Curried Lentil Soup

Made this Epicurious recipe on Sunday. A nice, warm meal to get through a long evening of poll watching.

I hope you all voted today!

CURRIED LENTIL SOUP

Olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
1 medium carrot diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 1/2 Tbsp curry
1 cup green lentils
4 cups water
1 15-oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1-2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Salt & pepper

- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat approx. 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrot and onion, season with salt & pepper and cook until onions become translucent, about 5 minutes.

- Add the garlic and cook until vegetables are softened, about 4-5 more minutes.

- Add the curry and cook for 1 minute

- Add the lentils and water, bring to a boil, decrease heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.

- Meanwhile, add the chickpeas, lemon, 1/4 cup water and 2 Tbsp olive oil to a small food processor and blend until smooth

- Add the chickpea blend to the soup. Continue to season with salt, pepper and curry as desired!

Potatoes, Peas and Green Beans in Coconut Red Curry Sauce

Jason created this dish to accompany my stir fried vegetables with lemongrass. I love the amazing variety of flavor profiles there are in thai cooking. We managed to use up the rest of the coconut milk from Sunday's peanut sauce for the spring rolls, and we have leftovers for several more meals. Both of these dishes were incredibly simple but lovely and complex in flavor.

2 yukon gold potates, peeled and cut into large cubes
1/2 - 3/4 pound green beans
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 very large onion, sliced
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 Tablespoons red curry paste

• Cover the potatoes with water and boil until fork tender. Drain.
• In a large pan, saute the onion in a little oil until softened
• Add the curry paste and cook for another 2-3 minutes
• Add the beans
• Add the coconut milk and peas and simmer on low about 5 minutes
• Add the potatoes and heat through

Tofu Green Curry, Spring Rolls and Zucchini Cakes with Curried Dipping Sauce

Sunday night cooking at our house last night. I had spring roll wrappers and chopped veggies at the ready, a half block of tofu and 3/4 can of coconut milk leftover in the fridge and a gorgeous zucchini from the farmer's market. This meal was born, a blend of thai and middle eastern flavors. The zucchini pancakes were an old favorite, spiced up with a new dipping sauce, the spring rolls a new favorite I foresee making frequently in the future.

Tofu Green Curry

Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Zucchini Cakes with Curried Dipping Sauce

Zucchini Cakes with Curried Dipping Sauce

I adore zucchini pancakes and love pairing them with different dipping sauces. We are starting to see beautiful zucchini in gardens and at the markets and I couldn't resist making this today.

ZUCCHINI CAKES

1 - 1 1/2 lb zucchini
1 small white onion
1 egg
6 Tbsp flour
1 tsp baking powder
salt and pepper

- Heat oven to 200

- Using a box grater, grate the zucchini and onion. Set in a colander and let drain for awhile (30 minutes recommended).

- Squeeze out as much of the excess liquid as possible and lay the vegetables out on paper towels.

- Lightly beat the egg.

- In a large bowl combine the zucchini onion mixture, egg, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper.

- On the stove top heat a skillet with oil over medium high heat

- Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto the skillet and flatten. Cook on one side until crispy and brown then flip.

- Set cakes on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil and move to an oven proof plate to keep warm while finishing the rest.

- Continue this way until all of the batter is gone, adding extra oil to the skillet as needed

CURRIED DIPING SAUCE

8 oz. plain yogurt
2 Tbsp curry
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp harissa
salt

- Mix all ingredients in a bowl and chill until serving.

Palak Tofu

Along with the Coconut Red Lentil Soup I decided to try out a tofu version of Palak Paneer.  Normally made with cheese "paneer" the dish consist of a spiced spinach and yogurt base which is pureed and dotted with the cheese cubes.  Here I substituted tofu for the cheese.  I would  have liked the dish a little sweeter and next time might actually add a dash of sugar to the spice mix.

