That Time I Accidentally Sprouted Lentils

I have a decent amount of time to think during the course of a normal day. Sometimes my thinking time comes during my morning runs, others it's during the course of my multi-hour commute. Last Tuesday, despite the near-perfect weather conditions and my pseudo-on-time escape from the office, it took me a solid 2 hours to get home. I was nothing short of livid. Thank you impromptu construction on 95-North in the middle of rush hour. It had already been a strenuous day to begin with and an epic commute was not the icing on the cake I needed. When I finally got home it was a toss up what I needed most: to urinate, eat, or guzzle a vat of wine. The very tiny silver lining in that nightmare was that it gave me the opportunity to assess what I would make for dinner the next day, after I'd spent the day working from home and was in at least mildly better spirits.

After last week's slightly epic feast, I found myself with a slew of lentils left over thanks to the lentil-based recipe grossly overestimating how many I should prepare. There are few things in life I hate more than wasting food, so I was determined to find a purpose for them other than sticking them in the freezer for safe keeping. With another wave of snow scheduled to hit my fair city on Wednesday, nothing sounded better than a homemade pot of soup.

I'm incredibly finicky with soup. If it's over 50 degrees outside, nothing sounds more off putting to me than soup. I have a very firm "no soup during summer" rule, which is slightly problematic at times like our annual August crab feast when I end up missing out on my Grandmother's crab soup more often than not. But during the colder months it's utterly divine and one of my favorite entrees. Back in the early days of my blog, I broke in one of my new Christmas kitchen toys (the immersion blender) creating this black bean soup, which quickly became a staple in my kitchen that winter. Unfortunately, I made that soup way too much that year and haven't been able to bring myself to eat it since (I'm also finicky about how frequently I can eat things without getting tired of them....it's a very delicate balance), so I needed to come up with something new.

With a large bowl full of lentils taunting me every time opened the refrigerator, I was determined to combine them with one of my favorite spices (curry) to create something magical. Thanks in part to the wonder that is Google, I was able to type in my hopes and dreams and in no time was wading through the interweb's best offerings for "kale lentil curry soup." It was a little overwhelming, but ultimately I found the basis for which I created today's plat du jour.

Kale Lentil and Curry Soup

Ingredients
Original recipe found here

• 2 Tbps extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 3 small carrots, diced
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced 
• 2 Tbps curry powder
• 2 tsp cumin 
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 cup sprouted lentils*
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 6 cups water or vegetable broth (or a combo)
• 2 sweet potatoes, diced 
• 1 package chopped kale
• Dried cranberries for topping (optional)

*When I went to pull the lentils out of the fridge for use, I discovered they'd started to sprout. At first I was hysterical and feared that I'd have to throw them away after all, but then I turned to the trusty Google again and discovered otherwise. Apparently, sprouted lentils are even better for you and easier to digest than regularly prepared lentils. Who would've thought?! If you don't have the habit of leaving lentils lying around to sprout, you can also use uncooked lentils in this recipe and just add them when you add the tomatoes and potatoes.

Preparation

1. Heat a large stock pot with olive oil over medium heat.

The adult child in me is still pretty excited about the new cutting board Santa brought me this year. It's so nice finally having room for everything! 

2. Add carrots, celery, and onions and saute for 4-5 minutes (this flavor combination always reminds me of making stuffing for Thanksgiving...and I'm not complaining).

3. Next, add tomato paste, garlic, curry, cumin, and red pepper flakes, stirring to combine before cooking for 3 minutes.

4. Lastly, add tomatoes, potatoes, broth and/or water, and salt and pepper.

5. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 35 mins total, stirring occasionally. After 15 minutes, add in the kale, and with 5 minutes remaining, add sprouted lentils.

6. Serve with your favorite fresh bread. Oddly, I was drawn to a rosemary and olive oil loaf at market. I typically wouldn't combine rosemary and curry, but it actually ended up being a delightful combination.

The dried cranberries was a delightfully sweet contrast to the curry. I highly recommend adding them.

Stay warm out there, we can't all be the snow bunnies that Baxter is!

When the snow started to fall she demanded that we walk around for half an hour in it, only agreeing to come inside after I bribed her

Never was there anything that Baxter loved more than snow

Roasted Butternut Squash

Nothing like an impending hurricane to get me caught up on some blogging. With Hurricane Sandy's arrival imminent, I spent the better part of yesterday on my couch, both recovering from some Halloween festivities the night before and anxiously stalking Twitter/email for news that I wouldn't have to venture into work today. Mother teaches in Maryland and her school district was one of the first to see the writing on the wall and tossed in the towel yesterday morning. This further heightened my hopes of a day off work as well. Although the feds (I work for the government) spent most of the day toying with me, they finally made the call around the dinner hour and I was gifted another day to do all the things that I didn't do yesterday (namely cleaning and sharing the recipes I had stockpiled from last week).

