Lentil Artichoke Stew

As a Food for Life instructor, I get to teach people how to make a lot of delicious recipes, including this Lentil Artichoke Stew from the Cancer Project. This recipe is hearty and perfect for the cold winter ahead of us! If you want to learn how to make this stew in class, please sign up online for one of my classes.

This recipe is also found in The Cancer Survivor's Guide by Dr. Barnard and Jennifer Reilly, RD.

Lentil Artichoke Stew

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegetable broth

1 onion, chopped

2 large garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 cup dry (uncooked) red lentils (3 cups cooked)

1 bay leaf

2 cups water

Juice of 1 lemon

2 24-oz can chopped tomatoes (preferably fire-roasted), undrained, or 6 cups freshly chopped tomatoes plus 1 cup tomato juice

1 1/2 cups quartered artichoke hearts (1 9-oz frozen package or 1 15-oz can, packed in water)

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the broth in a large soup pot. Add the onion. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until translucent. 
2. Add the garlic, cumin, and coriander. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Add the water, lentils, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil.
4. Lower the heat and add the tomatoes and their liquid, artichoke hearts, lemon juice, and optional red pepper flakes. Simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Stored in a covered container in the refrigerator, leftovers will keep for up to 3 days.

Note: If red lentils are unavailable, green lentils can be substituted. However, because green lentils will not cook properly in acidic foods, such as tomatoes and lemon juice, you will need to cook them in water or vegetable broth until tender prior to adding them to the stew.

Nutritional Info (per serving):

176 calories

1 g fat

0.1 g saturated fat

4.9% calories from fat

0 mg cholesterol

11.7 g protein

34.3 g carbohydrate

7.5 g sugar

10 g fiber

560 mg sodium

123 mg calcium

6.3 mg iron

28.6 mg vitamin C

238 mcg beta-carotene

1.8 mg vitamin E

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

Yesterday's pea soup was so great, that I wanted more peas today. I knew I was going to be stuck in meetings all day and the weather is still crummy, so I thought I would make use of the crockpot and have a nice hot bowl of soup waiting for me after work. I also have a couple pounds of split peas sitting around that I've been waiting to use.


I looked up a few recipes online, but didn't find anything that made me excited, so I created my own using inspiration from the others. I started by sautéing onions, celery, and carrots. Once they were almost done, I added some kale. Why kale? Well, I love kale and split pea soup does not have a very attractive color, so why not add a little extra green?

While the veggies were sautéing, I rinsed the peas and made sure that no gross ones or rocks were hiding in the batch. I only found one that looked like it didn't belong... I'm not sure if that is a good number or if I should have found more!

Once the veggies were done, I added them to the crockpot with the peas, some herbs, a bay leaf, and about 6 cups of veggie broth. I set it to high while I was getting ready for work and then moved it down to low to sit for the next 6 hours or so.

Quick Pea Soup

It is so chilly and damp outside, that I am very lucky that I can work remotely from home today. I have a ton of work to accomplish, so I wanted a quick lunch that would keep me warm all afternoon. I decided to put my Vitamix to use and make a super-fast pea soup. (and I could write this while my soup was cooking!)

Happy New Year and Savory Pot Pies

Happy New Year everyone! I got a little off track with posting recipes during the holidays, but I'm back! For my first recipe of the year, I have to thank my sister Jenn because she got me an individual pie maker for Christmas.

It is a pretty cool idea... basically you make a filling, put some dough in it, and 8 minutes later you have an individual pie! If you are already sold and want one yourself, visit Williams Sonoma.

Now to my pie. I thought New Year's Eve was the perfect time to try it for a hearty dinner before heading out to celebrate. We wanted a savory pot pie flavor, so I cooked up a bunch of veggies and used frozen prepared pie dough to create our first individual pot pies. They were delicious.

One word of warning, make sure to roll the dough a bit to make it thinner. Ours was way too thick which made the ratio of filling to pie crust not exactly as we would want. Next time, I'll make my own dough which should be easier to keep it thin. Here's the recipe:

Shepherd's Pie

I have to admit that we haven't been to the grocery store in quite a while (almost two weeks... that's really long for me!) and we have to be creative with what we can make into a meal. Looking through the fridge and cabinets, I had the following basics hanging around:

• celery
• carrots
• loads of potatoes (still from my CSA)
• onions
• some frozen veggies
• dried lentils
• herbs
• fresh cranberries

So, what can you make with those? Tons of things! Since it was cold and we were hungry, I decided to put together a fast shepherd's pie. (using pretty much everything in the fridge except for the cranberries)

Here's the recipe, but feel free to substitute with any kinds of veggies that you have in the house. Frozen, fresh, canned, anything will work!

