Indian Dahl (Pureed Lentil Soup)

It's been pretty cold here this week and last night I wanted a hearty and warm dinner. My roomie's sister is stuck here because of the storm, so I decided to make Indian dahl for dinner, which is a pureed lentil soup. Apparently, there are all sorts of dahl, and I'm not exactly sure which kind I know how to make, but it's good either way! My "recipe" is, of course, not exact, and more of a use-what-you-have thing.

This might SEEM a bit long and involved, but trust me, it's really easy, it's worth it and (for me at least) it always makes enough for DAYS. I actually made this for my friend Flossie once and it was too spicy for her to eat plain, but she added it to yogurt and made a sort-of dip with pita chips from it and she loved it! This is also a SUPER healthy recipe, if you use water or veggie stock instead of chicken stock, it's 100% vegetarian. And if you don't add the garnish, there is no added fats (oil, etc.).

You'll need to buy some split lentils from the store. I'm pretty sure you can get them dried in Publix, but I've never actually purchased them there. I always go to the Indian store because they are much cheaper there. There are all different colors, and I think they all taste the same, so just buy whatever colors you want. These are what the pink ones look like:

I used pink and black lentils. The colors also don't matter because you are going to puree everything at the end.

So start by washing your lentils. For some reason they come really dirty. I first put them in a colander and rinse them for awhile. Then I put them in a big bowl and fill it up with water, stir them around, then drain, over and over, until the water is clear. It does take a bit, so don't get discouraged!

After your lentils are cleaned, add them to a big pot. Then add whatever veggies you want. Last night I added half of a big onion roughly chopped (again, we are going to puree this at the end, don't worry about it being pretty!), a bag of frozen broccoli. I usually like to add a bag of the frozen veggie mix with carrots, peas, etc. You could also add a chopped potato, or anything you have lying around you need to get rid of (I sometimes add roughly chopped jalapenos or other peppers). Also, at this point, I add a bunch of whole peeled garlic cloves, and if you have it, whole, peeled ginger. Then add enough water and/or chicken/veggie stock to cover everything with a few extra inches. The lentils puff up when they cook, so you'll need the extra room. I also add a little bit of salt to the water too.

Boil this entire mixture for 30-45 minutes, or until the lentils are done (you'll have to just taste test to make sure they are soft). At this point, if you have time, let this mixture cool.

After it's cooled, puree the soup in batches in a blender (or if you're SUPER cool and have an immersion blender, you can use that directly in the pot). Depending on your taste is how pureed you should make it. I like mine a little thicker, so I stop before it's totally pulverized. NOTE: if you do NOT let this soup cool, please BE CAREFUL when you blend. When you put hot liquid in the blender and close it, then turn it on, it WILL explode. This is NOT a wives' tale! This has actually happened to me and I was cleaning dahl off our blinds for days. If it's hot, take the little middle part out of the blender lid, and cover with a hand towel instead. TRUST ME ON THIS ONE!!!

Return the pureed mixture back to the pot and bring back to a simmer. At this point is when you want to do all your seasoning. My godmother gave me a masala dabba, which is an Indian spice box. I ADORE it, and it feeds into my OCD with all the little compartments. Here's what it looks like:

Isn't she cute!!?? So inside are (clockwise from top left) cumin seeds, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, garam masala, spicy chili powder, dhana jeera, curry powder (inside).

So you'll want to add as much or little seasoning as you like. I like things SPICY, so I always go heavy on the spices, but just remember, you can always add more, but you can never take away! You'll also want to add salt and pepper at this point too.

Meanwhile, in another small frying pan, you're going to make the garnish, also called "chaunk" (confession, I had no idea what this was called until I just looked it up now on wikipedia!). It's basically sauteed onions and spices. First, heat some oil, and add in the whole seeds in your cute little masala dabba (cumin seeds, mustard seeds, coriander seeds). Cook them until they are spluttering and then add the onions and cook until soft. At this point, add some of the spices you added to the dahl and combine well. Keep in mind, this part is TOTALLY optional. I eat dahl all the time plain by itself and it is just as flavorful and delicious because you add spices to the soup too.

Spoon up some dahl into a bowl and add the garnish on top and enjoy! I also like to add a sprinkle of hot chili pepper (gotta have my spice!) and some fresh-ground pepper.

I forgot to take a picture before I started eating... cuz it was SO GOOD!! But here it is half-eaten :)

(I know, it looks kind of icky, because of the black lentils and spinach, but it tastes GOOD.)

Sriracha-Honey Brussel Sprouts

So tonight I was cruising the internets while I was at work, and on buzzfeed there was a post about roasted brussel sprouts (random, I know!). It basically said to roast them, then at the end toss with sriracha and honey. So when I got home tonight, I decided to make my own version. And we ALL know how much I LOVE sriracha... sriracha rap dun dun!

I didn't have raw brussel sprouts, I just had the steam-in-the-bag kind, so I cooked those up. While they were cooking, I mixed together probably equal portions of sriracha and honey, maybe a tablespoon of each. I like things SPICY, so if you can't handle heat, you might want to use less ;)

When the brussels were done in the microwave, I tossed them with the sriracha-honey mixture and added a little salt & pepper and voila! An easy, quick and tasty side dish :)

Salad Creations -- at home version

Near where I work is this cool little lunch place called Salad Creations.

