Red Lentil Daal

On Sunday's I typically do my grocery shopping for the week and prep some meals so that I don't have to get up early to make my lunches. But there are a few of those Sunday's that are better spent in bed, watching movies and eating pizza.

I love and treasure days when I can just lay around, not put on make up and chill in my apartment watching all the shows and movies I love BUT I always feel a little guilty for not being productive at all. SO to alleviate that guilt I whip something up in my crockpot with only ingredients I have on hand. It's easy and also stocks my freezer up. Check out this delish, warming soup for these cold days:

Red Lentil Daal

Ingredients

4 cups red split lentils

10 cups water

4 cups veggie stock

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp tumeric

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp cayenne powder

3/4 cup tomato sauce

1/2 lemon, juiced

Directions:

Place all ingredients into your slowcooker and cook on high for 6 hours. 

SOOoooo, normally this would be the spot where I put in a picture but apparently there is a max capacity for storage on blogspot. Ugh. No picture today unless you check out here. AND some good news is that my new site will be up and running in the next couple weeks! So follow me on FB and twitter to get all the pics! Otherwise it'll just be recipes.

That's it! This was some serious case of the yummies kind of soup. And lentils are very easy to digest, full of protein and economical. Add a nice side salad and you have yourself a complete meal. 

Eat better. Feel better.

xoxo

K

Coconut Carrot and Red Lentil Soup

It's that time of year again when I'm making soup or chili once a week! Growing up, I hated carrot soup. Bleck! Now I crave it! So yummy and so versatile. As soon as the weather starts to turn cold I make (in this order) chili, carrot soup, and chili. Lol True story.

One of the other reasons I love making carrot soup, is that it goes amazingly well with coconut milk. I am obsessed with coconut milk. It's so darn tasty! I cook with it quite often so I always buy the low fat version but this time I went a little crazy and bought the full fat. Woah! Slow down Krystle. ;)

Check out the Winter 2012 version of carrot soup from Krystle's Kitchen:

Coconut Carrot and Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients

4lbs carrots, chopped

2 cups red split lentils

3 roma tomatoes, diced

1 onion, diced

3 garlic

3 lemongrass, chopped, big pieces

3 cups veggie stock

3 cups water

1 tbsp coconut oil

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp saffron

1 tsp ground galangal (or ginger)

1 can coconut milk

Directions:

Place all ingredients except for the coconut milk into a slow cooker and cook on high for 8-10 hours. Once the carrots are soft enough to blend, remove the lemongrass. I cut them into large pieces so that they are easily removed. Pour in the coconut milk and puree with a hand blender until smooth. It will take about 5-8 minutes. If you don't have a hand blender, use a regular blender or food processor! 

Coconut Carrot and Red Lentil Soup

Chopped cilantro would have been nicer as the garnish but I was out and I'm out of town for the weekend so I didn't want to buy it and end up wasting it. But I highly suggest it for yours! This made a boat load of soup. Awesome for lunches. Goes great with a whole grain bun or a nice salad. Keep it clean friends!

Peace

xoxo

K

Lentil Sweet Potato Stew

I have noticed that my stock of soups, stews and chilies in my freezer has gotten quite low. I've been eating them up pretty fast which is good and bad. I used to cook a goodie in my crockpot once a week to keep it full. I made sure they were rotated so nothing stayed in there for very long but the summer makes it a little hard to want to eat a soup for lunch. Lol.

That being said, since my accident in Portland, I have been dying to cook. That's actually when I knew that I was getting back to my normal self. As you know, I'm a big lover of cooking. It makes me feel awesome and creative. Its one of my only creative outlets I guess. I'm no painter, sculptor or artist of that kind. And I def don't play any musical instruments. haha. But cooking is where I love to be creative. Its so fun because you can just be so wild with it as long as you are somewhat knowledgeable about the ingredients. But I sure love to pair unusual flavour profiles I've been told. 

The recipe I'm sharing today is not unusual in my books. I love lentils. They are super hearty and provide a good bang for your buck in terms of nutrients, mostly protein. Even if you eat this stew without rice or any side dish, you will be satisfied. I've done both. Had it alone and had it with rice or other veggies.

