lentil stew with kale and potatoes

Right. So here I am. I have been busy with many things: settling in to my new apartment and roommates, getting my wisdom teeth out, Christmas gift making and travels. Cooking, and taking pictures of what little I do cook, has been smack dab at the bottom of my to-do list.

But the upcoming new year, the self-reflection that goes with it, as well as the incredible gorging I accomplished over Christmas (seriously, I deserve a medal) has made me crave meals made from things that have never seen a box. And so I give you this recipe. It called for spinach, but I used kale in an effort to shove more vitamins into me. Also, my new market didn't have mint so I left it out and that was fine. What they DID have was crazy cheap feta at the deli counter. I got 0.8 lb for something like $2.38. Take that, Jewel-Osco.


lentil stew with kale and potatoes
adapted from this recipe from Bon Appetit

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
4 cups vegetable broth (I ended up adding more at the end)
1 cup lentils, rinsed, picked over
8 ounces red-skinned potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1-2 medium carrots, chopped
1 lemon
6 ounces torn fresh kale leaves (about 8 cups)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
Crumbled feta cheese (optional)

Heat olive oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and stir until become translucent (about 5 minutes), add garlic and stir 30 seconds. Add vegetable broth and lentils; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add potatoes; cook uncovered until potatoes and lentils are tender, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. 

Meanwhile, grate 1/2 teaspoon peel from lemon; squeeze enough juice from lemon to measure 2 tablespoons. Add lemon peel, lemon juice, kale and cayenne to stew. Cover and simmer stew until kale wilts and is cooked through, about 2 minutes. Mix in mint. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over low heat before serving.) 

Spoon stew into large soup bowls. Sprinkle feta cheese over, if desired.

oatmeal

I have things I could probably talk about and show you, but really all I want to do is eat steel-cut oatmeal all day long while sitting under the two quilts that are now on my bed.  You may win this round, winter, but you play real dirty.

moving is the dumbest thing ever

There, I said it. I hate moving. It's maybe my least favorite thing. I have been in the process of a very last-minute, high stress move this mid-month, so posting (and the rest of my life) has been put off. I do have things to share with you, pictures even! But just give me a bit to catch my breath with this new place. For about a month my meals have looked like the above pictures- a can of beans, or a pb&j sandwich, or old faithful cereal, nestled among all the stresses and to-do lists surrounding me right now.

Just about everything, including the way I look, is now different than it was pre-August freak-out. I'm trying my best to just roll with it, and it can be kind of great. Hard at times, but maybe just what I needed. Cue the Cars song....

After all that fun my body decided it was payback time, so I spent most of this week sick with some sort of flu- stomach cramps, body aches, a chest rash (?!). Soup was in order. But not just any soup- it had to be Halloween themed. I may be sick, but I still have my holiday dignity. After some searching I found this recipe. It called to me because I only had to buy yogurt and a lemon for it, two things I knew I could carry home without having to take a whimper break. I wish I'd read the comments on Epicurious first. Many of them suggest adding pumpkin to it, which sounds great. So if anyone does that, please let me know how it turns out.

I like this soup because it wasn't too carrot-y; it had a surprising balance of flavors for how little time and work it took. I highly recommend it. Also, I just used bought ground cumin and it tasted great so feel free to skip that step if you want.

Moroccan Carrot Soup 

Bon Appétit  | April 2010 

2 tablespoons butter 

1 cup chopped white onion

1 pound large carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 2 2/3 cups)
2 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup plain yogurt, stirred to loosen

 Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 2 minutes. Mix in carrots. Add broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes.

Stir cumin seeds in small skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes; cool. Finely grind in spice mill.

Remove soup from heat. Puree in batches in blender until smooth. Return to same pan. Whisk in honey, lemon juice, and allspice. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle yogurt over; sprinkle generously with cumin.

breakfast burrito

Busy busy busy! I have been so busy lately. How busy, you ask? In the past three weeks I have been to two weddings, Des Moines twice, Iowa City once, and had two (very lovely and awesome and pleasecomebacksoon!) house guests in the weekend between. There have been many meals eaten. Some meals have pictures that go with them. There is a lot of back-log going on here, but we have to start somewhere so let's have a delicious beginning, shall we?

For over a year now I have heard my sister Sarah talk about her boyfriend John's breakfast burritos. Now I have finally tasted them and can vouch that they are, in fact, awesome. On the Sunday of their visit Sarah and I walked to get coffee while John made us burritos. So I really don't have any recipe to give you for this, I mostly just wanted to brag that I got a delicious breakfast and it was in my own kitchen. Sarah's face in the above picture pretty much sums up how you feel while you're eating one of these doozies. Oh, and that salsa? Yeah, that's homemade. You're so jealous.