water according to the directions on the package (mine required boiling unattended for 2 hours). When they are tender, remove a big scoop of them from the pot, mash them up in a bowl, and then return the mash to the pot.

In a separate pan, saute the onions in the olive oil over medium-high heat and add them to the bean broth when they just begin to brown. Stir in carrots, celery, potatoes, farro, and tomatoes. Bring the liquid to a boil again, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the farro and vegetables are cooked through.

Add vegetable stock to the stew one cup at a time until it is the consistency you prefer. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and taste - you may need to add more based on your own taste preferences. I also added a good amount of fresh ground pepper.

Stir in the greens and cook for a few minutes more. Serve topped with harissa and feta mixture or fresh grated parmesan.

Wild Rice Casserole

This is going to be a new comfort food in my house. It's creamy, hearty, and smells amazing bubbling away in the oven. You can make this with just wild rice or brown rice, or a combination of the two. I followed the author's suggestion and made 1/2 wild rice and 1/2 brown rice. Delicious combination!

Original inspiration: Super Natural Every Day

Serving size: 6 main-course sized portions (could be served as a side-dish as well)

WW: 5 pointsplus per serving

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 cup (8 ounces) low fat cottage cheese

1/2 cup (4 ounces) low fat sour cream

2 teaspoons Dijon or whole grain mustard (if your Dijon is super spicy, use less)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

10 ounces cremini mushrooms, chopped

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 ounce gruyere cheese, grated

1 teaspoon fresh tarragon or thyme, finely chopped

1 1/4 cups wild rice and/or brown rice (I made mine fresh, but you could use frozen)

sea salt

Method:

Bring a pot of your rice(s), 3 cups of water, and about 1/2 teaspoons of salt to a boil. Let simmer for 45-50 minutes or until the water is all absorbed and the rice is tender.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a baking dish (about 9" by 13") with olive oil or butter.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, mustard, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

In a large skillet, combine the olive oil and a few pinches of salt and turn the heat to high. Stir in the mushrooms and then do not touch them again for 5 minutes (until any water from the mushrooms evaporate). Continue to cook the mushrooms until they are browned, stirring every minute or two. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes until they become translucent. Then, stir in the garlic and cook until it becomes fragrant (about a minute). Remove the skillet from the heat.

Add the rice mixture to the skillet and stir until it is combined well, then add everything to the cottage cheese mixture. Mix well and then transfer to the prepared baking dish. Spread the mixture evenly into the baking dish and top with the grated gruyere cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the casserole gets golden brown along the edges (about 20-30 additional minutes). Serve the casserole hot, right from the oven, with minced tarragon and another sprinkle of grated gruyere, if you want it (extra pointsplus). I served this as a main course with a side of arugula salad with apples, blue cheese, and apple cider vinaigrette. Excellent!

Mexican Lentil Burgers

I have had a bag of black lentils sitting in my cupboard for a while now. I impulse buy legumes. I've been searching for a new recipe to try and here it is. Really tasty and the base (lentils, eggs, breadcrumbs, salt) could accommodate a million different flavor profiles.




Original inspiration: 101 Cookbooks
Serving size: 12 burgers
WW: 3 pointsplus per burger

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked black lentils (I cooked 1 cup dry lentils in 4 cups water with 3 crushed garlic cloves)
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup toasted whole wheat bread crumbs
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces canned green chiles, chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
hot sauce (optional, to taste)


Method: 

Combine lentils, eggs, chili powder, cumin, and salt in the food processor and puree for about a minute (until it has the texture of hummus). Add the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the green chiles, hot sauce (if you want it), and onion (I pulsed the onion in the food processor). Add the toasted bread crumbs, stir, and let sit for a few minutes so the bread crumbs absorb some of the moisture.

Your mixture should be fairly moist. If it feels too dry, you should add more egg or water. Form the mixture into 12 equal-sized patties (around 1" thick). I put the patties on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper as I formed them and started cooking.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet on medium-low heat. Add four patties to the skillet, cover, and cook for 7-10 minutes.  The bottoms of the burgers should be brown when you flip them over. Cook the other side for 7-10 minutes (or until golden brown).

You can continue to cook all 12 patties (using the extra tablespoon of olive oil as you need it) or wrap the leftover uncooked patties individually in plastic wrap and refridgerate (for up to a week) or freeze (I put my wrapped burgers in a freezer bag to be safe). Then just cook them up as you want them!

Top your burger with your favorite toppings (extra pointsplus). I added reduced fat mexican cheese, guacamole, and tomatillo salsa to ours and they were delicious.

Potato Leek Soup

<- Dinner tonight. Actually, it is lunch tomorrow, but dinner came from the same pot. I've actually never had potato leek soup until I made this recipe. It was very tasty and super healthy. I can't really compare it to regular potato leek soup, but give this healthier version a try! 

Original inspiration: SkinnyTaste

Serving: 6 servings (about a 1 & 1/4 cups each)

WW: 4 pointsplus

Ingredients: 

3-4 medium sized leeks, dark green stems removed

1 small onion, diced

2 large russet potatoes, peeled  and cut into cubes

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon butter

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1/2 cup milk (I used skim and it turned out fine)

salt and pepper to taste (for me, that means an unbelievably large amount of pepper)

Method: 

You need to make sure that you clean the leeks very well, since the layers hold a lot of dirt in. What I do is cut the bottoms off and remove the dark green tops of the leeks. Then I cut them lengthwise into quarters and chop them coarsely. I use my salad spinner to rinse and spin the leeks dry. You could just use a strainer and wash them well. 

