Lentil Tacos and Lentil Chilaquiles Casserole.

I made a really good lentil taco filling the other night to which I added chopped veggie sausage and textured vegetable protein. Came out delicious. Here's a good lentil taco recipe.

I had so much lentil filling leftover that I decided to make this chilaquiles casserole. I added scrambled tofu to the filling as well.

Yummy!

Moujadara and Broiled Vegetables

A very good meal to have on weeknights. While the moujadara (lentils and rice) was cooking on the stove, the vegetables went into the broiler and in about 20 minutes, dinner was served.

Lentils again! Egyptian Koshari.

Me and lentils are having a love affair this week! Since I've been veggie (over 5 years), I've grown to really love lentils. I think it may be my favorite protein source. Not only are lentils great for protein, they also lower your cholesterol, provide you with B vitamins, iron, fiber and no fat! One of the best things I love about them is that they are easy to cook and can be made into beautiful dishes like indian and nepali dahl, soups, curries and tonight's dinner, Egyptian koshari. Koshari is a quick, cheap vegetarian dish made of rice, lentils, pasta and tomato sauce. It's even quicker if you already have cooked rice in your kitchen like I did. I didn't have macaroni so I used mini penne. Worked great! Here's the link to the recipe. I didn't put fried onions on top because I was lazy but next time, that is happening for sure. Feel free to add spices like cumin, curry powder etc. to flavor the sauce.

Rice Lentil Tomato Soup

I'm known as the queen of revamping leftovers. My mom told me one day that I am just like her father who loved to make 4-5 meals out of one dish. I've never gone that far but I do love a challenge when it comes to making a new dish out of a mountain of leftovers. I made moujadara on Sunday that I couldn't get through (it made a lot!) even though I ate it for a couple of days. I am on a soup kick and decided to make this soup. All I did was saute a bit of onions and garlic in a generous amount of olive oil, added a can of diced tomatoes, tomato paste, a few cups of water and the leftover moujadara (lentils/rice). A few pinches of oregano and cumin, salt and pepper and dinner was ready in no time. It was very hearty and delicous.

Sun-dried tomato pasta and Moujadara

This was my dinner sometime last week and it was very quick and easy to throw together. I heated up some olive oil, threw in some crushed garlic, chopped pepperoncini, chopped sundried tomatoes (in oil), parsley and sauteed for a few minutes and then tossed it all with hot spaghetti.


This is the moujadara recipe from Tables of Lebanon cookbook. It's the simplest recipe of lentils cooked with rice and topped with fried onions. I ate this today for lunch with a few shots of hot sauce. It was very filling and tasty.

Moroccan Lentil Stew (again!)

I made Moroccan Lentil Stew again and served it on top of rice for a change. It is so comforting and so good! I added a tsp. or so of ras el hanout to make it more Moroccan, haha! That's a blob of fiery homemade harissa on top. I can't wait to have leftovers tomorrow! Recipe here.

I'm going to repost this recipe here in case you have trouble with the link. Recipe taken from americanheart.org

Moroccan Lentil Stew
Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped Spanish or other mild onion
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
28-ounce can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes, undrained
8 ounces red potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
1/2 cup lentils, sorted for stones or shriveled lentils and rinsed
1 medium carrot, chopped
Low-sodium vegetable broth or water (as needed)
1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1/4 cup fresh parsley, snipped or chopped
Cooking Instructions

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Pour the oil into the pan and swirl to coat the bottom. Cook the onion for 3 to 4 minutes, or until translucent, stirring frequently.

Increase the heat to medium-high. Stir in the cumin, curry powder, and cayenne; cook for 30 seconds to release flavor. Stir in the tomatoes, potatoes, broth, lentils, and carrots. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the lentils are tender, stirring occasionally and adding more broth or water if needed to keep from sticking. Stir in the peas; simmer for 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Stir in the parsley.

Cook's Tip
If lentils have been stored for an extended time, they may take up to 1 hour of cooking time to become tender.

Nutrition Analysis (per serving)
255Calories
3.0 gTotal Fat
0.5 gSaturated Fat
0.0 gTrans Fat
0.5 gPolyunsaturated Fat
2.0 gMonounsaturated Fat
0 mgCholesterol
88 mgSodium
46 gCarbohydrates
12 gFiber
12 gSugar
13 gProtein
Dietary Exchanges
2 starch, 3 vegetable, 1 very lean meat

Lentil Massaman Curry

I had a chunk of Thai massaman curry paste in the freezer that I wanted to use up so I made this beautiful curry that has lentils, eggplant, potatoes, red bell peppers and peas. This is dinner tonight paired with Thai jasmine rice.

Moroccan Lentil Stew

I've been in a Moroccan state of mind recently. My blog picture up top is now a bowl of chickpea tagine. I've been looking at all my Moroccan picture books and recipe books and visiting my favorite lifestyle blog My Marrakesh several times a day, just to stare and stare at beautiful photographs and yes, to dream. One day I will make a trip to this beautiful, exotic desert paradise to soak up the local culture and lounge in beautiful courtyards while drinking mint tea. Hopefully I'll get the chance to stay at this luxurious guest house.

