apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I made a big batch of Bhutanese red rice salad last night, so that should last us through the weekend.

sunday night roast with some onions, carrots, and potatoes.
side dish of white beans & kale.

Sifting through some options from 101 Cookbooks, Heidi Swanson's fantastic site for natural and organic cooking.

http://www.101cookbooks.com/index.html

I'm actually having a big cooking-for-freezing day today... black bean soup, pinto bean burritos, pierogies, shortbread. planning on blogging about it too later this week!

No sooner did I express my desire to make carrot risotto in an earlier post when I received my latest issue of Everyday Food magazine with a parmesan and carrot risotto recipe included. So, that is tonights dinner along with a spinach salad and a cranberry upside down cake for desset and tomorrow is pot roast.

Just made velvety lentil soup. We are currently eating bowls of it topped with fresh grated parmesan and white vinegar while sitting in front of the fire.

For dinner I made roasted chicken w/lemon/garlic/parsley. Chick peas with squash over white rice.

My boyfriend is cooking right now, making a pork loin and sautéed rainbow card with leeks. Tomorrow we are making spicy black bean soup!

I'm making blue cheese burgers with sweet potato oven fries to eat while watching football. Yum!

We had a busy day today, so I threw together a quick soup that turned out really yummy...sort of a tortellini minestroni. I had baked some rustic white bread earlier in the day that we had with it.

Last night I made fettuccine Alfredo for the first time. Meh, but then again, I'm never crazy about it, my husband loved it though. I also tossed together that kale salad you featured a little while ago, it was brilliant.

I had major shopping success today but was left exhausted for dinner, so I just thawed some Italian sausage and sauteed it with onion, garlic, canned tomatoes and wine for an easy pasta. Then I hit a second wind and made ginger scones for breakfast over the next couple days.

Tomorrow, nada. Thawing beef stew and calling it a weekend cooking-wise.

I made some succotash and some kale chips. I'm addicted to those kale chips.

jyw: I keep meaning to make the kale chips! Will have to try it.

Tonight we made a big salad with a little bit of roast duck and crispy potatoes. Delicious.

Today, I'm making vegetable beef soup. Not a gourmet twist on it, just the plain, old-fashioned classic. I made the stock on Friday, and will start chopping momentarily, so I can have the soup for lunch.

Made steel-cut oatmeal this a.m., and chopped and zapped some local apples with raisins, cinnamon and allspice for oameal topping during the week.

More winter comfort food is in the slow cooker (but keeping on the January theme, the recipe was originally from Weight Watchers):

Italian Beef and Lentil Slow-Cooker Stew
1 small onion(s), chopped
1 medium garlic clove(s), minced
1 large zucchini, diced (I used carrots instead)
1 pound(s) lean beef round, cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 tsp dried oregano, crushed
14 1/2 oz canned diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tbsp canned tomato paste
3/4 cup(s) dry lentils
4 cup(s) beef broth(I used Trader Joe's Organic Beef Broth)
1 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup(s) basil, fresh, slivered

Place all ingredients, except basil, in a 5-quart or larger slow cooker; stir well. Cook on LOW setting for 6 to 7 hours.
Remove cover; stir in basil. Cover and cook on LOW setting for 5 minutes more. Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.
***
Also will be roasting cod with potatoes, and Brussels sprouts.
And will be taking the easy way with baking - No Pudge Brownie mix.

Just made homemade cereal with almonds and dried apples!

I made welsh rabbit. Then I made a cabbage and apple salad. I also made cream cheese and jam french toast sandwiches.

Friday night I made a batch of granola with milled flax seed. Yesterday I made corn bread (first time using the cast-iron pan method). Today I made a batch of red lentils with garlic, onion, cumin, and cilantro.

I've decided to try an make ras-malai, an Indian desert, for the first time. Wish me luck!

Japanese Ramen (not Top Ramen!) with homemade dashi and chicken broth and fresh noodles. It is topped with sliced roast pork, nori, scallions and some sliced hard-boiled egg.

I walked to West Seattle Farmer's Market; purchased variegated purple/orange carrots, organic chicken, frozen pasta and dried cranberry beans. Will make chicken stock and chicken soup this afternoon using some of the carrots at least.

Earlier this week I was searching for "Borlotti" beans at DeLaurenti's in Pike Place Market -- the staff directed me to a section with dried beans and pasta. I searched and searched and couldn't find Borlotti beans, so grabbed some Cranberry beans and hit the register. I was about to complain that they didn't have Borlotti beans when I saw the little sticker on the cranberry beans saying "0.8 lbs, Borlotti bean" Who knew? ;-)

I made spinach falafels this weekend for a friend who has a new baby -- they freeze well and make a terrific lunch:

http://wellfedeveryone.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/spinach-falafel/

I'm looking for a fabulous lentil soup recipe. I have green french lentils. What else do I need? Do I cook them in water or stock?

mgood,

here's a great lentil soup recipe and I'll give you my secret.

you'll need:

french green lentils
carrot, celery and onion
garlic
tomato paste
water or vegetable stock
and...the secret ingredient:
jamaican jerk marinade (that's right, don't be afraid it's delicious)

sweat the vegetables and garlic in oil in your soup pot til they start to get tender.

add the garlic, lentils, tomato paste and a couple spoonfuls of the secret ingredient (it's spicy, so use according to your preference.)

add water or stock, bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and cook til the lentils are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

also, depending on your preference, you can leave the soup the way it is or you can puree it. Or, you can remove about a third of the soup, puree it and return it to the pot.

art, thanks!

Yum. I made some chicken biryani, which was lovely... but now my fingers are reeking from the smell of garlic :(

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=592347