In a medium soup pot (I used my 3.5 quart dutch oven & it was perfect - don't use anything smaller), melt butter on a low flame and stir in the flour. Mix well as this is the base of your soup. 

Add leeks, potatoes, onion, and broth to the pot, raise the burner up to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low for 20-25 minutes. The potatoes should be very soft. Add milk, salt, and pepper. You can either serve the soup chunky or blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

I was satisfied eating one serving and a few slices of baguette for dinner.  You could also serve this as an appetizer and probably get 10+ servings from this recipe.

Kale Chips

Smitten Kitchen is the world's greatest food blog. It is official. Deb, the queen of Smitten, is the wonderful person who first introduced me to kale chips. Oh kale chips...how I love thee. Hardly a week goes by without these crispy little super foods accompanying my dinner. They are great with a burger instead of fries. Delish!

Original inspiration: Smitten Kitchen

Serving Size: 2

WW: 2 pointsplus per serving

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of kale (lacinato or curly - it doesn't matter)

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

Method:

The secret to this recipe is the olive oil to kale ratio. Too much olive oil makes them limp. I find that one teaspooon of evoo for every 4 ounces of kale works best. I'm very scientific like that. This recipe can be easily adjusted to make enough for 1 or 10. This recipe is for two large portions.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Desteam kale and tear into small-medium sized pieces. Wash well and dry.

Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper (or any other spices you like). Spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet (you might need more than one). Bake for 20 minutes or until crisp. Let cool for about 5 minutes, then serve.

I love topping them with nutritional yeast or parmesan cheese. So good! An easy way to get your WW healthy oils and veggie healthy checks.

Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes

I love mashed potatoes, but they are so bad for you and typically lack any nutritional benefits. This recipe helped me make decadent tasting mashed potatoes, but still get a couple of those good health guidelines met. They are great served with roast chicken!

Original Inspiration: I think I got inspired while watching Everyday Food on PBS
Servings: 2 (double or triple the recipe for more people)
WW: 5 pointsplus per serving

Ingredients:

12 ounces of small red potatoes, skin on (the creamer potatoes work well)
4 teaspoons olive oil (buy the high quality stuff!)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste


Method:

Steam potatoes for around 30 minutes or until your fork slides out of the potatoes very easily. I am sure that you could also boil the potatoes, but I have always steamed them in my steamer basket on the stove.

The potatoes should be very easy to mash at this point. Add olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mash! They look good on the plate garnished with extra lemon zest or chopped chives. So good and you can both of your healthy oil servings for the day!

Lentil Tacos

This recipe is absolutely delicious. I'm saying that as a person who doesn't particularly like lentils. Usually the texture is too lentilly for me. Lentil tacos changed all that!

Original inspiration: allrecipes.com
Servings: 4 (3 tacos each serving)
WW: 10 pointsplus when I make it (depends on the tortillas you choose)

Ingredients:

1 cup lentils (I prefer sprouted green lentils, but I think anything can work)
1 cup salsa (whatever kind you like - I've used green and traditional and both turned out great)
2 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 cups onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons olive or canola oil
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon ground oregano
12 taco shells or taco-sized tortillas (3 per serving - I typically use blue corn crunchy shells, but you can find lower pp options)

Method:

Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet until hot, then add the onions and garlic and saute until tender.

Add the lentils, chili powder, cumin, and oregano; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are tender.

Uncover; cook for 6-8 minutes while mashing the lentils slightly. Stir in salsa. Each taco should have approximately 1/4 cup of filling. Top with all of your favorite taco fillings: cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream or guacamole (additional pointsplus).

Moo Shu Tofu

Here's a great 'Meatless Monday' recipe for you all. I get this as a dinner request fairly frequently. It tastes just like moo shu from a restaurant, but way healthier.

Original Inspiration: Weight Watchers website
Servings: 4
WW: 7 pointsplus (1/2 c. filling, 2 tortillas, and 2T hoisin sauce)





Ingredients:

	2 tsp vegetable oil
	12 oz extra firm tofu, cut into 1-inch or smaller chunks
	3 cups packaged coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)
	2 cups mushrooms, sliced
	1 1/2 cups sweet red peppers, sliced
	1 cups scallions, sliced
	1 Tbsp minced garlic
	1 Tbsp ginger root, minced (I typically buy minced ginger root in a tube in the produce section - time saver!)
	2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
	8 medium low-carb tortillas (I recommend Trader Joe's or Tumaro low carb tortillas)
	8 Tbsp hoisin sauce

Method:

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add tofu and cook over high heat, 5 minutes, turning occasionally until golden. Remove to a plate.

Heat remaining teaspoon oil in skillet. Add coleslaw mix, mushrooms, and red pepper and stir-fry over high heat, 5 minutes, until crisp-tender. Add scallions, garlic and ginger and stir-fry 1 minute until fragrant.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in soy sauce.

To serve, heat tortillas as package directs (typically microwave for 10-20 seconds). Each tortilla should be filled with approximately 1/2 c. of tofu mixture and topped with 1 Tbsp of hoisin sauce each.

For leftovers, store the tofu mixture separately and reheat the next day before adding to your tortillas.