And so, here we are. The rains have been present for some time and poor Shepherd dog is not amused. She hates been damp more than anything in the world. Despite my care to dress her in her rain slicker every time we go out, she's already begun to pray for daylight. Here's hoping that city living has some perks and we can survive the storm with electricity in tact. While we await the end of this storm, I'll be spending some time thinking about all the fun fall flavors in this recipe:

Roasted Butternut Squash Linguine

Ingredients

• 1 medium/large butternut squash
• 1 package of whole wheat linguine
• 2 cups fresh kale (washed and torn into small pieces) 
• 3-4 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1/2 cup olive oil + some for drizzling
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Slice butternut squash in half starting at the stem. Using a spoon or fork, scrape out seeds. You can either wash and toast them (like pumpkin seeds) or discard. Sadly, I was not feeling up to picking through and cleaning the seeds, so I opted to discard them this time around.
3. Drizzle halves with olive oil and place skin side down in a 13x9 baking dish
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tender
5. While squash is baking, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions
6. In a large skillet, saute minced garlic in 1/2 cup olive oil + Italian seasoning (this will create an olive oil and garlic sauce to be used on the pasta)
7. Once squash is cooked, allow to cool and then remove skin and dice into 1 inch cubes
8. Add pasta, squash pieces, and kale to large skillet. Toss with olive oil and garlic sauce. Heat through until kale begins to wilt before serving
9. Enjoy!

Soup Time

Fall not only marks the beginning of me being in a more pleasant mood, but also the return of soups to my life. As I've recounted on numerous occasions, my tolerance for hot foods in the summer months is minimal at best. But in the fall/winter months, I love nothing more than nestling up with a warm bowl on the couch. 

Last week a colleague shared with me the recipe for one of her favorite soups from Whole Foods. She began by describing the recipe as having kale and sweet potato in it...I was instantly sold. So, after picking up some goodies at the farmers market over the weekend I was ready to get to it. The original recipe was made on the stove, but since I've been anxiously awaiting the chance to break out my crock pot, I threw everything in there and let the wondrous pot work it's magic. As you may recall, I'm fairly new to crock pot cooking (my receipt of said crock pot from Santa was part of the inspiration for starting this blog) and was ready to get back into the game. It did not disappoint, and despite what I read on several websites, I didn't have any problem with needing to adjust the amount of liquid in the original recipe. And as the grand finale, I got to use my beloved hand mixer! It was a good day in my kitchen!

Sweet Potato and Kale Soup

Ingredients
[Adapted from Whole Foods]

• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 1 rib celery, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 1 sprig fresh thyme, minced
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 5 cups vegetable broth or water
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 3 cups chopped kale leaves
• Salt and ground white pepper, to taste

Pre-Cooking

Preparation

1. Combine above ingredients in crock pot, cook on high for 4-6 hours (until veggies are tender)
2. Using hand blender, puree veggies until desired consistency. Serve with whole grain bread for dipping

Ready to be blended

Krazy for Kale

Oh my kale. I am officially addicted. Up until about a month or so ago, I had never paid kale much mind. It was just one of those green leafy vegetables  that was not my cup of tea (which at this point in my eating journey is really saying something as there are little to no vegetables that I don't like....tell that to my 5 year old self and I'd call you a liar and probably kick you in the shin) and I was ok with that. And then it caught my eye. 

I don't remember how our paths first crossed (my guess is pinterest or twitter) but with so many delicious-looking recipes using it, I quickly became obsessed with giving it the old taste test. I did so for the first time courtesy of a farmers market impulse buy and used it to make these kale chips, but I wasn't officially sold until I tried it raw. 

Even when it's not summer, something inside of me has always loved raw foods. When I was younger, I used to hover in the kitchen as my mom made dinner and beg for samples of bell pepper and frozen corn (as an aside, a small dish of frozen corn with salt and pepper on it is still one of the best snacks ever....I'm currently wondering why I don't have it more :)). So naturally, I had to try kale raw in order to determine my true feelings for it. Thus, with the remaining kale I made a salad to take to work for lunch. It was divine. I drizzled it with olive oil as many recipes suggested to soften it up a bit and topped it with some cucumber and tomato pieces (also courtesy of the farmers market). It was a nice change up from my usual spinach regimen, and with that my addiction began.

Only a week out from my first kale encounter, I found myself at the farmers market again (a different one that I'm now also obsessed with...I raved about this one here) and, because this farmers market was the cheapest place on earth (admittedly a slight exaggeration, but definitely cheaper than what I've grown accustomed to in the District) I acquired a HUGE bag of kale for $2. My mom was not thrilled with my purchase as it took up a lot of room in the refrigerator while I was in town, and on a weekend when we were already storing a bunch of extra food for our crab feast, but as I repeatedly reminded her, how was I going to pass up $2 kale?! 

