Black Bean & Lentil Soup

So the DH is feeling a little under the weather with a sinus infection. What better to feed the poor baby than a wholesome home-made soup. I often add split lentils to my soups to increase overall protein content and also to make the broth at little creamier. Skinned Split lentils tend to breakdown when cooked well and that helps add a nice creaminess to soups. So much better than adding dairy based cream or additives like corn starch. This one came together really well. 

Black Bean & Lentil Soup

Prep Time: 30 min

Ingredients (6 Servings):

1. 1 cup Mung Dal (split, skinned)
2. 1 x 15oz can Black Beans, drained, rinsed.
3. 1 Russet Potato, peeled and diced
4. 1 Large Tomato, diced (~1 cup)
5. 1 x 12oz Bag of Frozen Spinach
6. 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
7. 1 tbsp Better than Bouillon Mushroom Base
8. 1.5 tbsp Dried Parsley flakes
9. 1-2 tsp Lawry's Garlic Salt
10. 8-10 cups Water or Homemade Vegetable Broth
11. Salt and Pepper, to taste
12. Hot Sauce (I use Cholula, optional)

Directions: 

Add all ingredients to a deep stock pot (start with 8 cups of water/broth and add more later, if needed). Bring to a boil and allow to simmer until lentils are tender and begin to break apart (~20-25 min). Taste test for salt, and add pepper for a garnish. Serve hot :) 

Tony's Assessment: Loved it. He ate 2 bowls for dinner and asked to take some for lunch tomorrow. 

My Assessment: This was a very filling soup by my standards. I was pretty full halfway through my first bowl and finished it only so as to not waste any. I liked it better with hot sauce added to it!! 

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)*: Calories 170 (Fat Calories 15)
Total Fat 1.7 g; Carbohydrates 31.4 g; Fiber 7.9 g; Sugars 2.0 g; Protein 9.5 g

* Nutrition facts are provided for the water option as vegetable broth calorie content can vary tremendously.

Mung Dal w Spinach & Peas

Tonight I was craving the comfort of home (got some bad news this morning) and so decided to make a simple dal to serve over rice. I looked at the variety of whole, split, and split-skinned lentils I had and decided on using Mung Dal. This recipe is an enhanced version of what my mom still makes all the time. She tends to make the traditional/authentic unadulterated versions - her dal is just a dal, without any spinach in it!!     

Palak Mutter Mung Dal

Prep Time: 20-25 min

Ingredients (6 servings):

1. 1 cup Split-Skinned Mung Dal
2. 2 cups Baby Spinach
3. 2 cups frozen Peas
4. 6 Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Plain dried, Whole foods 365 brand)
5. 1 (4oz) can of Tomato Sauce
6. 2 tsp Cumin Seeds
7. 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
8. 1 tsp Deggi Chili Powder
9. 1 tbsp Goya Recaito Cilantro Cooking Base
10. 1 tbsp Tamicon
11. Salt to taste

Directions: 

Mix all ingredients together (except for the Tamicon) with 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Simmer until dal is tender and begins to break apart. The preparation should be really soupy, so if it begins to thicken too much add cup or so of water. When the dal is tender, do a quick taste test for salt and add more, if needed. then add the tamicon, stir well and serve over brown rice. 

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving): Calories 168 (Fat Calories 8)
Total Fat 0.9; Cholesterol 0g; Carbohydrates 29.6g; Dietary Fiber 7.6g; Sugars 5.0g; Protein 11.3g

Two Lentil Soup

This heart warming Two-Lentil Soup is a concoction I came up with on a rainy Ohio fall day. It is packed with protein goodness, zero fat and greens as well. Also, it has only 1 spice ... roasted ground cumin! Yum! If you like cumin, or even if you don't, do give roasted ground cumin a try. It has a much smoother earthy flavor and a little bit of it goes a long way. 

Two Lentil Soup with Oyster Mushrooms

Prep Time: 15 min (pressure cooker)

Ingredients:

1. 1/3 cup Mung Dal (Green lentils, split and skinned)
2. 1/3 cup Masoor Dal (Red lentils, split and skinned)
3. 1 cup Spinach, coarsely torn
4. 1 cup Oyster mushrooms (optional)
5. 1 medium red onion, diced
6. 1 large tomato, diced
7. 1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
8. 2-3 cups of water or vegetable broth
9. 1-2 tsp roasted ground cumin, to taste.
10. Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a pressure cooker and cook under high pressure for 8-10 minutes. Release steam immediately. Stir to combine ingredients. Taste check for salt and add more cumin, to taste. Garnish with freshly cracked black pepper, and fresh cilantro (if you have any available). If you don't own a pressure cooker, this can easily be made on the stove top, simmer on medium heat for ~30 min until the beans are well done and blended with the rest of the ingredients. It should not take longer than 30 min as the skinned split lentils typically cook super fast. Serve hot!! 

