COZY KITCHEN CURRIED LENTIL SOUP

To be honest, I haven't been much inspired to make supper this last leg of my pregnancy journey.  Estimated date of arrival of the new babe is in six days and I find myself lugging myself into the kitchen each night trying to figure out what to make.  Thank goodness my mom is arriving today, I look forward to passing the wooden spoon over to her for a little while.  Hope she doesn't mind!  

     Soup seems to be making an appearance on our menu more often than not these days.  I suppose that might have something to do with me trying to use up what ingredients we already have in the house, coupled with my insistence on only buying what is seasonal.  So we have been eating lots of squash, kale, carrots, and other wintry goods, which just so happen to make good soup too.  We eat a lot of lentil soup around here, but I wasn't much interested in a tomato based soup (all our stews and soups tend to have tomato in them) so opted for a curried lentil variety.  I love eating soups the next day for lunch too.

I had a great photo of this soup on file, but lost a bunch of my photos yesterday when I was trying to clean up my files..........

CURRIED LENTIL SOUP

2 cup organic green lentils

1 cup organic red lentils

1 Tbsp organic coconut oil

1 tsp organic black mustard seeds

1 large organic onion, diced

2 organic bay leaves

3 clove organic garlic, minced

3 Tbsp fresh organic ginger, minced

1 tsp organic cumin, ground

2 tsp organic coriander, ground

1 tsp organic paprika, ground

1/2 tsp organic turmeric, ground

2 organic carrots, chopped

5 leaves organic kale, chopped

2 cups organic butternut squash, cut into small cubes

1 organic rutabaga, cut into small cubes

8-10 cups organic chicken or vegetable stock or water

sea salt and black pepper to taste

Method:  If possible, allow lentils to soak in water overnight with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.  Drain and rinse.  Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Saute the onions for a couple of minutes and then add the mustard seeds.  When they pop, add the carrots, squash, rutabaga, ginger, and remaining spices and cook for 5 minutes.  Stir in the garlic, lentils and stock.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat and cook partially covered until the lentils are soft.  Stir in the kale, salt and pepper to taste, and cook until soft, about 10-15 minutes.  

LAMB CURRY

My sister is getting married this weekend so my parents arrived today and were here in time for supper.  I hastily took out some lamb stew meat from the freezer this morning, hoping it would thaw in time to make a stew.  It was still a wee bit frozen when I started to make this meal, but it turned out just great anyway.  It is pretty hard to screw up a stew.
     Our freezer has been restocked with lamb from Bruce Family Farms in anticipation of a post wedding BBQ we are hosting.  We originally wanted a whole lamb, but apparently that is unavailable locally until this summer.  Anyway, so the stew meat was up for grabs and rather than my usual Irish Lamb Stew I decided to go Indian with a side of brown basmati rice.  My favorite part of this meal, aside from the big chunks of lamb, was the fresh spinach salad I made that had Indian spiced cashews that I sprinkled in.  I think we need a batch of those kicking around for snacking.

LAMB CURRY

2 pounds organic lamb stew meat (with bones)

30 g fresh ginger

5 cloves organic garlic, peeled

1 can organic crushed tomatoes

1 Tbsp organic coconut oil

1 Tbsp organic sunflower oil

2 organic onions, peeled and chopped

2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp organic ground cumin

1 tsp organic coriander

1 tsp organic paprika

1/2 tsp turmeric

fresh organic black pepper, ground

5 organic potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 organic carrots, chopped

1 cup organic peas

fresh organic cilantro, chopped

Method:  In the bowl of a food processor, puree the ginger and garlic.  Heat the oils in a large saucepan over medium heat and brown the meat in two or three batches.  Remove from pan and set aside, then saute the onion and salt until translucent.  Stir in cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric,  pepper, garlic and ginger, saute for one minute.  Add the tomato, lamb, potatoes and carrots.  Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat, cooking gently for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.  If it gets too dry add some water.  At the end of cooking stir in cilantro.  Check for saltiness and add more if necessary.  Serve with steamed basmati rice,  raita and mango chutney.

SPINACH SALAD with Spiced Cashews, Radish and Cilantro

1/2 pound organic spinach

4 organic radish, sliced

1/2 cup organic cilantro, ripped

1 cup organic cucumber, sliced

1 cup organic cashews

1/2 tsp organic cumin powder

1/2 tsp organic coriander powder

1/2 tsp organic turmeric powder

sea salt

drizzle of organic sesame oil

e.v olive oil

1/2 organic lemon, juiced

organic pepper

Method:  Toss the cashews in the cumin, coriander, turmeric, pinch of sea salt and sesame oil.  Heat a small cast iron skillet over medium heat and then saute the nuts, stirring until they start to brown only slightly.  Lower heat if necessary to prevent scorching.  Remove from heat and set aside.

