Crock Pot Magic

There’s still a bit of winter left here in New England, so on Monday I pulled out the crock pot for a round of lentil soup. This is one of the easiest recipes out there- a few simple ingredients, throw it all in the pot and 6 hours later you’ve got a wonderful soup for dinner, plus plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.  Crock pots are wonderful inventions for busy people and lentil soup is not only great tasting and healthy, it’s amazingly inexpensive to make. The entire pot of soup might cost you $2 at the most- easy on the wallet and good for the taste buds!  I usually serve this soup with a nice crusty bread and a green salad.

Crock Pot Lentil Soup

2 cups dried lentils

8 cups water

4 cups vegetable broth

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped celery

¼ cup chopped carrot

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 ½ teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon dried oregano

14.5 can petit diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

 

Rinse lentils and add to crock pot.  Add all remaining ingredients except for tomatoes and vinegar.  Cook on high for 6 hours.  Add the tomatoes and vinegar.  Cook on high for 15 minutes. 

 

A Nice Winter Sunday Dinner

I recently emailed SP two recipes- Turkey Meatloaf and Roasted Carrots.  She reported back terrific results, so here they are.  This a good cold weather dinner- cook up some rice pilaf or potatoes to go along with it. 

Turkey Meatloaf

1 pound ground turkey
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons ketchup

Combine ground turkey, bread crumbs, onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and egg in a large mixing bowl. Mix well. Shape into a rectangular loaf on an ungreased baking sheet. Spread the ketchup evenly on top and bake at 350 degrees for one hour (or until internal temperature reaches160 degrees).

Roasted Carrots

6 carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1 ½ inch slices
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tsp. kosher or sea salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Toss carrots in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Place in shallow baking dish or baking sheet (in one layer) and roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Note: If you want to roast the carrots at the same time as the meatloaf, they can roast at 350 degrees- they’ll just take a bit longer.

For Health’s Sake

A few days ago, my friend SP, who I’ve known for many years, emailed me with a request. She has been struggling with some health issues and, most importantly, needs to get her diabetes under control.  She asked me if I would post some simple, healthy recipes and asked for “easy, easy, advice to get people like me into the kitchen and not be afraid.”  Of course I said yes.

I started thinking about recipes for SP, and what came to mind is what I cook for my family on a regular basis. When I started cooking fifteen years ago, it was because I had high cholesterol and slightly high blood pressure.  I needed to put down the NYC restaurant menus and start taking control of my diet.  So I taught myself to cook healthy, balanced meals, starring lots of chicken, turkey, fish, whole grains and vegetables. Many years later this is still my main focus, for health reasons but also because I truly enjoy eating fresh, healthy food.  

Most of the meals that I cook are easy to prepare and I have relied on some wonderful cookbooks over the years. I do enjoy making some more complex dishes now and again, but I have a two year old!  And a job! And a house to clean!  I have to be realistic about time management. Which brings me to my next point. There’s nothing wrong with buying some prepared food to go along with your main dish. These days there are so many delicious choices to help you along. Trader Joe’s comes to mind, as does Whole Foods, or, if you are lucky enough to live in NYC like my friend SP, the list is endless.

To Market…..

I had Sunday night’s dinner all figured out.  Tired of the soups and stews of winter, I planned on making seared scallops and some nice greens to go along with them.  So I went to the market, but when I arrived at the seafood counter- Shock and Outrage!  Fourteen bucks for less than a pound of scallops!  Of course I am aware of how expensive scallops are, I simply don’t think about it when I’m menu planning. Then I’m dramatically pissed when faced with the price at the store.  I do the same thing with organic chicken.  I always plan on buying it, but when the insanely high cost of it sinks in I find myself reaching for the Perdue. 

