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Red Lentil Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Kale


By Jen, on November 6th, 2011%

Time to face it. Summer is long gone and cooler days and nights are here. It’s time to simmer big pots of vegetable soup.

Red lentils make a great base for veggie soup. They start out as reddish-orange disks, but cook down to make a thickened, brown soup base. Perfect for adding chunky sweet potatoes and leafy green kale.

Red Lentil Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Kale

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium white or yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

5 cups water

1 cup red lentils, rinsed and drained

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons bittersweet paprika
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
12 ounces fresh sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (2 cups)
4 cups chopped fresh kale leaves (stems removed)
Freshly ground black pepper

In large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook and stir 30 seconds until fragrant but not browned. Add water, lentils, salt, coriander, paprika and cumin. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes.

Add sweet potatoes; simmer 10 to 15 minutes until sweet potatoes are just tender. Add kale, simmer about 5 minutes more or until kale reaches desired tenderness. Season soup with freshly ground black pepper.

Makes about 7 cups soup.

Serving Tip: Add a squeeze of lemon juice or some chopped fresh tomatoes to each bowl of soup.

Recipe Links:
Favorite Veggie Soup
Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Product Links:
The Best of Clean Eating: Over 200 Mouthwatering Recipes to Keep You Lean and Healthy
Get Vitamix 5200 Blender with Free Shipping Code

2 comments   Dinner, Vegan   , , , , , , , , ,  

Farmers Market Quinoa Salad

By Jen, on August 19th, 2011%

My kitchen gets destroyed on the weekend, and that’s just how I like it.

Sunday is the day I test recipes, snap photos and (if I have enough energy left) write and publish a blog post. The whole production usually starts with a trip to the farmers market. I’m lucky enough to live in a city with a farmers market nearly every day of the week. Count me extra lucky that the Kingfield Farmers Market is in my neighborhood. Visiting the market starts my Sunday ritual.

My latest trip to the market had me seeing green. All the green veggies looked fantastic- so I scooped up some zucchini, cucumbers and green peppers. I added the veggies to a simple quinoa and bean salad dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. (Then I cleaned my kitchen.)

Here’s the recipe. Feel free to swap out the veggies with whatever’s fresh at your local market.

Farmers Market Quinoa Salad
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
1 medium green or red bell pepper, cut into thin, bite-size strips
1 small zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 small cucumber, cut in half lengthwise, seeded and thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
2 teaspoons Dijon or grainy mustard
Pinch of organic evaporated cane sugar
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
12 leaves fresh basil, torn or thinly sliced

Cook quinoa according to package directions. Place cooked quinoa in a large mixing bowl; cool slightly. Stir in chickpeas, bell pepper, zucchini and cucumber.

For dressing, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, Aleppo pepper, mustard and sugar. Pour dressing over quinoa mixture; stir to coat. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Cover and chill at least 2 hours before serving. Stir in fresh basil before serving. Store in refrigerator.

Makes about 6 cups salad

Tip: If you don’t have Aleppo pepper you can leave it out or add your favorite fresh chile pepper like jalapeno or serrano peppers.

How to Cook Quinoa
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups water

Place quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Rinse and drain quinoa. Combine quinoa and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to boiling. Cover and reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Cook 10 to 15 minutes until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is tender. (Drain any remaining water.) Makes about 4 cups cooked quinoa.

Recipe Links:
Lemon Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas
Quinoa Black Bean Salad
Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas, Kalamata Olives and Mint from Cookin’ Canuck

Product Link:
Aleppo Turkish Chili Pepper

Leave a comment   Dinner, Eat Clean Recipes, Vegan   , , , , , , , , ,  

Easy Baked Tofu

By Jen, on July 1st, 2011%


It’s hard to believe that I’ve never posted a tofu recipe on my blog. I absolutely love tofu and cook with it all the time. The problem is I immediately eat it instead of photographing and writing about it. Today I exercised some restraint and snapped a few photos so I could share a basic recipe for baked tofu.

There are many different styles of tofu. I prefer extra firm tub-style tofu…the kind soaking in water. I’ve found that silken tofu is too delicate to make baked tofu with. (Silken tofu does work well in many dessert, smoothie and soup recipes.)

The first step is to drain and rinse the tofu. Then gently but firmly press to release extra water from the block of tofu. Then slice the block into 8 slices. (You can also cube the tofu. I prefer to simply slice and then cut-up into cubes or triangles after baking, depending on the recipe I’m making.)

Place the tofu slices on an oiled shallow baking sheet. Coat both sides of the tofu with a flavorful sauce. I like to use a mixture of tamari soy sauce, white wine, sriracha, hoisin and sesame oil. The sauce absorbs into the tofu during baking.

Baked tofu is great served with brown rice and veggies, on salads, in a sandwich or even by itself as a high protein vegetarian snack.

Easy Baked Tofu
1 package (12-ounces) tub-style extra firm tofu
1 tablespoon tamari (soy sauce)
1 tablespoon white wine, mirin, sake or orange juice
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons sriracha sauce
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil a shallow baking pan.

Drain and rinse tofu. Press tofu brick to release excess water. Slice tofu brick into 8 slices. Place tofu slices in a single layer in baking pan.

For sauce, stir together tamari, wine, hoisin, sriracha and sesame oil. Spoon and spread sauce over both sides of tofu slices. Bake tofu 25 to 30 minutes until sauce is absorbed and the edges begin to brown, carefully turning halfway through baking. Serve warm or cold. Store in the refrigerator.

Makes 4 servings (2 slices each)

Tip: For easier cleanup, line the baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.

Recipe Links for more tofu recipes around the web:
Tofu Steak with Miso and Ginger from The Kitchn
Grilled Tofu and Pepper Vegetarian Tacos from Herbavoracious
Tofu Burgers from 101 Cookbooks

Product Links:
Vegetarian Times Magazine Subscription
Get Vitamix 5200 Blender with Free Shipping Code

4 comments   Dinner, Eat Clean Recipes, Vegan   , , , , , , , , , , , ,  

Kale Fried Rice

By Jen, on May 28th, 2011%

Cooked brown rice is the perfect base for an easy dinner- just add some veggies and sauce to make a quick rice bowl. The more veggies the better, especially when adding greens like kale.

Since kale stems are tough, only the kale leaves are used in this recipe. Once the stems are removed, the kale leaves are blanched until they begin to get tender.

Kale Fried Rice
1 bunch fresh kale
6 cups water
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon safflower oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 jalapeno or Serrano chile pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups cooked brown rice, such as basmati or jasmine
2 tablespoons sake or white wine
2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

Rinse and drain kale; remove and discard stems. Combine water and salt in a large (5-quart) pot; bring to boiling. Add kale leaves to pot; return to boiling. Cook kale for 5 minutes. Drain and cool kale. Squeeze water from kale and coarsely chop; set aside.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir 5 minutes. Add jalapeno and garlic; cook and stir 1 minute. Stir in kale; cook and stir 3 minutes. Add rice; cook and stir until heated through.

For sauce, in a small bowl stir together sake, tamari, sesame oil and maple syrup. Add sauce to skillet; bring to boiling and cook 2 to 3 minutes until sauce is absorbed. Stir in sesame seeds.

Serve with additional tamari and some sriracha sauce. A squeeze of lemon juice is another great addition to this fried rice dish.

Makes about 3 1/2 cups

Tip: Orange juice can be used in place of the sake or white wine.

Product Links:
The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook 2: More Great-Tasting Recipes That Keep You Lean
Get Vitamix 5200 Blender with Free Shipping Code

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