Curried Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup Adaptation

Since my last post I've had a chance to try out the soup recommended by Jessie at Prevention.com.

I made some adaptations when I tried it out. And when you adapt a recipe then you can post it without copyright issues.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tb olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 Tb fresh ginger, minced
• 2 Tb curry powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black  pepper
• 2 roma tomatoes
• 1 c. dried lentils
• 1 quart water
• 14 oz rice milk
• 2 tsp imitation coconut flavoring
• About 3 c. small chopped sweet potato
• 3/4 c. green beans, cut into thirds
• 1/2 c. chopped cilantro

Directions

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook till soft about 3-5 min. Add garlic and ginger and cook 1 more min. Stir in curry powder, salt, and pepper. Cook 1-2 more minutes, till fragrant. 
2. Mix the imitation coconut flavoring into the rice milk. 
3. Stir in tomatoes, lentils, water, and rice milk/coconut mixture. Bring to a boil. Partially cover and reduce heat. Let simmer about 15 min.
4. Add potatoes and cook 10 more min.
5. Stir in green beans, cover completely and let cook another 10 minutes till lentils and potatoes are soft. Add cilantro and serve.

Notes about this recipe:

1. You can just use coconut milk in place of the rice milk/coconut extract mixture if you'd prefer.

Curried Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup

 This recipe was sent to me by Jessie K. She said had to share it because it "is just that good." Sadly, the content is copyrighted and I have been waiting for over a month to get permission to post it. In the meantime, please head over to Prevention.com to check out this delicious soup!

Veggie Pot Pie

This recipe was sent in by Katie M. She found it at All Recipes.

Ingredients:

•  2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 8 ounces mushrooms
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks celery, sliced 1/4 inch wide
• 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed and snapped into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 recipe pastry for double-crust pie

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Heat oil in a large skillet or saucepan. Cook onions, mushrooms, and garlic in oil for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in carrots, potatoes, and celery. Stir in cauliflower, green beans, and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to a simmer. Cook until vegetables are barely tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch, soy sauce, and 1/4 cup water until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Stir into vegetables, and cook until sauce thickens, about 3 minutes.
4. Roll out 1/2 of the dough to line an 11x7 inch baking dish. Pour the filling into the pastry lined dish. Roll out remaining dough, arrange over the filling, and seal and flute the edges.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the crust is brown.

Notes about this recipe:

1. I didn't follow the recipe exactly as written when it came to the veggies, but it still turned out great (seems like most pot pie recipes are flexible like that). I would say that the mushrooms and potatoes though are pretty important to give it that thick, filling texture.
2. For the crust I used my basic pie crust recipe but used half whole wheat flour and half white to up the nutrition value a bit as it is a dinner dish. The dough was slightly more fragile than normal but overall tasted and worked great for this.

Veggie Lentil Soup

This is another meal my mom, Tracy G., made for us while she was in town meeting the newest grandbaby. We needed something to supplement our salad and rolls, and we had some left over lentils from a different meal. This was delish! She whipped it out of no where so that is why some of the ingredients have a range in the measurement; just add how much you prefer!

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 3-4 stalks of celery, sliced
• Herbs/seasonings of your choice, to taste
• thyme
• sage
• oregano
• salt
• cracked pepper
• 2-4 cups vegetable broth or water, depending on how thick you want your soup
• 1 can of green beans (no salt added), or frozen
• 1/2 can of corn, or frozen
• 3-4 potatoes, cubed
• 1-2 carrots, sliced
• 1 or 2 cans of diced or stewed tomatoes
• Your choice cooked legumes, about 1 cup
• lentils
• black beans

Directions:

1. Peel & cube potatoes and carrots. Cook in a pot of boiling water till just cooked. Set aside.
2. Blend tomatoes in blender till smooth.
3. Saute onion, garlic, and celery in a tiny bit of olive oil till onion is clear. Add herbs and seasonings of your choice. Cook for 1 more minute, then add vegetable broth/water, green beans, corn, cooked potatoes and carrots, blended tomatoes, and legumes. 
4. Simmer about 15 minutes.