Sunday Soup: Red Lentil

I apologize for last week's lack of posting.  Between home renovations, my engagement party and birthday celebrations, I hardly had time to sleep let alone cook! Not that I am complaining- my week was filled with decadent desserts, eating out and more junk food than should be consumed by anyone ever.

That being said, it's time to re-start my attempt at healthy living. Yesterday was the first time in two weeks that I saw the inside of a grocery store and now my fridge is stocked with healthy options (I still have a stockpile of desserts on my kitchen counter. Luckily, I have overdosed on sugar and am completely uninterested in eating the butter tarts, cupcakes and cookies that would normally taunt me).

Last night I dusted off my pots and pans (renovations leave dust EVERYWHERE) and I made a delicious lentil soup.  Earlier last week I went for Middle Eastern food with some friends and had an amazing butter and cream-free lentil soup.  That dinner served as my inspiration for this week's Sunday Soup:

Middle Eastern Inspired Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of red lentils
• 6-7 cups of chicken stock
• 1 large onion
• 1 tbs minced garlic
• 1 tbs ground cumin
• 1/2-1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup of lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot bring lentils and 6 cups of chicken stock to a boil.  Turn down heat, cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until lentils are soft.  While the lentils are simmering, saute onions and garlic in a pan with olive oil until the onions are translucent.  Once the lentils are soft, pour in onion mixture, add cumin and cayenne pepper and salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for another 10 minutes.  Blend well with an immersion blender (the soup is pretty thick, so I added another cup of stock at this point to thin it out a bit).  Add lemon juice and garnish with cilantro. Serve with warm naan bread and enjoy!

Super Grain: Quinoa for Every Meal (3 Awesome Recipes)

It's been a while since I've shared a recipe...or anything healthy for that matter.  I have been feeling invigorated and inspired since my bout with the two-week-plague and have resumed my healthy lifestyle. I feel back in shape and after several weeks of not grocery shopping, I am now stocked up with all the essentials.  Oh, and I got my taste buds back! Phew.

I usually plan a week's worth of dinners before I go grocery shopping, and on this week's menu, a very delicious quinoa dinner.

For those of you who are like "quin-what?"- quinoa is an ancient grain from South America and contains essential amino acids making it a great source of protein (shout out to vegetarians). It's also a great source of fiber (I am a big fan of fiber), iron AND it's gluten-free (shout out to Celiacs). Quinoa has a light and fluffy texture similar to couscous and can be used as a substitute for risotto, in salads and even as a breakfast food.

I found an AMAZING breakfast quinoa recipe on ridiculouslyhealthy.com (a great website for healthy recipes!):

Quick & Easy Chocolate Quinoa

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of quinoa
• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• sweetener (or sugar) to taste

Directions:
Combine quinoa, water, cocoa and vanilla in a saucepan with a lid.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or as long as it takes for the quinoa to absorb all the liquid.  Turn off heat, fluff with a fork and place quinoa in a bowl.  Top with sweetener (or cinnamon) and enjoy!

This recipe is a great way to get that "hit" of chocolate in the morning and it's super healthy! (calories: 180, dietary fiber: 4.2g, protein: 6.7g).

Not only is quinoa an awesome substitute for oatmeal in the morning, it also makes a great lunch.  You can pretty much sub out lettuce for quinoa in any of your favourite salad recipes, but here's one I really enjoy:

Village Greek Quinoa Salad

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup diced red pepper
• 1/2 cup diced green pepper
• 1/2 cup diced cucumber
• 1/4 cup diced green onions
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives
• 1/4 cup diced red onion (optional: I leave this out because I don't really like raw onions.  Your co-workers might not like them either if you are bringing this salad to work for lunch)
• 2 ounces of light feta cheese

 Salad Dressing:

• 1/4 lemon juice
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano

Directions:
Combine quinoa and broth in a saucepan, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and transfer to a large salad bowl to let cool. Once quinoa is cool, stir in veggies and cheese.  Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the quinoa mixture. Enjoy!

And for tonight's dinner:

Mexican Inspired Quinoa

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup diced green pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 1/2 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 cup cooked diced chicken
• 3 tbs of salsa

Directions:
Combine quinoa and broth in a saucepan, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with a for. Add veggies, beans and chicken.  Stir and top with cilantro.  You can also sprinkle goat cheese on top if you'd like (I usually do). Enjoy!

This dinner is packed with protein and is the perfect post-workout meal.

I can't wait for dinner tonight!

Broken Buds

I know I've promised to post about my Boston trip but I've been having technical difficulties in trying to upload my pictures and I am now in the middle of a crisis that will take precedence in this week's blog post.  My taste buds are broken.  Yup, broken. This is my crisis and it's a pretty big problem considering how much I love food.

It all started about a week and a half ago.  I picked up some bug that I just could not shake and ended up with a pretty nasty cold/flu that has lasted up until now. All I have been eating for the past week or so is chicken soup, toast and popsicles- the holy trinity of feel-better-food.  That, in combination with lots of water, lots of tea and heavy doses of Advil cold and sinus, I was sure that I would be able to get back to my life, real food and exercise in no time.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. I have been hermitted in my house all week and have seen no one except my co-workers who won't come within 5 feet of me.  This, I can deal with.  I am feeling better and will finally see the light of day outside of my home and office and see some friends this evening. 

