Creamy Broccoli Dal

I've been on this Lentil kick for the last little while and yes, I'm still on it. Michelle sent me a link to "The Running Lentil" girl's site and after searching through it, there wasn't a lot of recipes but I managed to find this "Creamy Broccoli Dal (Red Lentil Soup)" recipe. As always, I made some substitutions from the original recipe to line up with what I had in the fridge. Oh the original recipe says it's Vegan so awesome if you were looking for a Vegan dish :)

Ingredients:
2 - Tbsp Vegetable / Olive Oil
1 - Tsp Cumin seeds (I used Ground Cumin)
1 - Tsp Black mustard seeds (I used regular mustard seeds)
1/2 - Onion, chopped
1/2 - Cup Ref lentils
2 - Cups Broccoli (chopped into bite size pieces)
2 - Water
1/2 - Tsp Salt
1 - Cup unsweetened soy mil (I used Almond milk, not quite the same thing, but it worked)
1 - Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 - Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 - Tsp Turmeric
1/2 - Tsp Garam Masala
1/2 - Tsp Red Pepper flakes

Directions:
Rinse lentils.

Heat oil on medium heat in large pan. Add cumin and mustard seeds.

(All the spices in a dish. This looked good for the photo but was a bad idea because I needed the cumin and mustard seed first, then the other stuff at the end)

The mustard seeds will start popping like crazy, it's kind of neat. Add in the Onion and Lentils. Saute until the onion starts to get a translucent.

Here you can see the onions are little more translucent and the lentils have some browning to them.

Add in the Broccoli.

Add in the water. Bring to a boil, cover and then simmer for 20 - 25 minutes stirring occasionally until the broccoli is tender and most of the water has been absorbed by the lentils.

It should look something like this.

Add the Soy (Almond) milk, soy sauce, lemon juice and the remainder of the spices.

Mix together and turn down even lower so it doesn't bubble or boil. Let it cook for a few minutes so that the flavors can combined.

Serve in a bright fancy bowl :)

I tried adding crumbled bacon on top but it really didn't add to it like I had hoped it would. This dish is best kept as a Vegan dish.

Beet Tartare

It's time again for another fabulous LCBO Magazine recipe! This one "Beet Tartare" comes from the Holiday 2015 magazine. I was a little hesitant to make it because the cream/sauce on top calls for fresh horseradish and pretty much anything spicy makes me sweat like crazy. I decided give it a shot with the thought that if it was too spicy then I wouldn't put it on the portion that I was going to eat. It turns out that because of the low amount that is used (or possibly the lower quality of the grocery store horseradish) I could taste the horseradish flavor but none of the spiciness. I actually thought more of the mustard seed taste came through then the horseradish. It looks like a lot of ingredients but this one is really simple to make. I didn't have the whipping cream (it was on my grocery list but I failed to buy it...) so I tried to use milk thicken with cornstarch but it didn't really work. Oh and I just realized that I think I forgot to add the Greek yogurt into the cream; That would probably be another reason when my Horseradish Cream was more of a Horseradish sauce :p

Ingredients (Tartare):
6 - Medium Beets
1/4 - Onion, finely chopped
2 - Tbsp Green Onion, chopped
1/2 - Tsp Sesame seeds
1/2 - Tsp Mustard seeds

Ingredients (Vinagrette):
1 - Tbsp Sherry Vinegar
1 - Tsp Dijon Mustard
2 - Tbsp Olive Oil
2 - Tsp Dill, chopped
Salt and Pepper

Ingredients (Horseradish Cream):
2 - Tbsp Whipping Cream
2 - Tbsp Greek Yogurt, plain
1 - Tsp Lemon juice
2 - Tsp Dill, chopped
1/2 - Tsp Dijon Mustard
1 - Tsp Horseradish, grated

Directions:
Place Beets in a large pot of water and cook for 35 - 40 minutes. Drain the Beets and rinse with cold water.

Peel the Beets and dice them into 1/4 inch pieces.

Put Green Onion, Mustard Seeds and Sesame Seeds into a large bowl.

Add Onion, Beets and mix together.

In another bowl, whisk together the vinegar with Dijon, olive oil and dill. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the sauce over top of the Beet mixture and stir together.

In a third bowl whisk the cream until slight thickened. Whisk in the yogurt, lemon juice, dill, mustard and horseradish. Season with salt and pepper.

