Lentil Vegetable Soup

I have nothing to write about this soup except that it's healthy and delicious. The original recipe is from Cooking Light from maybe ten years ago.

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, finely diced
2 - 3 carrots, finely diced
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
1 cup dried lentils
5 oz baby spinach
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons whole grain Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
finely grated parmesan or asiago cheese

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion, celery, carrot, and bay leaves; saute for 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste, salt, and minced garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add vegetable stock, water, and lentils; bring mixture to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer mixture for 25 minutes. Stir in the spinach, parsley, vinegar, mustard, and pepper; cook 15 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Ladle soup into bowls; top with cheese. Makes 6 servings.

Broccoli Quiche

This is probably my recipe for dinner with the fastest prep time. It's a recipe that until now had scribbled on a piece of paper. The instructions probably make no sense to anyone but me. It's one of several recipes from my mother that I took down when I moved into my first apartment. My one change is the addition of a small amount of cayenne pepper.

As I mentioned in a previous quiche post, I barely made quiche because I was so hung up on making everything from scratch for the longest time. I do still think that my homemade crust is best, but the all-natural frozen crusts I've been buying are good enough for a quick dinner.

1 9-inch frozen pie crust

2 cups shredded colby jack (or cheddar or just monterey jack...) cheese

10 ounces frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained

1/2 cup slivered almonds

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the eggs and mayonnaise. Whisk in the milk, black pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle a little cheese on the bottom of the pie crust. Spread the broccoli over the cheese. Spread the rest of the cheese over the broccoli. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the cheese. Sprinkle the almonds over the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until center of quiche is set. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Makes 6 servings.

Cold Peach Soup

I never end up taking a picture of this soup and it's probably because I'm too busy wolfing it down to grab my camera. Maybe next time I'll remember and add a picture. This soup can be served as an appetizer or as dessert. We usually enjoy it as a dessert. I made a couple small changes to my mother's recipe, which may have come from bon appetit in the '80s. Here's how I make it:

7 large peaches, pealed and quartered

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Optional: 1/4 cup peach schnapps

Puree the peaches and sugar in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate. Makes about 6 servings. Garnish with peach slices.

Peach Cobbler with Rum-Pecan Ice Cream

I've got this in the oven as I type. I've made it a few times in the past and it's really quite wonderful. It was originally from a 1999 Cooking Light issue. I've made a few minor changes.

Rum-Pecan Ice Cream

1.5 quarts light french vanilla ice cream (I use Eddy's Slow Churned), softened

1/4 cup rum

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Combine ice cream, rum, and pecans in a bowl. Cover and freeze. (I generally just put the ice cream back in the package that it came in.)

Cobbler

Crust

2 cups flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup flaked, sweetened coconut

6 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup evaporated 2% milk

2 large egg yolks

Filling

4 to 4 1/2 pounds peaches, pealed and sliced

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Dash of salt

1 tablespoon sugar

Combine 2 cups flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to blend. Add coconut and butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine evaporated milk and egg yolks. Remove 1 tablespoon of milk mixture and set aside. Add remaining milk mixture to the food processor and pulse just until combined. Press mixture onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form a 6-inch square. Wrap with additional plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Roll Dough between two sheets of plastic wrap into a rectangle about 9-inches by 13-inches.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine peaches and next five ingredients in a large bowl. Spread evenly in a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish. Remove plastic wrap from dough and place on top of peach mixture. Brush dough with reserved milk mixture and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake 35 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before serving. Serve with a scoop of rum-pecan ice cream. Makes 16 small servings. We are pigs so it's about 8 servings for us.

Zucchini Bread

I have made zucchini bread a couple times this summer and decided that I would share the recipe I found. It's available online.

I made two minor changes. The first is that I reduced the white sugar to 1 cup and added 1 1/4 cups brown sugar. I like brown sugar and I think it adds nice flavor to sweet breads and muffins. The other change I made was to use pecans instead of walnuts. Walnuts irritate my mouth a little, so I usually swap them out for a different nut. Pecans are usually my first choice.

One other note: when you grate zucchini, there's a lot of liquid. Pour it in.

Lentil Cakes with Raita and Roasted Garlic

Another delicious recipe from bon appetit! I especially enjoyed the raita. I basically just followed the recipe tonight, so I'm just going to link to it here and skip typing it in. The only change I made was to not bother using oil when cooking them. With a nonstick pan, I didn't see the need. Aside from that, I'll just caution that with my pan and my stove, cooking over medium-low heat was much better than medium heat.

Next time I make these, I'm making a double batch!

French-Canadian Meat Pie

I grew up having meat pie every once in a while because my mother used to make it. I think true French-Canadian meat pie might have ground pork in it. I don't remember if my mother used to make it with beef or pork or a combination, but I make it with ground beef.

Ever since the farmers' market started in July, I've been getting free-range, all-natural meat there. We're now eating less meat, but better quality, locally produced meat.

Filling

1 large potato, peeled and cut into large chunks

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound ground beef

2 teaspoons dried sage

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

Add potato to a medium saucepan and cover with at least an inch of water. Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-high and keep partially covered until potato is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Drain. Mash potato coarsely with a masher or fork.

While potato is boiling, heat oil over medium-high heat in a large saute pan. Add onion and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until onion starts to soften. Add garlic and saute for another minute, stirring constantly. Add ground beef. Use spoon to break up the meat. Add sage, thyme, salt, and pepper. Stir often. When meat is fully cooked, skim most of the fat out of the pan. Remove from heat and add mashed potato. Stir until meat mixture and potato are well combined and mixture binds together. Set aside.

Crust

2 1/2 cups flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces.

6-8 tablespoons cold water

Add flour and salt to a food processor. Pulse a few times to blend. Add butter to flour and salt and process until it resembles crumbs. Add water 2 tablespoons at a time. Process until the dough sticks together and starts to form a ball in the food processor. Split the dough in half.

Assembly

1 egg, beaten (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out one dough half large enough to cover a 9" glass pie plate. Add meat filling. Roll the other half of the dough large enough to cover the filling and edge of the pie plate. Fold the rolled out dough in half and cut 4 or 5 slits diagonally in the center of the fold to allow steam to escape as the pie bakes. Place the dough on top of the filling. Trim the extra dough to about 1/2 - 1" of the edge of the pie plate. Fold the edges under within the pie plate and pinch the dough along the edge of the pie plate. Optionally, brush the top of the crust with the beaten egg. Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes or until crust is golden. Makes 6 servings.