Punjabi Khichdi

Khichdi (Kh-itch-dee) is a very mildly flavored, soupy preparation of lentils and rice. Common in pretty much the entire Indian sub-continent, variations of the same basic theme are found across India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka ... it is considered a comfort food. Traditional preparations are gentle on the stomach but offer a special blend of spices and herbs that are gentle enough on folks suffering from 'Delhi-Belly' ... or gastric troubles. Even within the same region and cuisine, there are often variations of it, depending upon the particular variety of lentils used and in some instances milder, easy to digest veggies, such as peas and carrots and cauliflower, may also be used. 

Ammaji's Kitchdi

Prep Time: 10-12 min

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup Split Mung Dal (Split Green lentils, with skins)
2. 1/2 cup Brown rice (traditional preparations use white rice)
3. 3.5 - 4 cups water
4. 1/8 tsp Asafoetida
5. 1-2 tsp Cumin seeds
6. 1 tsp fresh or dried Cilantro leaves
7. 2-4 Dried Curry leaves (optional)
8. 1 tsp minced ginger (optional)
9. 1 tsp Garam Masala (optional)
10. salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a pressure cooker and cook under high pressure for 10 minutes. Allow to sit for a few minutes, or release pressure immediately. If you don't have a pressure cooker, use a deep stock pot and cook until the dal is almost all turned to mush and the rice is super tender. The overall consistency should be that of a very wet oatmeal, or cream of wheat. Mix well, garnish with freshly cracked black pepper, and serve hot. Traditionally this dish is eaten with plain home-made yogurt, or spicy Indian pickles. Some people swear by the flavor of a dollop of butter on each plate ... I've never been a big fan and I don't use oils anymore so I didn't even bother with it today. 

Assessment: I already know I love this dish. But T loved it today :) Score!!!! 

Mung Bean Sprout Chaat

Growing up in India, our diet was primarily vegetarian, with the occasional indulgence in meat. Our diet however, was never lacking in protein. Everyone that eats a plant-based vegetarian diet gets asked that question "... but where do you get your protein?" - the answer is quite simple: Vegetables, Leafy Greens, Grains, Lentils, Beans ... all have wonderful amounts of protein. And we don't need to eat 600% of the RDA of protein like most people on a Standard Western Omnivorous diet. 

One of my uncles (Bade Dad), was very conscientious and made sure all of us kids ate a healthy diet. He was a wonderful cook and was often found in the kitchen futzing around with various recipes. One of the things he often did was soaked lentils or beans so that my aunt and mom knew what to cook for the next meal. He often also had them make mung bean sprouts. We typically ate this dish for a snack or even for breakfast. It has no added fat and is full of nutrition - protein, minerals, vitamins and even Iodine from the red onion ... all that fun stuff!!

Prep Time: 2 days for sprouting the beans; 10 min of actual dish prep time.

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup Mung Beans
2. 1 medium Cucumber, Seedless, diced
3. 1 medium Red Onion, diced
4. 2-3 tbsp minced, mixed, fresh herbs
5. 1 lemon/lime (juice of).
6. 1-2 tsp Chunky Chaat Masala, to taste (optional).
7. Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

The first step of this recipe requires some patience. Rinse mung beans and transfer to a large bowl. Soak overnight in ample amounts of water:

Time = 0 hours

The next morning, the beans should look nice and plump:

Time = 12 hours

Fill the bowl with tap water and rinse the beans again. The plump beans should rise to the top and any that did not absorb water will sink to the bottom (discard those).

Line the bottom of a colander with a folded paper towel or cheese cloth. transfer the beans and allow the excess water to drain out the bottom:

Soak another large piece folder paper towel, or cheese cloth with tap water and cover the beans completely. Place the colander in the same bowl, and cover the whole set up with saran-wrap or aluminum foil. This will prevent the beans from drying out. Leave the bowl on the kitchen counter. 

Time = 24 hours

After another 12 hours, remove the top cover, run a gentle stream of tap water over the beans. By this time most beans should have a small seedling (2-3 mm). Once the water drains out, replace the wet cover and saran wrap. 

Time = 36 hours

After another 12 hours, repeat the steps above. Most beans at this stage should have a 8-10 mm sprout. 

Time = 48 hours

On the second day, the sprouts should be close to 15mm long and that is when we typically stopped growing them further. After sitting for 2 days at room temperature, despite repeated washes in between, there is a chance for fungus etc. so I didn't want to risk it anymore. A lot of oriental dishes have sprouts that are far longer. I soaked the beans at this stage in a fresh bowl with a lot of tap water, and picked up the floating sprouts and transferred them to a fresh colander. Once well drained, I kept them overnight in the fridge. 

