Monthly Archives: March 2012

Crunchy Cold Lentil Salad (Oil-Free)

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Life has been CRAZY lately! Our youngest is almost 8 months old and just started crawling! I’m almost completely done with my shopping/wardrobe makeover so I’m really happy about that! Life is good, I can’t complain!

So… I’m totally addicted to the oil-free lentil salads at Whole Foods! Since WF is 20 miles away and costs a wee bit more than you’re usual takeout food (my hubby calls it “Whole Paycheck”) I decided to come up with my own lentil salad recipe. This is a mixture of several different recipes. It’s not exactly like theirs but it’s pretty darn good! I usually double this recipe and eat it all week. It makes a great after-workout snack! Our toddler loves it too!

Crunchy Cold Lentil Salad

Crunchy Cold Lentil Salad

– 1 cup of lentils – I use green lentils

– 1 bay leaf

– 2 cups mini heirloom tomatoes (YUM!)

– 1 cup bean sprouts – I use mung bean sprouts but you can leave this out if you don’t like sprouts

– 1 green onion sliced

– A handful of Flat leaf parsley, chopped

– 1 bell pepper, diced (red would be good too!)

– The juice of a lemon with a little or a lot of zest

– A splash of apple cider vinegar

– 1 shallot, diced

– A little Dijon mustard – about 1-2 tsp

– 1/3 cup dried cranberries

– 1 T honey or agave syrup

– 3 to 5 garlic cloves , minced

– 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

– 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

– Salt, to taste

– Ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Bring water to a boil and add lentils and bay leaf. Let lentils stand in hot water for about 30-40 minutes. I like mine super crunchy but test them to see how you like them. Drain and let cool for another 30 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together lemon juice and zest, vinegar, shallot, Dijon mustard, honey/agave, garlic, thyme, cumin, salt and pepper. Add chopped tomatoes, parsley, green onion, dried cranberries, sprouts and bell pepper.

3. Remove the bay leaf and add the lentils to the mixture. Put in fridge and chill for a couple of hours or more. It’s really good the next day! Serve cold.

Mini heirloom tomatoes are really good in this dish!

So colorful! Ready to add lentils!

I used brown lentils... or maybe these are considered green? Either will work!

Delish!

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Tomato & Red Lentil Soup

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You know how much we love soup and lentils! Here’s an easy lentil soup using the unique spice sumac.

What in the heck is sumac? I found this description on WorldSpice.com (where I buy all my spices… YUM!) “The deep red sumac berry is ground and dried to impart a tart, lemony flavor with a refreshing complexity. Sumac’s traditional usage in middle eastern cuisine sees it added to rice or kebabs and sprinkled as a condiment atop bowls of hummus.”

Ah ha… that’s what that red powder is on top of the hummus served at Mediterranean restaurants!

I serve this soup with a scoop of grain (quinoa this time) and a hefty portion of greens (kale, of course)… Like my RD says – make sure to add a grain and a green at every meal! Oh and sometimes I add a scoop of plain soy yogurt on top too.

Our toddler loved the soup... our 7 month old isn't quite ready for that yet so he's enjoying his spoon for now 🙂

Tomato & Red Lentil Soup

 

INGREDIENTS

* 1 medium onion , chopped

* 1 stalk celery , chopped

* 1 medium carrot , chopped

* 2 garlic cloves , minced

* 1 (28 ounce) can chopped tomatoes (I use a box of Pomi chopped tomatoes and a can of tomato sauce in a pinch too)

* 4 cups vegetable stock or water

* 1 cup red lentil

* 2 tablespoons dried parsley (or one bunch fresh, chopped – I like to use fresh)

* Salt and pepper, to taste

* 1 to 2 teaspoon sumac (I use 2)

* 1 small lemon, juice of (optional but good)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Saute (using broth, water or bean cooking liquid) the onion, celery, and carrot, and cook until softened (a few minutes). Add the garlic, then, in a minute add the tomatoes and stock or water.

2. Simmer for about 20 minutes, season, and let it cool.

3. Puree the soup – I use my immersion blender for this. You can puree the soup after it’s done too if you’re like me and you always forget at this point! 😉

4. Add the lentils and return to a low simmer. Taste a lentil in about 15 minutes to see if it’s tender. If not, continue cooking, but don’t let them get mushy. 

5. Add the sumac and parsley. Taste for seasoning and add lemon juice if you like.

Saute the onion, celery and carrot. Add garlic.

Add tomatoes and stock/water

Simmer for a bit then add lentils

Puree soup when done

Add parsley, sumac and lemon juice

Sumac

Serve with steamed greens, grain scoop of your choice and a little dollop of soy yogurt, if you wish

 

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Buffalo Wing’ish Hummus

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I don’t know about you but I LOVE almost anything with buffalo wing sauce, there’s just something about it that makes everything taste better. You can imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon this recipe! All the taste of buffalo wings without the greasy meat and occasional cartilage/fat between your teeth! Sorry, but it’s true!

Buffalo Wing’ish Hummus

I found this recipe on PreventionRD.com. This is a really cool site and I’m looking forward to making more of her recipes!

Buffalo Wing Hummus

2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I used 2 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas)
2-3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp paprika
3 Tbsp calorie-free wing sauce (I used 5 Tbsp Frank’s Buffalo Wing Sauce instead of these two different types of sauce)
2 Tbsp cayenne hot sauce
1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar
1/2 tsp Kosher salt (I only added a tiny pinch)

Directions:

Put the chickpeas, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, paprika, wing sauce, hot sauce, vinegar and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a food processor. Puree until smooth and creamy.

Yield: 12 servings (1/4 cup each).

Nutrition Information (per serving): 99 calories; 3.4 g. fat; 0 mg. cholesterol; 231 mg. sodium; 11.8 g. carbohydrate; 4.2 g. fiber; 4.6 g. protein

Process in food processor until smooth and creamy

Ready!

Serve with crackers and celery sticks

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Crockpot Wheat Berry Cereal

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I’m always looking for new ways to get a serving of grain at every meal. I have several 1/2 gallon mason jars full of different grains in my pantry and I try to rotate them each week for variety. Sometimes I use my rice cooker, other times I experiment using my crock pot. Breakfast in the crock pot is awesome! Who doesn’t want to wake up to a hot meal, especially when you’re as busy as I am in the mornings!

This is one of our favorite wheat berry breakfast combos… so filling and so easy!

Crockpot Wheat Berry Cereal

Crockpot Wheat Berry Cereal

* 1 cup wheat berries, rinsed and drained

* 2 cups water (you can use almond milk if you prefer)

* 1/2 cup chopped fruit – I use apples, dried apricots or dried cranberries

* 1/4 – 1/2 cup raisins

* 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

* 1/8 tsp Stevia

* 1/2 tsp cinnamon

* 1/4 tsp allspice

* 1/4 tsp ground cloves

* 1/4 tsp ground cardamom

* 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted (I also use walnuts, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds)

– Combine everything into crockpot in the evening, stir to mix.

– Cook on low overnight and serve in the morning with your favorite toppings!

Mix all ingredients into Crockpot, cook on low overnight!

Yummy!