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lentil soup you’ll absolutely love. trust me.
I know for some of you the weather is getting a bit too warm for a soup like this, but I wanted to sneak it in before the summer. It is one of my favorite soups. It has tons of fiber, tons of vegetables, and tons of flavor. I make it, freeze it, and then anytime I want to feel good about what I eat, I pull a bowl of it out my freezer and heat it up for lunch.
Though I changed this recipe so much that it is definitely my own now, my inspiration came from a book my friend Shannon gave me. It’s by America’s Test Kitchen and is called The New Best Recipe
Oh, and I just want to briefly mention that the toast in the picture there is from the same baguette I froze a couple weeks ago. All I did was pop the frozen pieces in the toaster.
black bean tortilla soup
The kids are on their second week of spring break (aaahhh!!), and they were watching so much TV that the cable box and DVD player froze up (I only TRY to be a good mom—never said I was one). So now they’re keeping themselves entertained by making up songs about Spongebob Squarepants and Star Wars.
Here’s a chicken tortilla soup I adapted to be vegetarian. It uses chipotles in adobo, which you can buy in a can in the Mexican food aisle. Any leftover chipotles can be frozen in an airtight container for up to a year.
mâche and jicama salad with edible flowers
Sorry for being gone so long. We didn’t have the Internet for a few days.
I spent about a half an hour roaming around the produce section of Whole Foods the other day, trying to find the makings for an interesting salad. The first thing I saw was the edible flowers. I absolutely love how they look. Many edible flowers are quite peppery and pleasantly floral. However, the box I bought had some varieties I had never tried, and I knew some had the possibility of being bitter. If that were so, I didn’t want to add fruit to the salad, as I was afraid it might contrast too strongly against the bitter flowers and create some discordance. Instead I went with a more analogous flavor scheme. I chose vegetables ranging from peppery radishes, to nutty mâche, and finally to neutrally sweet jicama. I introduced some fruity tang later with the vinaigrette.
vegan burritos with quacamole
I’m still on vacation, so today I’ll post a recipe I made up over a year ago.
I love these. I make a big batch, let them cool completely, wrap them each in plastic wrap (you could also use paper towels), and then freeze them in a large sealable container such as a gallon size ziploc bag. Whenever I want a healthy lunch or dinner, I just heat them up in a skillet with a little olive oil, and serve them with the guacamole. I never even miss the meat or cheese.
spaghetti squash soup
When I had the idea for this recipe, I bought a spaghetti squash and stuck it on my counter.
It sat there for a week.
I was nervous that it would come out as all my other pathetic spaghetti squash dishes—bland and disappointing.
But it turned out better than I hoped.
pan grilled falafel on pita with tzatziki
I wasn’t one of the lucky kids to go to Jerusalem for study abroad with my university, but a lot of my friends went and came back raving about the street food over there. Falafel was one of their favorites. My version is, I’m sure, far from authentic, but authentic would mean hauling out the vat of oil for deep frying, which is on my list of least favorite things to do.
I’m a bit funny when it comes to garlic. If my husband or I eat it, kissing is out for a few days. So if you want to omit the garlic, by all means, do so. I included it in the recipe because it does add more depth of flavor, and is more traditional.
panini alla margherita with sun-dried tomato tapenade
This sandwich will impress guests for lunch or for a casual dinner gathering, but is as easy to make as a regular grilled cheese sandwich. My family loves it, as long as I leave off the basil leaves in the kids’ panini. (No green stuff!)