This evening, I transferred the sprouts to a pressure cooker and steamed them for less than 2 minutes. Bring 1/2 cup water to boil, add the sprouts and close the lid. Start the timer and as soon as 2 minutes is up, whether or not full pressure has been achieved, take the cooker off the stove and release the steam and drain immediately (mine were a little over-done today!). 

Meanwhile, dice onions and cucumbers:

And then in a large bowl, toss everything together. For fresh herbs, I used basil, cilantro, mint, oregano, thyme and spearmint, all chopped finely. I used Chunky Chaat Masala in my recipe, but if you don't have it, this is equally as enjoyable with just salt, pepper, and lemon/lime juice. 

Another way is prepare this dish is to wilt the onions in a skillet, with just a little bit of water, and then add the sprouts, and spices. Toss everything together for a couple of minutes, remove from heat, transfer to a large bowl and toss in fresh diced cucumber (and even tomatoes). Enjoy!!!

My Assessment: This is comfort food for me ... miss you Bade dad! 

15-min Barley & Vegetable Soup

This past weekend I attended a lecture and cooking demo in Dublin, OH by Julieanna Hever and Chef AJ. Julieanna gave an excellent talk aimed at debunking the myths around plant-based cuisine and Chef AJ followed that up with No S-O-S (salt-oil-sugar) cooking demo where she made a couple of excellent soups, a quinoa salad, and also some yummy truffles. For her split pea soup, made from scratch, she used an electric pressure cooker and she set the timer, to just 6 minutes. The soup was superb. That inspired me to use my stove top pressure cooker tonight to make this Barley & Vegetable Protein soup ... and from start to finish - from the moment I turned the stove on .. to when I served it into a bowl, this recipe literally took just 15 minutes. 

Prep Time: 15 min

Ingredients:

1. 1/3 cup Quick Barley (I used Quaker Oats brand)
2. 1/3 cup TVP crumbles, rinsed
3. 1/3 cup Split & Skinned Mung dal (green lentils)
4. 1 large onion, coarsely diced
5. 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely diced
6. 1/2 cup frozen corn
7. 1 pk (0.5oz) dried Shiitake mushrooms 
8. 5-6 tbsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos
9. 1/2 tbsp Roasted Cumin powder
10. 1/2 tbsp Penzey's Sweet Curry Powder (or use Garam Masala, instead)
11. 1 tsp Roasted Garlic salt
12. 1 14-oz can No-Sodium Vegetable broth
13. 2 cups water
14. 6-8 fresh basil leaves, for garnishing.

Directions:

Before doing anything else, place 2 cups of water and all the vegetable broth in the pressure cooker and turn  the stove on high to get the water going. Meanwhile rinse barley, TVP, lentils and mushrooms and mix in the broth. Add frozen corn. Dice onions and tomatoes and add to the cooker. Then add all the dry spices (except the salt).  By the time I had everything diced and added in the 2.5 cups of water in the cooker was at a rolling boil. Close the lid, keep the stove on high, and allow the cooker to come to a full steam pressure (about 4-5 minutes). Allow to sit at that pressure for 2 minutes and then turn off the steam. Using a spoon, lift the pressure regulator weight and release all the steam. Make sure to stay away from the gushing steam because it will scald you pretty bad. Once all the steam has been released, open lid immediately and mix. Do a quick taste check for salt, and if needed, sprinkle a small amount. Garnish with fresh chopped basil and serve steaming hot. 

My Assessment: Super quick dinner and a hearty one at that. This soup is so thick and rich and chewy, it didn't need any accompaniments at all. The barley was nice and nutty. The dal and the TVP made its texture creamy and I loved the flavor of shiitake mushrooms. Feel free to add more veggies, as you see fit to adapt this recipe to your taste. I used what I had in the freezer on this Thursday evening!! Lovely dinner ... and leftovers for later! Perfect week night dinner!

Spinach, Lentils, Mushrooms & Wild Rice Risotto

I was itching for a one pan recipe tonight. I knew it had to be some sort of grain, with veggies and maybe some lentils to make it worth my while ... !! I also got some Barley the other day and had been wanting to use it. So this evening's research yielded a rather interesting recipe - Barley and Lentil Pilaf with Mushrooms & Spinach. Now that seemed like the perfect thing to make tonight and I was looking forward to trying barley .. except, I caught sight of a packet of Near East Long Grain and Wild Rice Pilaf, which has been sitting in my pantry for a while ... so quite serendipitously my plans for a barley and lentil pilaf turned into a risotto. I used the same recipe, only I used rice instead of Barley and green lentils instead of brown. 

Prep Time: 20-25 min

Ingredients:

1. 1 Pack of Near East Long Grain and Wild Rice Pilaf
2. 1/3 cup Split Mung dal (Green lentils)
3. 2 sachets of Swanson Vegetable Flavor boost 
4. 1 cup water
5. 1 small Red onion, diced
6. 1 cup baby spinach
7. 4-6 large mushrooms, sliced  
8. 1 tbsp pine nuts
9. Salt and pepper, to taste
10. 1 tsp fresh Thyme leaves. 