(I used Milk instead of Cream and I forgot the yogurt #fail so it looks more like a sauce then a cream)

Scoop the Beet mixture into small serving plates and then top with the Horseradish Cream (or sauce). Garnish with a sprig of Dill.

Beet Hummus

I've incorporated Beets and Lentils into a Hummus before but after seeing my friend Jess's Beet Hummus on Instagram, I was inspired to make it like she did. When I asked Jess how she made it, her instructions were "Roast some beets, then throw them into a blender with chickpeas, garlic, cumin and tahini". Pretty straight forward I thought. Jess's recipe is located here and if you check it out you will see that there is a little bit more too it then just that but it is a really easy recipe. Me being the adventurous type, I just decided to go with her vague instructions and improvise. I got my picture to look pretty close to her's so I think I did a good Job :)

Ingredients:
1 - Cup Chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
4 - Small Beets
2 - Tbsp Dill
1 - Tsp Cumin
1 - Large Clove of Ontario Garlic (or 3 small Chinese garlic's)
6 - Tbsp Plain Greek Yogurt
Zest of one Lemon

Directions:
Preheat your Oven to 400.
Cut up beets in 1/8 pieces, put them into a bowl with a some olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir around until the beets are coated.

Dump the beets on to a baking sheet and put it into the oven for 40 minutes, flipping half way through.

Once they are done, they will look something like this.

Put everything, except the lemon zest, into the blender and blend until smooth. I started with everything except the Greek Yogurt and added it 1 Tbsp at a time until I got the consistency that I wanted.

Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with the lemon zest. We enjoyed this with an assortment of Crackers :)

Red Lentil and Kale Soup

Another Sunday afternoon and I was making my Leek and Potato soup for dinner. I was at the point where I needed it to simmer until the potatoes were soft but I still wanted to cook. I took a look in the fridge and I had some Kale to use up. I was going to go with the Kale and Spanish Chorizo soup but I didn't have Chorizo so I decided to make up something on the fly and this is what I came up with!




Ingredients:
1 - Cup Beef Broth
1 - Cup Water
1 - Cup Red Lentils
2 1/2 - Cups Kale, Chopped
1 - Red Pepper, Chopped
1 - Tbsp Cumin
Salt and Pepper




Directions:
Add the Beef broth and water to a large pot and bring to a boil.

Rise off the Red Lentils and add to the beef broth once it starts boiling.

Reduce the temperature to low and simmer for about 20 minutes.

 Chop up the Red Pepper.

Chop up the Kale into small pieces.

Add the Red Pepper, Kale, Cumin, Salt and Pepper the Pot.

Cut up some bread to serve on the side.

Scoop and serve!

Potato Carrot and Barley Soup

Sometimes I just like to create. I was making the Moroccan Table Lentils dish for something new to try and I had this feeling that the kids probably wouldn't eat it so I decided to make them a soup.




Ingredients:
6 - Small Potatoes
3 - Medium Carrots
1/2 - Cup Pearl Barley
1/2 - Onion
6 - Cups Chicken Stock

Directions:
Peel the Potatoes and Carrots.

Chop the potatoes, carrots and onion then add to large pot. Rinse the barely and add to the pot.

Add in chicken broth, bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Serve with buttered bread.

I thought this tasted great as it is but you can add salt and pepper for some added taste.

Moroccan Table Lentils

I saw this recipe on "The Lentil Hunter" and I wanted to try it. It's the perfect dish for dipping with pita bread, naan bread or a nice soft loaf of bread.




Ingredients:
1/2 - Cup Brown Lentils
1/2 - Cup Red Lentils
1/2 - Can Diced Tomatoes
1/2 - Diced Onion
1 - Tbsp Ginger Powder
1 - Tbsp Paprika
1 - Tbsp Cumin
1 - Tsp Turmeric Powder
1 - Tsp Cinnamon
1 - Tsp Black Pepper
1 - Tsp Salt
3 - Cups of Beef Broth
1 - Tbsp of Parley leaves

Directions:
Rinse off the Brown Lentils.

Rinse off the Red Lentils.

Put the Lentils in a large shallow pan.

Add in the Diced Tomatoes.

Add the Onions.

Add the Ginger, Paprika, Cumin, Turmeric, Cinnamon, Black Pepper and Salt.

Pour in the Beef Broth.

Mix together.

Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.

Scoop into a bowl and sprinkle with parsley.



Serve with Pita and Naan bread