Once I returned back to the District the fun part came, deciding what to do with all of it! Thanks to one of my favorite inventions, the interweb, I was not short on ideas. Unlike the previous recipes I've featured on here, all of those mentioned below were made measurement free and were instead the result of me finding pictures of food that looked appetizing and then playing around in my kitchen to see what I  could come up with. As such, I've just provided a rough idea under the pictures of what I did to create the finished product. I encourage you to have some fun in your kitchen with kale as well. And now, I present to you my week with kale:

Sauteed Kale, Fairytale Eggplant, and Tomato Pasta

Sauté eggplant in olive oil with salt and pepper and a cup of diced tomatoes until tender/heated through. Toss with kale. Cover and allow to simmer for several minutes until kale begins to wilt

Kale + Wine = Perfection

Avocado and Kale Salad

Dice half an avocado and toss with kale, tomatoes (I'm obsessed with farmers market tomatoes), cucumbers (diced), lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste

Kale Pesto

Combine kale, olive oil, sunflower seeds, several cloves of garlic, and salt and pepper to taste/desired consistency

Sauteed Kale with Quinoa and Fairytale Eggplant

As you can see from my reuse of the fairytale eggplant, kale wasn't the only thing I had an abundance of

This recipe was made similarly to his brother above, but with some veggies added instead of the tomatoes

And in case there was any doubt as to how much kale I was actually working with:

In the beginning, my kale supply runneth over. Seriously, $2 for the whole bag!!

The remaining kale, after I made all of the above, except the pesto, plus several lunch salads!

Local Loving

Growing up, "farmers market" was not a phrase that frequented my vocabulary. I understood the concept of fresh and seasonal produce (typically playing out with periodic trips to the local fruit/veggie stand during the summer months). But we definitely weren't regulars at the local stand, so it was more of a treat when we went. I can still remember my two favorite items: peaches and cucumbers. There's nothing I love more than a cold, juicy peach on a hot summer day. And cucumbers, oh my, my love affair with that vegetable has been going on for as long as I can remember. I had many a gardens as a child that, in hindsight, produced a slew of fresh cucumbers (with little to no effort on my part...oh how I long for those days) and for years, summer to me was synonymous with cucumber abundance. With age, and a slightly increased amount of wisdom, I have come to not only understand, but appreciate the wonder that is a trip to the local farmers market on the weekends.

Since becoming a vegetarian, I have begun to place a higher value on good, high quality produce. I'll be the first to admit that "organic" products are overhyped and often times overrated. On the contrary, there is definitely something to be said from buying fresh and local. The food nerd inside of me loves getting to meet the people that put their blood, sweat, and tears into creating foods that bring me such joy.

I've gushed in the past about how much I love the location of my apartment and proximity to farmers markets is just one more reason. On any given weekend, I am less than a mile from three different markets, allowing me to pick the market and neighboorhood that matches my mood. This past weekend, I was gathering with some friends for a Saturday brunch across town and after we parted ways, I took a stroll through the more well-known Eastern Market. Despite the fact that the summer heat continues to wreak havoc on my life (making me want to be a hermit and take to my couch in my air conditioned aparrtment), I powered through, promising myself that I could have some fun in the kitchen with any new finds I came across. And I did.

Today's post is two fold as I sometimes find myself indecisive around meal time, resulting in a meal of samplers (case in point). One of my experimental purchases at the market was kale. I've never been a huge kale fan, but recently have felt inundated with recipes for kale chips. Naturally, I was intrigued. Turns out, they're pretty good and really easy to make!

Kale Chips

(These are crispier than they look)

Ingredients
Final inspiration found here

• 1/4lb kale, torn into bite-sized pieces and steams removed
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• sea salt or kosher salt (to taste)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Rinse and dry kale leaves throughly
3. Drizzle olive oil over the kale leaves and use your hands to toss and coat the leaves
4. Bake in the oven for 12-20 minutes until leaves are crisp
5. Check in on kale leaves frequently after the 12 minute mark--the timing depends on how much olive oil you use
6. Just use a spatula or tongs to touch the leaves, if they are paper-thin crackly, the kale is done. If the leaves are still a bit soft, leave them in for another 2 minutes. Do not let the leaves turn brown (they'll be burnt and bitter)
7. Remove from oven, sprinkle with salt and serve

My other market-inspired recipe stemed from my shared love of a perfect summer peach and fresh, homemade salsa (recall). After returning from my brunch/marketing expedition I was so sweat covered and frazzled that I had to throw myself (in very dramatic fashion) into the shower to help calm my nerves. Once the cooling off process had begun, I was able to focus on an afternoon snack. Luckily, the peaches I'd procured not only made it home safely, but also chilled quickly. The chilled treat was even better than the sample that had wet my appetite at market and I craved more. It was from that craving that I became bold, daring to try this mix of spice and sweet:

Peach Salsa

Ingredients

(Original inspiration found here...I halved this recipe)

• 1 purple onion, minced
• 1 lb yellow peaches
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 large tomato, minced
• 1 bunch cilantro, minced
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• pinch of sea salt to taste

Preparation

*The original recipe called for grilling the peaches first. After my trek through the heat, turning on the oven was the last thing I was in the mood for. I shall try this again, grilled style, on a much cooler day

1. In a large bowl, combine: minced sweet onion, jalapeno pepper, tomato, cilantro and garlic. Chop peaches up, disgarding the pit, and add them to the bowl
2. Squeeze a lime over everything, toss well and season with sea salt to taste

This salsa was super versitile. I had some black beans and tortillas left over from my favorite recipe of the week, so I crafted another delicious taco with it. While working from home today, I cut up the final tortilla into pita-like chips and dipped them into the salsa. Seriously, best summer salsa ever!