Sweet Potato & Red Lentil Bisque (My New Favorite Soup) (v, gf)

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INSTANT CLASSIC. INSTANT FAVORITE. This soup was not only delicious, but bursting with nutritous ingredients and very easy to make. I haven’t fallen for a recipe this quickly in a while, and this soup definitely earned a spot on the staple list for the Cruse household. Added bonus: my husband loved it as much as I did! He’s not so big on vegetarian dishes, but he devoured his bowl and remarked several times that he really liked it (I deal in compliments, you know). We had it as a warming side to roast turkey breast sandwiches (bonus recipe below!).
The smooth and creamy texture and subtle sweet and spicy flavors will really knock your socks off. If you’ve been wanting to make a healthier root vegetable soup and you like delicate Thai-style flavors, do yourself a favor and try this one.

And if you make it, let me know what you think!!

SWEET POTATO AND RED LENTIL BISQUE

(adapted from Oprah.com)

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb sweet potatoes (about 2 medium), peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 cup red lentils (available in the Bob’s Red Mill display at your grocery store- the bag I bought cost $6 and had about 4 cups dry lentils)
  • 4 cups chicken broth (I used 4 c water and 3 tsp Maggi chicken boullion)
  • 1 tsp Sriracha (to your taste, can always add more like this girl)
  • 1 tsp Thai red curry paste (Thai Kitchen brand is avaialble in the Asian section of most major grocery stores)
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 can light coconut milk
  • cracked black pepper
  • cilantro (optional garnish)

cilantro, red lentils, coconut milk

Directions:

Add broth, sweet potatoes, onion, lentils, Sriracha, curry paste, and brown sugar to a stock pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Once the mixture is boiling, reduce heat and cover; simmer for 25 minutes.

bubbling away

Uncover the soup and let sit for 10 minutes to cool- you want soup to be cool enough to run through your food processor. Too hot, and the heat could damage the processor and/or the steam could force lid off/cause general problems. Just let it cool.

batch 1, pre-blending

Stir in coconut milk and process in batches until smooth. This is seriously the easiest soup… I just can’t get over it! Combine batches in a large bowl, and give soup a good stir before serving. Generously crack black pepper over top, and serve with cilantro and additional Sriracha.

So good! Let me know how it goes when you make it, and anything you change in your home version.

Bonus recipe!!!! Roasted turkey breast for sandwiches:

Make sure the turkey breast you buy is thawed. You’ll need 3 carrots, 3 stalks of celery, butter, and an onion.

Preheat oven to 350, and grab a roasting pan. Salt and pepper rinsed and dried turkey breast all over, even in the cavity. Melt 1/4-1/2 stick butter (you could use canola oil instead), and brush all over breast. Cut up the veggies, and stuff the cavity with a mix of them, placing remaining veggies around turkey in the roasting pan. You can put a little water or broth in the bottom of the pan if you like (I don’t).

Tent some foil over the breast, and place in the oven; roast for 2 hours, until the timer in the turkey pops up, or until a meat thermometer stuck into the turkey reads 170 degrees. Let sit 20 minutes, then carve into slices to put on sandwiches! Et voila!

bless-ed leftovers

Quickie: Kimchi Fried Rice (veg, gf)

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First- happy Saturday! Saturday’s my favorite holiday, and it comes every week- it is so, so welcome right now. This week has been loooong.
Okay, now to the good stuff- I bought a jar of spicy kimchi, planning to eat it by itself, as usual, but thought a hot dish would be a better bet in January. Our local natural foods store had some beautiful, brown, farm-fresh eggs (cage-free, hormone-free, grain fed, generally pampered, etc.), so I grabbed a dozen and used two in this fried rice.

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KIMCHI FRIED RICE
Ingredients:

  • 2 cups cold, cooked brown rice (or white, if you prefer)
  • 1 cup kimchi
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil

Directions:
Heat your wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Side note: The wok in these photos was a thoughtful Christmas gift from a beloved friend- I have never been so excited to season a pan as I was with my wok! Thank you, Shahla!

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Tomato-Artichoke Rotini with Crab (pes)

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Today was another busy one- we’re working on putting an offer in what hopefully becomes our first house! After a full day of work, emailing our realtor, and stalking the home (twice), this is the quick and satisfying dinner I whipped up.
In other words: are you tired? Are you hungry? Do you have a can of crabmeat sitting around that you don’t know what to do with? Make this.

