Lebanese Style Red Lentil Soup

I bought some red lentils a long time ago and I kept looking at them and thinking what could I do with them. I found this interesting recipe here and I decided to try it yesterday. It was delicious, and the red lentils turn yellow after they are cooked!

I served the soup with zucchini-carrot garbanzo pancakes: I added some carrots for color and seasoned it with parsley, garlic powder, fennel seeds and sea salt.

If you are in an elimination diet please skip the cayenne pepper. I used ½ the amount of lemon. For a vegan version, please substitute the chicken stock by vegetable stock or water.

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Umami’s Winter Squash and Wild Rice Soup

This is another favorite of mine. I always remember to make it when I see pumpkins all over the place. Yes I still have some from my CSA (community supported agriculture) box!.

For those doing the elimination diet, skip the half and half and the brandy. It will still taste really good as long as you use fresh rosemary.

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Kale and Garbanzo Soup

This soup is similar to the “White Bean and Kale Soup”, however, the herbs I use are different, thus the flavors are not the same at all. I think I’ve got this recipe in a book by Bob Greene but I can’t find it now. His recipe was white bean and kale, not garbanzos, but you can use either. Fresh rosemary is very important because the soup doesn’t contain meat: that’s where the flavor comes from. Fresh oregano is optional but if you use it, a new flavor dimension is added. For a vegan version, substitute the chicken broth by vegetable broth. For those in the elimination diet, skip the Parmesan, sorry.

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Hoppin’ John

Hoppin’ John is a traditional dish with many variations, so I decided I could make it anyway I wanted. We love black-eyed peas. In Brazil this bean is called “Little Monk”, not sure why. It is believed that eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is thought to bring prosperity: we eat it often just in case. Black-eyed peas are an excellent source of fiber, calcium , folate, and vitamin A, among other nutrients.

I served it with Roasted Parsnips and Sweet Potatoes. See the recipe here. Instead of rosemary, I used thyme. For a vegan version, use vegetable.

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Chicken Stir Fry

This is a very versatile dish: you can use a variety of vegetables. The list of vegetables in the recipe below contains the produce that was fresher at the store. Mix white, yellow and green vegetables. I used broccoli rabe instead of broccoli as it was on sale. Broccoli rabe  or rapini is bitter and pungent, for me, similar to mustard leaves.

Serve the Chicken Stir Fry with brown rice or soba noodles.

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White Bean and Kale Soup

The vegetable broth I used has a yellow color, which I think turned the soup prettier. If your broth is transparent, you may want to add some chopped carrots to the ingredient list. Add them with the kale.

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Roasted Wild Cod with Olives and Lemon

I used vegetable stock instead of wine and no red pepper flakes. This is one of the easiest, fastest and more delicious dished I ever made: it took me less than 5 minutes to prepare, the rest of the time was just waiting for the roasting in the oven. Find the original recipe here.

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