Lentil Sweet Potato Stew

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato, chopped

1 cup green lentils

4 small/medium carrots, diced

4 small tomatoes, diced

1 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp coriander

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp chili flakes

3 tsp tomato paste

2 cups veggie stock

6 cups water

1 bunch kale, chopped small

Directions:

Place all ingredients except for kale into a slow cooker and cook for 6-8 hours. At end of cooking time, add the chopped kale and cook for an additional 20 minutes.

Serve on its own or with some brown rice. Makes a nice complete meal that is wholesome and nutritious!! I used dried lentils as lentils don't need to be cooked ahead of time but if you have canned ones you can use those too. Brown ones would work well too but I don't think red would work in this recipe. But hey, give it a shot!

Enjoy!

Peace

xoxo

K

Fresh Pasta Sauce

I stopped by a friends place the other night and it smelled of pasta. Yum. I know it was a meat sauce but it was enough to give me a craving for pasta so I whipped this up to satisfy it. I used red lentils instead of buying ground round and used rice noodles instead of traditional wheat noodles. I wanted the meal to be gluten free and fresh. :)

Fresh Pasta Sauce

Ingredients

4 medium size tomatoes

15 mushrooms, sliced

3 tsp basil

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 onion, diced

1 cup red lentils, cooked

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

Dice 1 tomato and blend the other 3 with the basil and salt in a food processor or blender until smooth. Saute onions, garlic and mushrooms in sauce pan with 1 tbsp of grape seed oil until fragrant. Add diced tomatoes and saute for 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook on medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Serve on top of your favorite pasta. I used rice noodles to make it gluten free!

SO yummy!!! It was fresh and tasty. Full of flavour. And gluten free! weeeeeeee! I love eating gluten free, and the last time I ate pasta I didn't feel so hot so I opted for rice noodles. Fresh basil would have been better but I forgot to pick it up when I was getting the tomatoes. Oh well. So I used dried.

Give it a go! I know summer is right around the corner, and I usually avoid carbs like this like the plague but after my baddass race and the fact that I'm kinda sick (almost gone) I figured a little cheat meal wouldn't hurt nobody. Also picked me up some Endangered Species dark chocolate too. :)

Peace

xoxo

K

Red Lentil Dahl with Spinach

I have not been cooking as much as I normally do the past couples weeks. I've been eating way more raw foods like salads and smoothies. Even though I feel my best when I eat a large amount of raw food, there's nothing like a home cooked hot meal. :)

Red Lentil Dahl with Spinach

Ingredients

1 cup red lentils

6 cups chopped spinach

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 inch piece ginger, minced

1/2 white onion, chopped

1/2 lemon, juiced

4 roma tomatoes, diced

3 cups water

1 cup veggie stock

1 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp chili flakes

1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Saute onions, garlic and ginger in 1/4 cup water (or 1 tsp of oil if you like) for 3 minutes. Add lentils, water and veggie stock and bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients except for the cilantro and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the cilantro and cook for another 10 minutes or until lentils are soft. Serve with brown rice.

Red lentil dahl with spinach

Yummy yummy. You can put less spinach if you like, but I like lots. I also served this with a side salad. Nothing special just some romaine and whatever veggies I had in the fridge and topped it with my lemon-mustard dressing and hemp seeds. That dressing is pretty much my go to dressing. I freaking love it. The way I make it different so I don't get bored is by switching up the mustard's. You can use all kinds! :)

Peace

xoxo

K

Spicy Thai Lentil Soup

I have a HUGE addiction to Thai food! I just love it. I especially love the flavours of lemongrass and coconut milk. Mmmmmmmm!!! I had a craving for something warm as its been a little chilly these days so I threw a bunch of stuff into the good ole crockpot and went about my day. When I got back home, wow did it ever smell lovely!!

Spicy Thai Lentil Soup

Ingredients

1 cup dry red lentils

1 cup dry yellow split peas

3 carrots, diced

1 onion, diced

3 celery, diced

2 yams, chopped

2 lemongrass stalks

2 inch piece galangal (or ginger, minced)

3 tomatoes, chopped

3 garlic, minced

4 red Thai chili peppers, minced

1 lime, juiced

1 can low fat coconut milk

1/4 bunch cilantro, minced

3 cups veggie stock

5 cups water

1 tsp cardamom

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp agave nectar

1 tsp chili flakes

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp coriander

Directions

Put all ingredients except for coconut milk, lime and cilantro into a crockpot or slow cooker and cook all day. For the lemongrass, I just chop it into 3 large pieces so that I can easily remove it once the soup is cooked. Smashing it a bit will make the flavour more accessible. Once the cooking cycle is done then add the coconut milk, cilantro and lime. Serve with brown rice.