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TOMATO-ARTICHOKE ROTINI WITH CRAB

Ingredients:

  • 1 15-oz can crabmeat, or a 12 oz container lump crab
  • 1 carton Santa Sweets grape tomatoes
  • 1 can quartered artichoke hearts, in water
  • 10 oz whole wheat rotini
  • a few cloves minced garlic, optional
  • 1 tsp capers, optional
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • Grated Parmesan

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the rotini. While you wait for it, heat a large sauté pan on medium-low heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the container of the (rinsed) grape tomatoes. Let those cook, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes to break down a bit.
While the tomatoes cook, finely chop the parsley, drain the can of artichokes and the can of crabmeat, and mince the garlic if you’re using it. Some folks live by the no garlic near crabmeat rule; I prefer the garlic in everything rule, and I don’t feel garlic overpowers the delicate crab flavor here.

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Slow-Cooker Italian Beef (gf)

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Okay, so first things first: a big shout out to my lovely mother-in-law for this wonderful recipe. She gave it to me when my husband and I moved into our first place together, and it always reminds me of that apartment- this meal is definitely food nostalgia for me. This is one of Dave’s favorites, and I threw it all together before a busy Sunday full of errands and a movie. Side note: the movie was The Artist and it was wonderful. I saw it with my best friend and we drank wine and ate popcorn and tap danced in the lobby afterward- I highly recommend all of those things.

With pleasure!

This recipe has a kick to it, so I have a few notes for the non-spicy fans out there.

SLOW COOKER ITALIAN BEEF

(adapted from Jane Ann Cruse’s family recipe)

Ingredients:

  • 2-3 lb beef roast of your choice
  • 2 packets dry zesty Italian dressing mix (regular for the non-spicies)
  • 1 large jar pepperoncini (mild for the non-spicies)
  • beer to cover (I used three cans of good ol’ Bud Light)
  • garlic cloves, optional

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Lotsa Chicken Casserole

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Surprise, surprise… another busy night and the need for a quick dinner. After speaking to my mother on my way home, I was compelled to make her tuna casserole; upon arriving home, I realized I had ingredients for a new spin on this old favorite. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: lotsa chicken casserole! Behold the chickeny goodness:

LOTSA CHICKEN CASSEROLE

(uber adapted from Anne Rivas)

Ingredients:

  • 2 cans Trader Joe’s white meat chicken, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can healthy request cream of celery
  • 1 can healthy request cream of mushroom
  • 2 cups frozen peas and corn, slightly thawed (I used about 2 cups). You could just as easily use other veggies here; spinach and artichokes sound delish!
  • 10 oz whole wheat egg noodles
  • Milk
  • Cracked black pepper
  • Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Bring a large pot of water to boil; add noodles and cook for about 6-8 minutes, until quite al dente. *Under-cooking the noodles a bit here is no sin, as they’ll be baked later, and no one likes mushy noodles. Read More

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burrito Filling (v, gf)

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I came across this wonderful recipe on one lovely life, a really sweet little blog. It had been a long day and I had a mish-mash of seemingly unrelated ingredients in my pantry; the opportunity to use some sweet potatoes that had been hanging out in the potato bin since Christmas (! ugh, SO lazy) seemed like a good one. Plus, this is a mix and roast recipe that creates leftovers. Doubly good!

I tend to go for highly seasoned foods, and have been trying to cut out meat where I can- I feel so much lighter and more energetic when I turn down the meat content and up the veggies. This recipe fit the fast and meatless bill perfectly! Here it is:

SWEET POTATO AND BLACK BEAN BURRITO FILLING

(adapted from One Lovely Life)

Ingredients

  • 1 large sweet potato, diced. I left the skin on to retain more nutrients. You may peel if your heart so desires.
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2-3 Tbsp taco seasoning (I used Ortega reduced sodium). Amount will depend on taste and how large your veggies are. You may use homemade seasoning if you’re an overachiever.
  • 3 tbsp canola oil. *you may use another oil, but I like to use a neutral oil with highly flavorful seasonings and high roasting temps.
  • 1 (14.5oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • Tortillas or tortilla chips
  • Any toppings you’d like to add. I opted for Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde and Chobani plain, nonfat Greek yogurt in place of sour cream.

Directions: Preheat the oven to 375. Dice your sweet potato and onion; try to keep the dice of each fairly similar in size. This makes for a prettier dish and even roasting.

In a large bowl, toss all ingredients. Stir to coat well with oil and seasoning. Spread mixture out on a large baking sheet.
Roast for 30 minutes, stirring 15 minutes in, adding more olive oil if necessary. I used the 3 tbsp of oil as to avoid this.
Toss black beans and roasted vegetables and serve with chips or in tortillas. Trader Joe’s baked blue corn tortilla chips were DELISH with this filling, and added visual interest; the salsa verde, creamy white yogurt and blue chips made quite a pretty bowl of chow. The subtle sweetness of the roasted onions and sweet potato, paired with the smoky seasoning and black beans gives an unexpected punch of flavor. Top with what you wish, and enjoy! Here are my leftovers at work the next day:

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Makes 4 servings for 4 hungry people.