They have all sorts of salads and toppings and dressings and I adore going there for lunch because I can be healthy and have a yummy lunch. Problem is, when all is said and done, my lunch costs almost $15!! So I decided to do my own Salad Creations at home; it worked out great and was a LOT cheaper than $15 per day for lunch. :)

At Publix, I bought everything I could want on my salad. At Salad Creations, I get the create your own and ask for almost everything they have. This is what I bought, but feel free to get whatever you like -- croutons, nuts, dried fruit, anything!

• lettuce
• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• shredded carrots
• green pepper
• broccoli 
• mushrooms
• red onion
• canned chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
• canned water chestnuts (drained and rinsed)
• canned corn (drained and rinsed)
• eggs (which I hard-boiled and peeled)
• canned black beans (drained and rinsed) 
• bacon (cooked and chopped or crumbled)
• shredded cheese
• frozen, shelled edamame (thawed)
• frozen peas (thawed)

I spent an afternoon chopping, thawing, draining and rinsing everything. Then I put each item in a Ziploc sandwich bag, then all of them into a bigger Ziploc bag and into my fridge. I also bought some chicken breasts, butterflied them, and threw them in a quick marinade of olive oil, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard & lemon juice (whatever you have really!). Every night before work, I put a spoon full of each of my ingredients plus a lot of lettuce in a big Tupperware and a small Tupperware full of dressing in (I made an awesome roasted garlic vinaigrette, but use whatever you have in the fridge). I put the dressing in the big Tupperware to keep it from spilling in my lunchbox. I also quickly cooked my chicken in a frying pan, chopped it up and put it in a separate container. At lunch time, I warmed the chicken separately, tossed it into the salad, emptied the dressing, and shook! I also brought a few crackers or breadsticks because I need carbs at every meal (LOL). For maybe $30 worth of groceries I probably got 6 or 7 big salads. Take THAT Salad Creations $15 lunch!

Try it with whatever ingredients you like in your salads! Check out all the combos on the Salad Creations website and make your own Chipotle BBQ Chicken Salad! :)

(Fail whale for me, forgot to take any photos at all of this process. But when I was using all those ziplocks I looked like a real hoarder, I am sure!)

Coq au Vin Dinner Party

A few weeks ago I had some of my friends in Ft Lauderdale over to help me check-off one of my 2012 goals: making Coq au Vin from scratch. My parents actually had both volumes of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (which I have since adopted and brought to Ft Laudy with me), so I had ALL the recipes on hand for my dinner! But I had to do some menu planning  to make my dinner party EXTRA fabulous :)

After menu planning and spending nearly a FORTUNE at Publix, I got to work in the kitchen! To be quite honest, none of Julia Child's recipes (that I've made anyways) are that difficult or take that long. When I made Beef Bourgionon in the spring, it really didn't take ALL afternoon, but there were a lot of steps. The same thing for Coq au Vin. All-in-all, it maybe took 2 hours, but there were a lot of steps. Nothing complex, just a lot of steps. I set a gorg table, and used my favorite plates EVER (still) I got from John & Juan a few Christmases ago.

I decided on an app I made for the Orlando gays awhile ago: Pancetta Crisps with Goat Cheese & Figs. It's seriously SO easy and so delicious. And I randomly bought honey-flavored goat cheese at Publix that day, and I drizzled a little honey on top instead of the fig jam, and it was AMAZING! The boys LOVED them. (And so did I!)

I also made a delish Sparkling Pomegranate Cocktail which was so refreshing on a Saturday afternoon!

We had a green salad, which was easy and delicious. I mixed arugula and spinach, topped with some cherry tomatoes and thinly sliced red onions and a honey-balsamic vinaigrette:

Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinager
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

Mix first 3 ingredients, then stream in olive oil while whisking. Add salt & fresh-ground pepper to taste. (Okay, yes, I went there with the "fresh-ground pepper"... but honestly, it makes a big difference in recipes where the flavors are simple and easy.) This has become my go-to dressing for everything, it's just THAT good.

You can KINDA see the salad in this shot of the table.

Then we had the Coq au Vin, which was simply amazing. Julia Child makes some GOOD FOOD. I made some mashed potatoes (from scratch of course) and bought a few baguettes at the store (I would've made them but didn't plan enough in advance!), and our meal was complete with LOTS of red wine.

For dessert, I made Vanilla Panna Cotta with chocolate whipped cream. The easiest dessert but it tastes amazing and if you put it in classy glasses it looks REALLY fancy!

So that leaves me with ONE item left on my 2012 food hit list: croissants. I have 2 months and I feel pretty good I can find another group of friends to grin and bear it while I make some croissants.

Go out there and have a fun party and cook some good food!!

Tomato & Cucumber Salad

Do you ever have the craving for a simple, healthy salad to go with dinner? No store-bought dressings filled with chemicals and junk. You don't even need lettuce. Just fresh vegetables, oil and vinegar.