Jessi's Shepherd's Pie

Serves: 4

Ingredients

2 lbs potatoes, scrubbed and cut into quarters (I leave the skin on)

1 cup veggie broth or milk of your choice

1 TB chives (half for mixing in the potatoes, half for sprinkling on top)

1 onion, diced

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 pepper, chopped (I used a poblano because we like it spicy, but you could also use any kind)

1/2 cup corn

1/2 cup lima beans 

1 TB herbes de provence

1 TB thyme

1/2 bunch of kale, leaves removed from the stem and roughly chopped (or whatever greens you have like collards, chard, etc)

1 cup dried lentils, cooked 

2 TB cornstarch or arrowroot powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Put potatoes in a large pot of boiling water and cook until soft (about 15 minutes). Drain potatoes and put into a large bowl. Add enough veggie broth to allow you to smash the potatoes until they are the consistency you like for mashed potatoes. Add 1/2 TB of chives, salt and pepper to taste, and mix into potatoes. Set aside.
3. While the potatoes are cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, celery, carrots and peppers. Sauté 10 minutes, adding 1 TB of veggie broth or water at a time when the veggies start to stick.
4. Add corn and lima beans to the mixture in the skillet. Cook for 5 minutes. If the veggies are frozen, cook until thawed.
5. Add herbes de provence and thyme to the skillet, cook for 30 seconds. 
6. Add kale and cooked lentils to the skillet. Mix the cornstarch with just enough water to make it liquid and pour into skillet. Stir and cook for another minute. If the mixture in the skillet is sticking or looks too dry, add veggie broth to give it a little moisture.
7. Pour veggies into a baking dish. It will be a tight fit in an 8x8 and a little thin for a 9x13. I used an 8x11 ceramic dish. Spread potatoes over veggies until they are covered. Sprinkle with remaining chives. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
8. Put in oven for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes start to crisp over to your liking.
9. Remove from oven and let it sit for a few minutes before serving. 
10. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Polenta

Pumpkin and Polenta? Who knew the two ingredients would work so well together. This meal came together within 30 minutes and the polenta came out really creamy and flavorful. The salsa had the right tart kick to balance the creaminess. I luckily had fresh tomatillos and cilantro on hand from my last CSA share of the year to put into the salsa. (I put in a lot of extra cilantro because it is my favorite herb!)

Thank you to the Gluten Free Goddess for posting the recipe here!

Veggie Soup

Welcome to my new blog! Since we are stuck at home because of Sandy, I thought it was the perfect time to start and new blog to highlight my recipes.

Luckily, we were able to keep our power throughout the entire storm. We did have the lights flicker a few times, but they stayed on. With full power and nasty weather outside, I made my favorite soup. I make variations of this soup all the time and probably make it almost once a week during the winter. Enjoy the recipe for the version I made yesterday!

Jessi's Veggie Soup

Ingredients
1 medium onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 jalapeño, diced
1/2 lb green beans, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1 TB herbes de provence
1 TB dried oregano
1 TB dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can of diced tomatoes (you can use fresh if you have them)
1 bunch of greens of your choice (I used two small bunches of tatsoi. Collards and kale also work really well)
1/4 cup lentils
1/4 kidney beans
32 oz veggie broth
3-4 cups water

Directions

1. Heat large stockpot over medium-high heat
2. Add the onion, carrots, celery and jalapeño. Cook for about 10 minutes or until veggies start to get soft. Add a tablespoon or two of water at a time to keep veggies from sticking.
3. Add the green beans and potatoes. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are about halfway cooked. They will finish cooking during the rest of the preparation.
4. Add the herbes de provence, oregano and basil. Cook for 2 minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes and greens. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until the greens are wilted.
6. Add the lentils, beans, and veggie broth. Add enough water to cover the veggies and to give you as much broth as you like.
7. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, for about 30 minutes. The longer you simmer, the more flavorful the broth will become. 
8. Serve and enjoy!