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!

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.