Yesterday's Food

We got home quite late from a meeting last night, and then I stayed up too late playing with coupons, trying to work out the best deal out of all the awesome Shaws deals this week. So here's my food:

Breakfast: Leftover Pancakes
Lunch: Peanut Butter & banana Sandwich
Dinner: Red Lentil Soup at home and then Spinach Salad while out

I did not follow this recipe very carefully and just threw everything in the crockpot without reading it, but it came out nicely anyway. I'll post how you're supposed to make the recipe, even though I didn't do it this way :)

Red Lentil Soup with Lemon
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of ground chili powder or cayenne, more to taste
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup red lentils
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
Juice of 1/2 lemon, more to taste
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro.

Throw everything except cilantro & lemon juice in the crockpot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Using an immersion or regular blender or a food processor, purée half the soup then add it back to the crockpot. Soup should be somewhat chunky.

Reheat soup if necessary, then stir in lemon juice and cilantro. Serve soup drizzled with good olive oil and dusted lightly with chili powder if desired.

I doubled the recipe, and it still fit nicely in my crockpot.

Now, I said I'd post the relish recipe for Beans & Rice from Thursday. I'll just post the whole recipe.

Black beans and rice
(I actually used 2/3 cup each of black beans, pinto beans & small red beans)

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water. Drain & rinse the beans, and then set the crockpot on low for 6-8 hours.

This gets served over rice Dominican style. Saute dry rice in enough olive oil to coat, with about a 1/2 tsp of salt per cup of rice. When rice is translucent add 1.5 cups of water per cup of rice used (some white rice calls for 2 cups of water per cup of rice - follow the directions on your rice!). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to med. low and cover. Let cook for 20 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. Fluff and serve with black beans on top.

I made a quick raw onion relish earlier in the day by mixing chopped onion with raw apple cider vinegar, salt and olive oil. I also chop & add whatever veggies & herbs are on hand. On Thursday, I used scallions, cilantro, tomatoes, carrots, and peeled beets. I also like cucumbers & red or yellow peppers. Spoon relish over your serving of rice and beans.