I made this Moroccan inspired lentil stew for dinner tonight. What could be better than coming home from a long day at work and getting to eat a warm and comforting bowl of this stew? I added some authentic Moroccan spice to my stew: ras el hanout which means "head of the shop". Its a blend of many spices and to be honest I'm not sure what spices are in the blend that I bought! I also wanted to use the homemade harissa I made on Sunday. I took a photo of the stew but I haven't eaten yet. I will wait until I come home from work. Hope everyone has a great day.


Looking forward to a bowl of this with a dollop of harissa on top.
Recipe here.

Cooking out of the pantry: Kidney Bean and Lentil Chili Dogs

I was in the mood for chili dogs today and I knew that I would have to go out and buy the veggie dogs but I didn't mind because the chili part was all coming out of my pantry. I didn't really follow a recipe, just threw a bunch of stuff in a pot and called it chili. I didn't use a lot of lentils only 1/4 cup or so for a bit of a different texture. I had one for lunch and it was really yummy with sauerkraut and a bit of ketchup. I'll have another for dinner.

Pantry staples used:
brown/green lentils
1 can kidney beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
herbs/spices: cumin, chili powder, oregano, smoked paprika
hot dog buns (my husband bought these yesterday. Score!)
sauerkraut
ketchup

Other items from fridge:
red bell pepper
onion
garlic
jalapeno

Items I needed to purchase:
1 pack Lightlife Smart Dogs

Lentil-Vegetable Soup with Red Wine and Miso

It's soup time! This is adapted from the "Lentil and Escarole" soup in The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen cookbook. I swapped escarole for kale and added potatoes, summer savory, red wine and red miso paste. It also has onions, garlic, celery and carrots. So hearty and delicious!

Edited to add: This soup gets very thick the following day and turns into stew! Yum!

Catching Up...

Hey all! Been missing in action the past week and a half because my camera cord broke so I couldn't upload anything. I finally got a new cable so I'm able to show you what I've been eating. Sorry about the bad lighting!


Soba noodles with ginger peanut dressing. Served with sauteed spinach. Recipe here.


Thai red curry with tofu, sweet potato and eggplant on top of somen noodles.


Dinner in bed. Egyptian lentil soup, salad and Fabe's chocolate cake. The cake was good but veeeery health foody tasting.


Falafel night! Baked not fried.


Falafel sandwich with cucumber garlic sauce (cucumbers, cilantro, garlic, vegan mayo, lemon juice)

VeganMoFo: Homestyle Lentil Pie

It's getting nice and fall-like around here. Last night I wore warm socks and a sweatshirt to bed. Time for comfort fall food! I had this pie in mind because I just stocked my pantry with HP Sauce which is the secret ingredient in this dish. I adapted this recipe and change a few things. I used 1/2 cup green lentils to 2 cups water, a can of drained diced tomatoes and extra HP Sauce. I also had to cook the lentils a lot longer, more like 20-25 minutes or so and I had to add a little water here and there when it got too dry. Once the lentils were soft and slightly mushy which is how I like it, that's when I decided it was ready to pour into a casserole and topped with mashed potato.

NOTE: IF you can't find HP Sauce, Pickapeppa sauce is a good stand in and is available at major grocery chains like Vons.


Here's the filling before being covered with potato.


Here it is out of the oven.


I had a bit for lunch. Delicious!

Lentil & Vegetable Soup, Salad.

Lentil and vegetable soup. Recipe is based on the 'Lentil and Escarole Soup' recipe from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen cookbook but I made a few changes. I added a splash of red wine, a tsp. of red miso paste and used kale instead of escarole. It was very warm and hearty. This is my soup o' the week. I made a lot. To change things up, I mix in about 1/2 cup cooked rice to the bowl. It's even more filling that way.


Yummy salad with green leaf, spinach, carrots, cucumber, sliced apples, walnuts and a tahini based dressing.

Healthy Stuff.

Fresh fruit bowl for breakfast followed by a bowl of oatmeal (not pictured).


A big tupperware of red lentil soup. I know you're probably sick of seeing this soup. I make it all the time. I'm like a one trick pony when it comes to soup! I did make it a little different this time by adding chopped zucchini. I will be eating this every night this week. It's so good. Recipe is from Olive Trees & Honey.

Egyptian Lentil Soup

I'm so used to making lentil soup with split red lentils that I wanted a break from it to cook with brown lentils. I found the perfect recipe for egyptian lentil soup from a new cookbook I just acquired called 'Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East and North Africa'. As most of you know, I love middle eastern flavors so this soup was right up my alley. It's dead simple but richly flavored with cumin, garlic, onions and lemon juice. The recipe requires an extra step at the end of adding fried onions as a garnish on top of the soup but I wanted to save my fat and calorie count. This is my soup o' the week and I'll be having it for dinner every day after work. Yum!