Coconut Red Lentil Soup

See the photo in the main entry if you aren't sure what type of lentils and split peas to buy. For those of you who are curious, I used the Terre Exotique Madras Curry Powder I picked up in Paris - it looks like it is available here now too (I think I've come across it on Amazon's grocery section). Vegans - you can easily make this vegan by using coconut or olive oil in place of the butter called for.

1 cup / 7 oz / 200g yellow split peas
1 cup 7 oz / 200g red split lentils (masoor dal)
7 cups / 1.6 liters water
1 medium carrot, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 tablespoons fresh peeled and minced ginger
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons butter or ghee
8 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced
1/3 cup / 1.5 oz / 45g golden raisins
1/3 / 80 ml cup tomato paste
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
one small handful cilantro, chopped
cooked brown rice or farro, for serving (optional)

Give the split peas and lentils a good rinse - until they no longer put off murky water. Place them in an extra-large soup pot, cover with the water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the carrot and 1/4 of the ginger. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the split peas are soft.

In the meantime, in a small dry skillet or saucepan over low heat, toast the curry powder until it is quite fragrant. Be careful though, you don't want to burn the curry powder, just toast it. Set aside. Place the butter in a pan over medium heat, add half of the green onions, the remaining ginger, and raisins. Saute for two minutes stirring constantly, then add the tomato paste and saute for another minute or two more.

Add the toasted curry powder to the tomato paste mixture, mix well, and then add this to the simmering soup along with the coconut milk and salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so. The texture should thicken up, but you can play around with the consistency if you like by adding more water, a bit at a time, if you like. Or simmer longer for a thicker consistency. The thicker this soup got, the more I liked it.

I've been enjoying big ladles of this soup over ~1/2 cup of warm farro - brown rice was good as well. Sprinkle each bowl generously with cilantro and the remaining green onions.

Serves 6.

101 Cookbooks http://www.101cookbooks.com/

Peanut Curry Chicken and Rice

Courtesy of Rachael Ray!

Serves 4
- 1 cup Jasmine Rice
- 1 small bunch scallions, coarsely chopped
- 1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated (I used dry ginger and did about 1 tsp to taste)
- 2 large garlic cloves, pressed/mashed
- 1 small red chili pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro leaves (about 2 handfuls)
- 2 rounded TBSP curry powder
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, plus additional splash, divided
- 1 TBSP veg. oil
- 4 chicken breasts or 1 1/2 pounds tenders, cut into bit-sized pieces
- 1/3 cup chunky peanut butter (I used regular and it turned out fine)
- 1 cup Greek-style yogurt

Prepare rice according to package directions.
While rice cooks, combine scallions, ginger, garlic, chili pepper, cilantro, curry powder and a splash of chicken broth in a small bowl and process into paste (food processor).
Heat a large skillet over medium heat with oil. Add the chicken to the pan and brown for 2-3 minutes. Add the spice paste and stir for 1 minute to combine. Add the peanut butter to the pan and whisk in the broth. Bring to a bubble and whisk in the yogurt; lower the heat and simmer for 7-8 minutes. Serve over rice.

Very Yummy!!!

Beef & Macaroni Skillet

Beef and Macaroni Skillet
(tastes much better than it looks in the picture)

1 lb. ground beef
3-4 stalks f celery, diced
1/2 tsp. dried Oregano, crushed
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 c. Salsa
1 can Corn, drained
2 c. cooked Elbow Pasta
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1. Cook beef, celery and oregano in skillet until browned, stirring to separate the meat. Remove from heat and drain out fat.
2. On low heat add soup, salsa, corn and pasta to meat. Heat through. Top with cheese and heat until cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Olive Garden Breadsticks

These are the bread stick I made for the New moon Movie. I got the recipe from Mary Price. enjoy they are YUMMY!!!
Here is the recipe for the "best breadsticks"

1TBS yeast
1 1/2 C warm h2o
2 TBS sugar
-------------mix

3 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
-------------mix
let sit for 10 min
roll out and cut with pizza cutter into bread stick shape
(I use a 10X13 pan, or a 9X12 and a square pan)
-------------
melt 1 stick butter and pour into a pan with edges (I use only a 1/4c. of butter and I think that is penalty. I put 1/8c melted of butter on the bottom of the pan and then 1/8c melted on top)

take bread stick pieces and lay out into the pan with butter
-------------
let sit for another 10 min

bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 min

top with garlic salt and parmesan cheese (I topped them with this before I baked them)



Happy Bread Eating!!

Cafe Rio Recipes

I got this recipe from Audrey Martinez. It is so good I had to share.

Shredded Pork:

2-4 lbs pork roast

1 ½ cup Coca Cola

Salt (to taste)

Pepper (to taste)

Garlic Salt (to taste)

Cook roast in a Crockpot on high for 4-6hrs, discard juices and shred.


Sauce:

1 cup Coca Cola

1 cup Ketchup

Bring to a low boil and put on top of shredded pork. Cook on low until ready to serve.

Cilantro Rice:

2 Tablespoons butter

1 ¼ cup rice

2 ¼ cup chicken broth

¾ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Juice and zest of one lime

2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

¼ tsp cumin (optional)

Melt butter and cook rice for 1-2 minutes. Then add broth and other ingredients, bring to a boil, cover (turn down heat) and cook for about 15-20 minutes.

Cilantro Dressing:

Equal amounts ranch dressing, salsa verde (I typically use the Mild salsa verde, but it is hard to find so when I use Medium salsa and put in a little more Ranch dressing so it isn’t so spicy)

1 handful of chopped cilantro

Put it all in a food processor and blend until cilantro is evenly chopped and mixed. Refrigerate before serving.

Christmas Breakfast Special

6-8 slices white bread, buttered both sides with crust trimmed off
1 pkg. bulk sausage or 2 cups cubed ham
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
8 eggs
2/3 cups milk
salt & pepper

Line 9x13 pan with buttered bread slices, trim crusts first. Fry sausage, drain, cool, and sprinkle over bread. Spread shredded cheese over all. Sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper. Beat eggs with milk and pour over mixture in pan. Refrigerate over night. In the morning, set it out for 30 minutes on the counter to warm up a bit. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.

*I make this every year for breakfast Christmas morning, just like my Mom did for me as a little girl. It's yummy and so easy.

Double Layer Pumpkin Pie

Scott practically begs me to make this every holiday season. This is super easy and delicious!

4 oz. (1/2 of 8 oz pkg.) Cream Cheese, softened

1 tbsp milk

1 tbsp sugar

1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip, thawed

1 Graham Cracker pie crust

1 cup milk

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin

2 pkg Jell-o vanilla flavor instant pudding

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

MIX cream cheese, 1 tbsp milk and the sugar in large bowl with wire whisk until well blended. Gently stir in half of the whipped topping. Spread onto bottom of crust.

POUR 1 cup milk into large bowl. Add pumpkin, dry pudding mixes and spices. Beat with wire whisk 2minutes or until well blended. (Mixture will be thick) Spread over cream cheese layer.

REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until set. Top with remaining whipped topping just before serving. Store leftover pie in fridge.