What's cooking?

Spicy Thai Lentil Soup

Dinner for 2

The soup was pretty spicy, not enough for me. I like it HOT! But my friend Mikey was sweating. LOL But he still went back for seconds! Look at how full those bowls are....he had another one that was JUST as full. He so cray. Lol

Such a healthy night! We went to the gym for over an hour and half, almost 2 to be exact. We did the tough mudder workout. AWESOME! Then did some abs and then went for a swim. Well I did like 4 laps then headed straight for the hot tub. I never get sore anymore so I've been actively trying to make myself sore. Doing more reps and using heavier weights and this week I did it. SO sore. LOL Thankfully I take chlorella and spirulina so my recovery is much faster than normal. I guess that's also one of the reasons I never get sore.

I tried to do a pull up last night to no avail. BUT I did move just a little. LOL Mikey was laughing, well and so was I. Its embarrassing. Everyone is always staring. I'm not sure that these tiny little arms were meant to do a pull up but I'm gonna keep trying! The spartan race is May 12th, I still have to sign up for the BMO half marathon, then Tough Mudder June 23rd then Seek the Peak (maybe) and 5 Peaks....Victoria Half marathon. Jeez, there's like something every month for the rest of my life. So far I'm just registered for the Spartan race and Tough Mudder. Ugh. Those are going to kill me. Lol

Happy weekend! My cousin turns 19 this weekend!!! Exciting!

Peace

xoxo

K

Recipe Review: Curried Red Lentil Soup with Lemon (Vegetarian Times)

Last night I had a little Oscar party at my place for myself and 3 friends. It was actually my first time watching the whole thing from start to finish. Even the red carpet stuff. Which is the best I think. I love looking at all the outfits. My faves of the night were Gwenyth Paltrow and Mila Jovanich.

Mila Jovanich

Gwenyth Paltrow

Gorgeous! I'm not that into the cape that Gwenyth is wearing but the dress is pure perfection. So classy yet sexy. And same goes for Mila. Love the detail on that dress. I thought the oscar's were relatively well done. Billy Crystal was funny but the commentary was horrific. Like bad. The people were annoying and had trainwreck fashion. LOL 

Back to food, So I got this recipe book from Vegetarian Times and finally made a recipe from it. Well I have but I changed it so much that it turned out completely different. This time I followed it with a few minor changes. 

Curried Red Lentil Soup with Lemon

Ingredients

2 cups red lentils

4 cups water

2 cups veggie stock

1 onion, diced or 1/2 large

4 celery stalks, chopped finely

3 medium sized carrots, chopped finely

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp cumin

1 lemon, juiced

Directions:

1. Bring lentils, broth and 4 cups of water to a simmer in a large pot. Skim away foam that rises to the top. Reduce heat to medium low and cover. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain and rise. Put back into the pot with another 2 cups of water and 2 cups of veggie stock.

2. Add onion, celery, carrots. and garlic. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Add cilantro, curry powder and cumin and simmer for another 20 minutes. Add the lemon juice. 

Mmmmm big ole pot of goodness.

I put a little brown rice at the bottom.

So the changes were minor. I used less onion, extra carrots because mine were small, more garlic and I more cilantro I think. But I don't think that would have changed the flavour much from the original. I also used 2 cups of veggie stock vs a quart, because I don't know how much a quart is. And I was lazy to google it. LOL

My friend Lauren brought me flowers!!! What a nice hostess gift. I LOVE getting flowers. I def don't get that enough. I guess that's what happens when you're single. LOL I just buy them myself sometimes. AND I don't think she knew that tulips are my fave. My birthday is coming up so for any of my friends reading....I love flowers and I LOVE tulips!!! Lol.

I put together a veggie tray and made some homemade hummus but forgot to take a pic. I'll post the recipe and a pic of the hummus tomorrow though. Its amazingly easy to make and WAY cheaper and better for you.

Peace

xoxo

K