Directions:

Line a dutch oven, or deep (non-stick) stock pot with half cup of water and mix in both sachets of flavor boost. These are small sachets of concentrated broth, that can be stored at room temperature. I like using these because I can use one, or more, depending upon my recipe, and I don't need to worry about the rest of the carton of broth going bad in the fridge. Once the water comes to a boil and the flavor boost paste is mixed in, add dal and allow to simmer for 5-7 minutes while preparing everything else. Then, mix in the packet of rice, with provided seasonings. I did not use any oil for the rice.  

Turn the heat to medium low and let rice and dal simmer. Dice onions and add to the pot. Mix in and let simmer. Then add baby spinach, sliced mushrooms and pine nuts and continue to let it simmer until the rice and dal and both tender. If it begins to look a little dry, add a splash of water, as many times as needed. Given the slightly grainy nutty texture of the dal, the final dish should be a very moist, almost runny risotto, not a dry pilaf. I found that if you let it get too dry it doesn't taste as good. Once both the rice and dal are tender, add the thyme leaves, mix in, cover and let sit for 5 minutes to allow the flavors to meld together. Serve garnished with freshly cracked black pepper.    

My Assessment: I liked it .. and the best part, its a one-pot dinner, with enough leftovers for lunch too! My picture looks a little dry and not as moist as it should. My dinner sat for a few minutes while I ran around after Nik :) .. oh well! Life as a mom!! 

Moong Dal w Kale

New Veggie #23 - Kale - Take 2 - So I've been craving Indian comfort foods for some odd reason. All day today I was thinking of making "Saag Dal" which essentially translates to Greens with Lentils. This is quite an easy preparation and can be eaten with Naan, or with rice and tastes good both ways. A quick call to my sister-in-law and I was mentally extremely well prepared for the task at hand when I walked in the door.  Traditionally, Saag Dal is made with Spinach. But I had a bunch of Kale sitting in the fridge and I decided to use that instead. The result was absolutely delicious!!!

Mung Dal with Kale

Prep Time: 20-30 min

Ingredients:

Mung dal

1. 2-3 cups Kale
2. 1 medium red Onion, diced
3. 2 medium tomatoes, diced
4. 1/2 cup Split Mung (mung) dal (green lentils)
5. 1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
6. 1 tbsp Cumin powder
7. 1 tbsp Coriander powder
8. 1/8 tsp Asafoetida (optional)
9. 2 cups vegetable broth
10. Salt, to taste
11. Cayenne pepper, to taste

Directions:

Add 2 cups vegetable broth to a pressure cooker* and bring to a boil. Add onions, tomatoes, ginger-garlic paste, lentils, cumin, coriander, asafoetida and salt to taste. Bring to a rolling boil and then add kale. Given that kale is a rather hardy leaf, it is hard to press down into the cooker, especially since this recipe calls for 2-3 cups. Don't fret. Pressure cooking is basically cooking under steam so the kale will not burn even if it is not touching the liquid at the bottom. Cover with lid and steam, under pressure for about 10 min (1 full steam release and a simmer for another 2-4 min). Turn off the stove and let the steam dissipate on its own before opening the cooker. The kale is likely to be still sitting on top of all the liquid. With a wooden spatula, mix the kale into the cooked lentils at the bottom. Serve hot, sprinkled with a little cayenne pepper, with Garlic Naan, or Steamed rice. 

Nik's Reaction: Mom, what is that? At the sight of warm Naan. He wasn't a big fan of the lentils but ate almost half a naan all by himself. 

Alex's Reaction: Alex enjoyed this preparation. He wanted only the naan at first but I coaxed him into trying the lentils and HE LOVED IT!! He ate a Naan and another half with a good amount of the dish. I'm so proud of him for having tried something new!! 

My Assessment: Growing up, I wasn't a big fan of green vegetables. I used to tell my mom and my aunt that I didn't want to eat cow-fodder. Well that has definitely changed and today I added a 'comfort food' label to this recipe. We had it with Garlic Naan from Trader Joe's. It was great and reminded me a lot of my aunt who passed away a few years ago (I miss you, Badi ma ... ). A great big thanks got out to her for introducing me to Saag Dal!

* To make this dish without a pressure cooker, I would modify the steps just slightly. I don't think this will work very well in a crock-pot (slow cooker) but a dutch oven should work just as well as a pressure cooker. I would boil kale in vegetable broth and salt to cook it down, before adding the rest of the ingredients and simmering until the lentils were cooked, adding vegetable broth and/or water to keep the bottom from burning. The final dish should be very moist but not runny when served on a dinner plate.