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!

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.

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.