VeganMoFo: Revamping Lentil Soup into Chickpea-Lentil Fritters

I love turning boring leftovers into a completely different meal the next day. Last night I made a very simple greek style lentil soup (recipe I got from The Olive and The Caper cookbook) and had a bit leftover so I revamped them into fritters that I made into a sandwich. Worked out great.


Here's the soup which was flavored with oregano, thyme and olive oil.



Here are the fritters made into a pita sandwich. I simply drained the leftover soup in a sieve to get all the liquid out and mashed them with cooked chickpeas. I then added chopped onion, cilantro, breadcrumbs and flour to bind the mixture. I shaped them into patties and fried them in grapeseed oil.

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.

Rigatoni with Lentil Sauce

All I wanted today was a big bowl of comforting pasta. I made the Lentil Sauce recipe from Vegan Italiano and put it on rigatoni. It was very tasty though not as "saucy" as I was hoping. Next time I will add some tomato sauce to thicken it up. I sprinkled a little nutritional yeast on top as my "parmesan".

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.

Nepalese Style Daal, Alu Matar and Achar

Yesterday I visited my dear cousin and her family. Her husband is Nepalese and he made the most beautiful lunch of lentil daal, vegetable curry and a fiery tomato achar which is a pickle that is served alongside the food. He packed for me a little container of achar to go. I was very excited to eat it again so I made a few things to eat with it.


This daal was based on this recipe that I found at Food-Nepal.com. I did not have any other kind of lentils like black lentils or yellow so I used green/brown. I could have used red but I wanted to see if the green lentil would work. I didn't have a couple of the spices like jimbu and asafetida either. I'm sure that the use of these would have made the daal more authentic. The step at the end where you fry the chiles, garlic and onions, I added a teaspoon of black mustard seed. I fried them in olive oil instead of ghee which is clarified butter which I do not eat.


This is the alu matar (potatoes and peas) from 'The Flavors of India' cookbook. I thought since a lot of the spices and flavors are similar to Nepalese cooking, I'd enjoy this with the daal and achar.


A beautiful feast. My cousin's achar is in the little bowl in front. I don't remember what's in it (except for roasted tomatoes!) but it's very special and very spicy! I have to ask for the recipe one day.

Edited to add: I found a tomato achar recipe here.
I don't know if it's the same as my cousin's recipe but a lot of the spices/flavors seem right.

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!

Lentil Dal and Alu Matar

Indian food is one of my favorite cuisines. Today I made two dishes: Red Lentil Dal (adapted ppk recipe) and Alu Matar from "Flavors of India" cookbook.

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.

Ethiopian Berbere Stew

I am very new to Ethiopian food (my first taste being the glorious 'Rahel' in L.A.) and I would love to explore more of the cuisine, both at restaurants as well as at home. I found this spicy lentil stew recipe at Susan V's fat free vegan blog. You'll find it here. I added green beans to my stew for color as well as add a vegetable to my meals. I plan to eat this all week with either rice or bread. It's delicious, spicy, earthy and full of flavor.

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!

Red Lentil Dhal and Peas Pillau

I was going to make a plain soup today for dinner but I wanted to use up the vast quantities of basmati rice and red lentils I have in my pantry. So what better meal to treat myself to than an indian feast? I adore the red lentil dahl recipe posted here. I was lazy and didn't grind up and toast the spices like the recipe says but I had a little taste and it was amazing, especially with a squeeze of lemon juice. To go with the dahl, I made the 'Peas Pillau' recipe from a lovely little vegetarian book called 'Flavors of India'. This rice is beautifully fragrant with the aromas of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and clove. I took these pictures in the afternoon to get the best light but I won't be eating until tonight after I get home from work. Can't wait!


Peas Pillau in all it's glory.

Soup and Salad.

I'm trying to be good and eat soups and salads through out the week. It keeps things light and easy on my schedule as well as my stomach. I try to save the more indulgent foods for the weekend. I whipped up my favorite red lentil soup (sephardic recipe from 'Olive Trees and Honey') and a half recipe of "black pepper cheeze" from 'Ani's Raw Food Kitchen'. It's the easiest raw cheese recipe I think, just raw cashews, garlic, black pepper, lemon juice and water. I used the soft cheeze as a spread on top of fresh tomatoes and persian cucumbers. If you want, you can drizzle olive oil and balsamic or cider vinegar over it. That would be very tasty indeed.

Sephardic Red Lentil Soup (with Kale)

Oh my this soup is good! It is so rich in flavor; it's earthy, tangy and just tasty! It's the Sephardic red lentil soup recipe from the coobook "Olive Trees and Honey" which happens to be one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks. Seriously, go buy it right now. I made a big pot of this soup which is flavored with garlic, onions, cumin, olive oil and lemon juice. Soooo good. I served some to my dad who ate it over rice (he eats everything over rice, even pasta!) and he loved it. I'll be happy to eat this soup all week. I added chopped kale at the end which gave the soup some texture as well as giving a little color.

Cooking out of the Pantry: Red Lentil Dhal

While compiling my list of pantry staples yesterday I already had in mind the first thing I was going to make: Isa's Red Lentil Dhal. I had all the ingredients, so this afternoon I got to work. I've never made dhal before, I've only had it at indian restaurants. I was pleasantly surprised how wonderful, complex, rich and flavorful this dhal was! The first step of toasting and grinding your own spices really contributes to the tasty flavors.

Pantry staples used:
1 cup split red lentils
assorted spices
veggie broth powder
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste (I only used 2 TB and freezed leftovers)
white jasmine rice

Other vegetables/fruits etc:
1 lime
1" piece of ginger
1 onion
3 cloves garlic

Ingredients I had to purchase: none



Look at that rich color!


My little lunch serving. This recipe makes A LOT so I will be eating this for a while... Money has been saved!

Snobby Joes Take 2

I finally got around to making Snobby Joes once again. The first time I made them, I didn't have any burger buns so I had to use corn tortillas which were actually quite good. This time I had cracked wheat buns as well as a nice spinach, red pepper and cranberry salad with a strawberry balsamic vinaigrette. I had all the ingredients for a healthy meal. Protein? Check! Dark leafy greens? Check! Whole grains? Check! Antioxidants? Check! A very satisfying and tasty meal that took me back to my "Manwich" eating childhood.

Quick Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

2 tsp strawberry preserves
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 tsp dijon mustard (optional)

Whisk all ingredients together. You may use less preserves if you want it less sweet.

VeganMoFo: Moujadara Lunch & Dinner

I love lentils. I love rice. Put them together, you get lentils & rice or moujadara which is a healthy and favorite dish which occurs in many variations throughout the Middle East. This particular recipe is from a vegetarian Lebanese cookbook, 'From the Tables of Lebanon'. I've made this once before with split red lentils and it was a disaster so I tried again with brown lentils and it came out much better. I fiddled around with the proportions of water because I made less than what the recipe called for which is why it looks a little mushy. (Will do better next time!) I was also supposed to use fried red onions on top but I only had yellow onions. It didn't matter much as it was very yummy and went perfectly well with the mediterranean salad from yesterday. This was my lunch and will be my dinner again tonight.