And so, keep the family grocery budget in mind, this time I reached for the Tilapia and splurged on some nice looking asparagus.  The latest issue Cooking Light magazine has a recipe for Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia with Tomatillo Salsa. I made the Tilapia, skipped the salsa, and served it with roasted asparagus and some rice pilaf. The Tilapia was very tasty and the cornmeal crust gave it a nice crunch.  All in all, it was a good Sunday night winter dinner, refreshingly light, and most definately light on the wallet!

Lil’ Chef

Ava

Ava is two years old. She’s an amazing, smart, energetic toddler. She talks a blue streak and loves just about anything and everything; and she’s a tornado in the kitchen. There’s nothing in that room that doesn’t interest her or that she doesn’t want to just dive right into. This makes me tremendously happy. I have loved cooking for almost 15 years, and so naturally I longed to share my passion with my first child. When I was pregnant with Ava, my favorite day dream was that she would grow into a little girl that would love to cook and bake with me in the kitchen. When she was an infant I would prop her up in a bouncy seat where she would happily sit, cooing in that sweet little baby voice and batting at her toys while I mixed and measured, peeled and chopped. A few months later she graduated to the exersaucer, where she giggled and bounced and babbled and gummed on her teething fish while all the while I cooked up a storm. It was kind of nice to have a captive audience. I would chat with her the whole time, explaining the dish I was cooking, the ingredients, what utensils I was using. She was good company, an attentive listener who only occasionally talked back. Soon enough I had a crawler, then a walker, and now, this little munchkin, my lil’ chef. As soon as she went from excersaucer to crawling on the floor, cooking became a more challenging affair. And now, well, sometimes I think cooking with a two-year old should be reality television. When I enter the kitchen and put on my apron, she knows it’s time. “What you doing, Mommy?” “I’m going to cook dinner now, Ava.” “Oh….. Ava help too?” And so it begins. She drags the kitchen chair across the floor, climbs up, and she’s…..ready! I let her “help” in a safe, age appropriate way as much as possible. If I’m grating carrots, I’ll give her a grater and carrot of her own and let her give it a try. When I’m chopping vegetables, or using a knife, I’ll give her some plastic cups to rinse out to keep her out of harm’s way. Once I get everything in the pot I’ll put it on the stove and let her stir the ingredients. I let her taste everything and encourage her to smell the spices and herbs. She loves the tasting part, especially if we’re baking. She also adores being the button pusher on the Cuisinart, as well as the coffee grinder.

It all sounds very serene, doesn’t it? I assure you, it’s not. Between the lines of what I just wrote is total chaos- fingers in the bowl, water everywhere, at least two time outs for not listening, a toppled chair or two, and a very messy kitchen. But it’s worth it to me- every little spill, every spoon dropped down the disposal, every knocked-over measuring cup. My little girl is learning about food, how to prepare it, eat it, and appreciate it, and I’m the one that’s teaching her. The result is a kid with an amazing palate, an early joy of cooking, and a building vocabulary. A few days ago, I put an onion on the cutting board and took a knife from the drawer. Ava looked up from the kitchen table where she was coloring. “You gonna mince that onion, Mommy?” I laughed out loud and said, “Yes, I am. Come and watch.” She dragged her chair across the floor, climbed up, and took her place next to me. I’ve never been so proud.

Ready, Set…..

It’s difficult to write the first entry of a blog. Where do you begin, and who cares, anyway? So it begins. This is a blog about food, my love of it and how very central it is to my life. To me, cooking is an essential part of my day. It’s my creative outlet, my relaxation, and above all, the very act of it brings me peace. Kind of like a runner who has to run for the high. I relish the planning, the prepping, the actual cooking, and the presentation. Most of all, I adore feeding the people in my life. I am certainly not the best self-taught cook, not anywhere near. My cooking style is a blend of a little of this and a little of that, bits and pieces of what I’ve learned from others, and a whole lot of improvisation (there’s a two-year old running around the house, after all). It’s not the most refined food, not fussy or overdone. But my kitchen, where I spend most of my time,  is where the love is. And to me, food and love- well, they’re one in the same.