Curried Lentil Soup

The past few weeks have been filled with laughter, food, family, and holidays. I'm sad that the 2013 holidays have come to a close, but excited for what 2014 will bring us. I can honestly say that I have no idea what Jacob and I will be doing or where we will be living this time next year. I think this is the first time our future plans have been so blurry, but it's kind of exciting.

We spent Christmas week between our two families. I was horrible at taking pictures while we were home, in fact, I didn't take any. A friend of ours did take some snapshots while we were all out shooting at Jacob's parent's farm. Here's one of me missing a clay pigeon. Ow, my shoulder was sore after that.

We also spent some time with Jacob's family the weekend before Christmas festivities started when Andrew graduated from the best university in the state - Appalachian. Here we are pictured with the former mascot himself (hence, the shoes), plus his beautiful girlfriend and my sister in law.

Ok, enough of that. On to the food. Curried lentil soup! Now you may be asking yourself, "why should I eat lentils"? Yeah, I though so. Well, lucky for you - I have the answer. Lentils are very high in folate, fiber, protein, iron, and many other awesome things. They're ridiculously cheap, too. A bag of lentils (usually around 1 lb) costs around $1.50-$2.00. And a pound of lentils is a LOT of lentils.

This soup is a one pot wonder. It's packed with veggies, spices, barley, and (previously noted) lentils. Serve it up with a dollop of sour cream and come corn bread for a full meal, or eat it by itself. It only gets better with time!

Start by soaking the lentils in very hot water. When you cover them with water and let them sit for 15-20 minutes they'll double in size. Then, drain, and they're ready for use!

Chop up whatever veggies you have on hand. I used cabbage, carrots, onion, celery, garlic, and mushrooms.

Saute. 

Add salt.

Once the veggies are tender, add the pre-soaked lentils.

Some tomatoes go in next.

And plenty of curry! I love curry. It has such a rich color and flavor. It's a powerful spice, so don't use it unless you plan to flavor your whole dish with it. But when it is used with intention, it's amazing.

Finally, pearled barley.

Simmer for 45 minutes or 6 hours! 

We had skillet cornbread on the side. The key to making the best skillet cornbread is to heat up some oil in the pan before your pour the batter in. 

Dinner is served! Perfect dish for a cold winter night. Best served alongside one you love and an episode of parenthood (LOVE that show).

Curried Lentil Soup Recipe:

Makes enough soup for 6 main courses

- 2 cups dry lentils (4 cups once re-hydrated)

- 1 and 1/2 cups roughly chopped cabbage

- 1 cup chopped onion

- 1 cup chopped mushrooms

- 1/2 cup chopped carrots

- 1/2 cup chopped celery

- 4 cloves minced garlic

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 1 can (2 cups) diced tomatoes

- 1-2 tsp salt

- 2 tsp curry powder

- 3/4 cup pearled barley

- 2-3 cups water

Directions:

- Boil water and pour enough over dried lentils in a ceramic bowl or a pan to cover completely. Let the lentils sit for 15-20 minutes.

- Chop the vegetables, heat the olive oil over medium/high heat and cook in a large soup pot until tender.

- Add salt, curry powder, hydrated lentils, and tomatoes.

- Add enough water to make the soup the consistency you like. I added 3 cups of water to this batch.

- Stir in pearled barley.

- Simmer on low/medium heat for at least 45 minutes, and up to 4 hours (if cooking for a long time, simmer on low heat).

- Serve with sour cream and corn bread!

House Renovation Project #1 - Wood Floors!

The first big inside house project we decided to tackle was to install wood floors in the living room/hallway area. When we bought the house, new carpets had just been put in. You may ask "why would you tear out perfectly good carpet"? The reason is as simple as this: we have a dog. Carpet is great for the bedrooms, but the living area gets a lot of traffic and with all the snow/rain/mud we get carpet just wasn't going to cut it.

We did a lot of research on the best/most cost effective flooring for this area, and decided bamboo flooring would be the best bang for our buck. We chose this shade and style:

Which were going to be put in this room:

But we can't just cut to the "after" picture right away - you gotta see the whole process! Pictured here, Jacob fixing some areas of the sub-floors.

My brother (Josh), sister in law (Anna), Mom, and Dad all arrived to help with the big project. Pictured here, a little Saturday morning skype break with one of the nieces.

Anna, Mom, and I made a morning run to Lowes to pick up some supplies and came home to the first few pieces being put down!

As the day progressed, the boys worked on the floors while the girls acted as support crew. Lunch, anyone? Tempeh/veggie/quinoa soup + grilled cheese!