     In a large salad bowl, combine the spinach, radish, cucumber and cilantro.  Drizzle with some olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper.  Add cooled nuts and toss.

Thai Temptations

My mother is in town visiting so a special meal was in order.  I am trying to keep her off dairy and wheat so Thai food is the perfect thing!  We started off the meal with Thai Salad Rolls, which I already talked about in another post, but I will share the amazing Thai Green Curry secret which was then followed by an incredible Caramelized Pineapple Sundae with Candied Ginger.  Now I know I used quite a few imported ingredients for this meal, but I figure a little bit of imported treats now and then is ok, and besides, I am so sick of winter fare......

THAI GREEN CURRY with Mixed Vegetables, Shrimp and Tofu

Green Curry Paste (adapted from REbar Modern Food Cookbook):

3/4 Tbsp organic coriander powder

1 1/2 tsp organic ground cumin

1 tsp organic ground black pepper

4 cloves organic garlic

3 Tbsp organic ginger root

5 shallots, peeled

1 large jalapeno pepper (keep seeds in if you want hot curry, take them out if you want mild)

2 lemongrass stalks

4 green onions

1 cup fresh cilantro

juice of 1 lime

1 Tbsp sea salt

1/4 cup organic coconut oil

1/4 cup organic sesame oil

Method:  Toast the coriander, cumin, and peppercorns in a small skillet over medium heat until fragrant.  Chop the ends off the lemongrass, and discard along with the top two thirds of the stalk.  Chop into a few pieces and throw into a food processor along with all the other ingredients.  Puree to a smooth paste and then transfer to a jar in the fridge until ready to use.

1 pound organic firm tofu, cut into cubes 

2 Tbsp organic tamari

1/2 Tbsp organic sesame oil

1 can organic coconut milk

4 Tbsp green curry paste

6 dried lime leaves

1/4 cup organic chicken stock

1 organic potato, cut into thin quarter moon slices

1 Tbsp organic coconut sugar (or maple syrup, honey or brown sugar)

2 Tbsp organic tamari 

4 Tbsp fish sauce

2 crowns organic broccoli, divided into florettes

1/2 pound button mushrooms, sliced

1/4 organic butternut squash, peeled and cut into thin quarter moon slices

2 organic carrots, chopped

1 organic onion, chopped

1 bag organic raw, unpeeled shrimp

juice of 1 lime

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

1/4 cup organic cashews, roasted and chopped

Method:  In a bowl, combine the tofu, tamari and sesame oil.  Then broil in a cast iron skillet or tray in the oven for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown, stirring occasionally.  Set aside.

Heat a wok or large pot over medium heat and add 1/3 canned coconut milk.  Heat to a simmer and add the curry paste.  Stir the paste into the milk and then add lime leaves and stock and bring to a boil.  Add the potatoes and squash, cover and cook at a gentle simmer until the potatoes and squash are tender.

     Stir in the coconut sugar, tamari and fish sauce, broccoli, mushrooms, onion and remaining milk.  Cover and continue to simmer until all the vegetables are tender.

     Turn up the heat and add the tofu and shrimp.  Simmer until the shrimp are cooked through and sauce thickens a bit.

     Just before serving, stir in the lime juice, cilantro and season to taste with more tamari or fish sauce if necessary.  Serve with jasmine rice garnished with the cashews and more cilantro.

CARAMELIZED PINEAPPLE SUNDAE with Crystallized Ginger on Coconut Ice Cream

1 organic pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into half moon slices

1 cup organic coconut sugar

2 Tbsp organic butter

5 Tbsp organic coconut oil

1 tub organic coconut milk ice cream

5 pieces crystallized ginger, minced

Method:  Preheat oven to 375*.  In a bowl, combine the sugar, butter and coconut oil.  With your fingers, rub the butter into the sugar.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and drop smidgens of half of the butter mixture all over the sheet.  Place the pineapple onto the sheet and top each piece with the rest of the butter.  Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.  Flip the pineapple pieces over, bake another 150-20 minutes or until the pineapple begins to brown and caramelize.  Scoop some ice cream into a bowl, top with some of the pineapple and the pan juice, sprinkle with the ginger.  Enjoy!