Clean Eating - Lentils

We recently started browsing the recipes on the website: CleanEatingMag.com. So far we've made two and they are BOTH winners! We especially enjoyed the one I will post below. The balance of flavors is so amazing I can't even describe it. It was really simple too. With a little chopping and dicing you just let the whole thing simmer about 30-40 minutes, stir in some last ingredients and you're done! Plus, it goes really well over brown rice, which also made it seem fitting :)

INGREDIENTS:

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
1 clove garlic, minced
1 15-oz chopped tomatoes, with juice (about 3 tomatoes)
½ tsp cumin, ground
Pinch red chili flakes
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1 cup French green or Puy lentils, rinsed
4 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken stock
1 small bunch kale, cleaned, stems discarded and finely chopped
Juice 1 lemon
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 tbsp mint, chopped
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
Greek-style yogurt with lemon zest, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine 2 tbsp oil, onion and garlic. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add tomatoes, cumin, chili flakes, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, lentils and stock. Cover, bring to a simmer, then cook for approximately 30 minutes or until lentils are cooked but not mushy.

Remove bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Stir in kale, lemon juice, parsley, mint and remaining 1 tbsp oil, then cook for an additional 3 minutes.

Season with salt and black pepper, then serve in bowls, garnished with a dollop of yogurt.

Click here to go to the website. We had some serious leftovers, and it only got better and better! Enjoy!

brown rice

I know that brown rice is a better choice but I get so frustrated with the cooking of it - can never seem to get it soft and fluffy. So it seemed a fitting way to begin the new year - learn how to make a good pot of brown rice. I found a hint on a Chinese food site - soak the rice for one hour before cooking. I tried it yesterday but the rice burned a bit around the edges - probably my burner - just can't seem to get the flame low enough. So today I tried again. This time I soaked the rice for almost 2 hours while I ran errands. Then I drained the water and put it into the pot on low heat to evaporate some of the moisture. While that was happening, I put on the tea kettle and warmed the water so that it was already hot when I poured it over the warm rice. Then I cooked it for just 35 minutes and it is definitely fluffy and a bit sticky - so much better than the last few chewy, crunchy batches I have made. So, I think we are on to something here. But also staying open to more suggestions on how to cook a really great batch of brown rice.

clean food

It is a quiet day around here so I am taking some time to clean up the pantry. I got a few more glass jars to store grains. My hope is to use more grains in the new year so I bought a few that I have not tried, amaranth, millet, and teff. I also picked up some red lentils. I made a sweet potato hummus the other day and it reminded me of the red lentil hummus I made not too long ago. Two new magazines are on my reading table - Clean Eating and Living Without - both giving me some inspiration to eat clean and healthy in 2010.

breakfast for a frosty morning

The cold weather is here to stay and it is time to pull out the warm breakfast options. I have adapted this one from the Eat Clean recipe book. I make a large batch and it will last me the whole week. Just warm up in the microwave and add a dollop of yogurt and some berries.

Wintry Breakfast Cereal

Put 3 1/2 cups of water and two green tea bags in a pot. Bring to a boil. Discard tea bags.

Add:

1 cup of rinsed quinoa

2 cups GF oats

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup craisins or raisins

1 apple, diced

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon GF vanilla

Let the cereal return to a boil. Turn the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. EnJOY!

What are you doing with leftovers?

How about turkey and spinach enchiladas? I just put a pan in the oven.

I am also cooking some squash for a crock pot Mexican squash and turkey soup that will cook while we are at church tomorrow.

Still enough left for another round of sandwiches and one meal with stuffing and potatoes. Seems like we had a more turkey left this year but I think our bird was close to 27 pounds.

Happy Thanksgiving Success!

It was a feast that was absurdly too big for two people but fun to make and

even more fun to eat! Here is a picture of our final table.

We love the pie crust from Gluten-Free Pantry and used it to make the pecan and pumpkins pies below. One trick that we've learned over the years is to keep the dough as cold as possible always! We chilled the dough as directed and then chilled it again once it was in the pie plate and before we put the pie filling in. This makes an amazing difference in how well the pie crust stays together.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a tasty batch of leftovers :)

Brownies!

So i too had the problem with the Betty Crocker cookies, they just didn't work out for me. So it was hard for me to try these, but I haven't successfully made brownies since arriving in the land of high altitude, and let me tell you, if gluten-free baking isn't frustrating enough (especially for someone who doesn't like to follow every bit of the directions) high altitude adds another degree of difficulty. But these were marked at a new low price and we were in need of something sweet, so we gave it a whirl. SUCCESS!!! First tip, there are adaptations for high altitude on the box. I am 99% sure I didn't see this when I tried the cookies, so I made sure to follow exACTly how they said to mix things. They turned out really yummy and it kind of makes me want to try the cookies again! However, this is a week dedicated to pies, so for now, we will fill our oven with pecans and pumpkin and the cookies, will have to wait :) Hopefully I'll return with wonderful Thanksgiving recipes and successes!