PALAK TOFU

1/2 package of firm or extra firm tofu, sliced into 1 inch cubes
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large clove garlic
1 tsp ginger
1/2 Tbsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/3 cup fat free yogurt
3 Tbsp water

--In a pan saute the tofu in 1 Tbsp olive oil until it is browned and lightly crisp, then set aside

--In a second pan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil and add the spices and water, stirring until the spices dissolve, then stir in the yogurt

--Add the spinach to the yogurt sauce and stir to cover until the spinach is wilted.

--Add the mixture to a food processor and process until smooth

--return the spinach mixture to a skillet and heat through with the tofu

Coconut Red Lentil Soup

I've been a little soup crazy and adapted yet another recipe from 101 Cookbooks.  I wanted to use much of what I had on hand which included red lentils, fresh ginger and golden raisins plus some of the staples including curry which I've been using much more of recently.  I thought the soup came out fantastically.  I would perhaps use a hotter curry or add a little chili pepper to add a dash more heat but we have been enjoying the soup for days.

COCONUT RED LENTIL SOUP

1 cup red lentils
1 cup green lentils (or yellow split peas)
7 cups water
1 carrot diced
2 Tbsp fresh peeled and minced ginger
2 Tbsp curry powder
2 Tbsp butter
8 green onions sliced thinly
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 14-oz can coconut milk
2 tsp salt
chopped cilantro

--Rinse the lentils

--Put lentils in a large stock pot, add the water and bring to a boil.

--Reduce to a simmer, add the carrot and 1/4 of the ginger and simmer until the green lentils are soft

--Meanwhile, in a small dry sauce pan, toast the curry powder lightly and set aside

--Heat butter in a pan over medium heat and add half the green onions, the ginger and raisins and cook for about 3 minutes while stirring

--Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes

--Add the toasted curry powder to the lan, mix and add all of this to the soup along with the coconut milk and salt

--Simmer for another 20 minutes or so, until the flavors meld nicely

--Serve sprinkled with green onions and cilantro

Curried Chicken Salad with Spiced Garbanzo Beans

I'm into spices right now.  I came across this recipe from Gourmet, August 2008 and had to try it.  I think this dish is one of my favorites of the year.  It is wonderfully complex yet simple to make, especially when using a rotisserie chicken.  I have issues with the rotisserie chicken.  I love it for its simplicity and cost-effectiveness!  However, I cannot get the same information on how and where the chicken was raised.  I'm doing my best to be as conscious an eater as possible, but I'm not perfect.  You could always buy a chicken from a trusted source and roast it yourself!

CURRIED CHICKEN SALAD WITH SPICED GARBANZO BEANS

For the Chicken Salad:
1 medium onion chopped
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tsp ground cumin
1 cup chopped tomatoes (I used Pomi brand which were very good and did not come in a can)
1 cup plain, fat-free yogurt
2 Tbsp cilantro chopped
1 rotisserie chicken, most meat coarsely shredded
1 cup red grapes, halved
1 1/2 tsp salt

For Garbanzo Beans:
2 cups cooked garbanzo beans (I use dried beans, you can also use canned, just rinse them)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp salt

Curried Chicken Salad:
--In a large pan, sautee the onions, garlic and ginger in the olive oil over med-high heat until softened, about 5 minutes

--Add the curry, cumin and salt and sautee another couple of minutes

--Add the tomatoes and cook over med-high heat until the sauce starts to thicken, about 5 minutes

--Transfer to a bowl and add the yogurt, cilantro and chicken.  Let cool to room temperature

(When I know I'm cooking for the week, I will cook in my dutch oven so instead of transfering to a separate bowl, I can finish the dish directly in the dutch oven and store it directly in the fridge)

Spiced Garbanzo Beans:

--Heat oil in pan over med-high heat

--Add the garbanzo beans and cook for about a minute, stirring to coat in the oil

--Add the cumin, turmeric, cayenne and salt and cook, about 2 minutes, until the pan is dry

--Cool to room temperature

To serve:  Add some grapes to a bowl, the garbanzo beans and the chicken salad