In the afternoon, we all alternated between floor work and peeking in on the March Madness that was going on in our makeshift living room/master bedroom.

Before we knew it, the floors were almost done!

We decided to remove the dated baseboard heaters off the living room wall, here I am doing a little touch up paint before the baseboards went back in. I look tired.

And.... Fast foward a few hours! Notice the new rug as well. Love it!

 A closer look at the finished hallway.

And one final before/after...

It was a tiring weekend, but we are so excited about our new floors. They make the room look so much brighter. We can't thank our out-of-town crew enough for all the help! This project would have taken much longer than a weekend project had we tried to do it by ourselves. Plus, it was so fun having everyone in town! Next big project? Hopefully some things outside once it warms up a bit. For now, I leave you with this scene from our house, taken about 3 hours ago from our back door.

Cozy Winter Lunch

Somedays, ok most days, I crave a steaming bowl of soup paired with a hot grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. There is nothing better than coming in from the snow to something so comforting and cozy. A couple of days ago Jacob and I found ourselves in this very situation. I anticipated being cold after a morning of work outside, and threw together a quick soup in the crock pot right after breakfast. By lunch time, the soup had smelled up the house with aromas of hearty winter herbs and tomato. I forgot to take pictures of the soup making process, but it was a clean-out-the-cabinets kind of soup. 

The grilled cheese was spiced up a little with some avocado slices and a combination of cheddar and pepper jack cheeses. The grill pan we use gives the sandwich an extra special look! Make sure you start out with a hefty amount of butter in the pan. Mmm, toasty goodness.

A nice big salad on the side...

And that's a meal!

 Clean-Out-The-Cabinets-Soup for a Cold Winter Day Recipe

- 1 medium onion, diced

- 2 to 3 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1/2 green pepper, diced

- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

- 1/2 cup lentils (any variety will work, I like brown lentils)

- 1/4 cup brown rice or rice blend

- 2 cans diced tomatoes

- 1 cup water

- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary

- 1/2 tsp dried sage

-Salt and pepper to taste

- Parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions:

- Add all ingredients except the parmesan cheese to a crockpot.

- If the soup seems to dry, add water as needed.

- Set the crock pot on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours

- Garnish with parmesan cheese and serve steaming along side grilled cheese sandwiches!

Thai Noodle Bowls

Ever since eating at this amazing place in DC where the noodle bowls and dumplings flowed like honey, I can't get noodle bowls out of my head. The noodles bowls in this restaurant (that I can't remember the name of to save my life) were served in giant bowls, and came steaming hot to the table with a pair of chopsticks and some fresh garnishes and hot sauces to add as you please. Rice noodles have a special place in my heart. Yum.

So, a few nights ago Jacob and I decided to re-create something similar. Lots of veggies were chopped.

And lots of extras were pulled out of corners (not pictured, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, and tumeric powder). I actually purchased these rice noodles at world market not too long ago, but you can usually find rice noodles in a regular grocery store in the asian foods section. Get the ones that look like they are about the same thickness as linguine. The mushrooms are canned (normally I can't stand canned mushrooms), but they're better than normal canned mushrooms. They're called straw mushrooms and can also be found on the asian foods aisle. The coconut cream was something I picked up at Trader Joes last time I was in the Raleigh, NC area. This stuff is awesome, but regular coconut milk would work just fine as well! Lastly, ground ginger in a jar. This stuff is not dried, it's fresh and it saves a lot of time peeling and grating fresh ginger but still holds the same taste qualities. Plus, it lasts forever in the fridge! Whew, moving along now...

We added some tofu to this version, but you could easily make these bowls with chicken or beef as well.

While the tofu was sautéing in a little sesame oil and soy sauce, I went ahead and boiled some water and cooked the noodles. 

After the noodles were tender, I strained them and place some in each bowl that they were being served in. 

Then, I started cooking the veggies/broth. Start by sautéing the onion, carrot, and yellow squash. Once those veggies are tender, add a pinch of red pepper flakes, tumeric, salt to taste, and coconut cream (or coconut milk).

Add the bok choy, kale, and mushrooms and cook until the greens wilt. Then, add enough water so that the mixture looks like a hearty soup. Add salt or soy sauce to taste again at this point (it may need more than you expect). Once the soup mixture is heated through, place the cooked protein of your choice (in this case, tofu) on top of the noodles, and ladle the broth and veggie mixture on top.

Stir the mixture up a little, and add some garnishes if you please. Pictured here, some sesame seeds and a few more red pepper flakes.

The perfect dinner that will fill you up and warm you up in no time. And the leftovers are great for lunch the next day!