As for exercise, my workouts have been pretty non-existent for the past two weeks.  Last night I decided not to cancel on my trainer and went for my one hour work out session.  Bad idea.  I almost died. We kept the workout pretty light with some weight training and low cardio.  All was good until I had a cough attack, took a gulp of water for some relief, only to spit it out all over my trainer and all over the free weight section of the gym.  I then proceeded to choke and almost passed out.  Why is it that the time I actually choke is the only time I forget how to indicate that this is what is happening to me.  I learned the universal sign for choking when I was 10, yet somehow in the midst of being unable to breathe I couldn't figure out that I should put my hands around my neck and ask for help.  Anyway, I digress.  Obviously, I survived and I will get back on track with my exercise routine.  Again, this I can deal with.

What I cannot deal with is the fact that nothing tastes the same anymore. While I am starting to feel better, my taste buds are not. All I can palette is plainness. Last night I was feeling up to cooking and eating a real meal.  I made some homemade guacamole to go with my fajita dinner and sat down to eat.  I was so excited at the idea of tasting something with flavour.  One bite and I was completely turned off.  The culprit: cilantro. 

As I am sure I have mentioned before, I LOVE cilantro.  I cook with it at least twice a week and to me, any dish with cilantro in it is a good dish.  Unfortunately, I think it is fair to say that I loved cilantro.  Last night it tasted like metal and I ended up eating a bowl of cereal for dinner and tossing the long anticipated fajita dinner into the trash.  What if I never like cilantro again?!? I know, life has bigger problems, but my distaste for cilantro is not the only thing wrong with my taste buds.  Nothing with flavour taste good to me.  The thought of eating anything apart from bread and butter and plain spaghetti noodles is completely unappetizing at the moment. Unfortunately, this includes cheese.

My co-worker just asked me if I wanted to order a pizza for lunch.  I said no because I’m just not feeling cheese right now.  You know something isn’t right when the Fat Girl in a Little Coat says no to cheese.

Battle of the Burger

It's the first official full day of summer and I have decided that this will be the summer of the burger.  Whether I barbecue them myself, or eat them at burger joints like Five Guys (my friend is a burger connoisseur and swears that Five Guys has the best burger in the city), I am pledging to delve into the world of burgers and become an expert of sorts myself.

My boyfriend and I are going to be in Boston next month and we already have plans to go to Bartley's- which is famous for its burgers and was featured on an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, one of my favourite Food Network shows. I can't wait!

But I will not wait for Boston to begin The Battle of The Burger. In fact, I think it's already begun with a clear winner. I have been experimenting with curry burgers and I believe that I have finally perfected the recipe. I will be making other burgers this summer, but I'm not sure anything can beat these Indian-inspired patties.

Fat Girl's Curry Burgers

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of ground veal and chicken (you can use any ground meat)
• 1 egg
• a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 tbs curry powder (I use a medium yellow curry)
• 2 tsp of cayenne pepper (or more or less to taste)
• a handful of chopped fresh cilantro
• salt and pepper

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl and form into patties.  Barbecue patties for approx. 7 minutes on each side. Place patties on buns (I use whole wheat or multigrain) and top with grilled eggplant and sauteed onions.  I spread some Masala mayonnaise on the buns as well. 

Masala Mayonnaise:
Mix together about 1/2 cup of light mayonnaise with Masala seasoning and cayenne pepper.  I didn't really measure it but a few shakes of Masala and a small dash of cayenne pepper should do the trick.

Stinky Spice

No, I am not talking about one of the Spice Girls.  I am referring to cumin- oh how I love/loathe thee.

For the past six months or so, I have been cooking a lot of Mexican and Indian food.  This means that cumin has become a staple in my pantry.  This also means that four days a week, my condo smells of this stinky spice.

After making a delicious pot of chili last night, my place, and everything in it, reeked of cumin (and chili powder, of course).  Today I can still smell the stank of cumin.  It has embedded itself in my car, my clothes and even my purse.

I have a super-human sense of smell, so the rankness of cumin probably bothers me more than most.  But, I do love this stinky spice. So much so, that I will continue to walk around smelling like a bowl of chili for the next day or two.

Here is one of my favourite recipes using cumin.  I also love cilantro so this recipe has become a bi-weekly favourite. It's quick, easy and delicious!

Spicy Chickpeas with Beef and Cilantro:
Serves 3-4
Recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes from The New York Times

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lbs of lean ground beef (I usually buy organic or beef that is free-from antibiotics)
• 2 cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed, saving the liquid
• chicken broth (combine with the chickpea liquid to make 2 cups)
• 2 tbs EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder (or any other kind of chili powder you like)
• 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• S&P to taste
• Splash of Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro (or more if you love it as much as I do)

Directions:
Drain chickpeas, saving liquid. Add chicken broth to the liquid to make 2 cups and set aside. Heat 1 tbs (or less) EVOO in a large fry pan, add beef and a splash of Worcestershire and saute until beef is browned.  Add the chickpeas and saute together with the beef until the chickpeas are well browned and starting to pop (about 10 minutes or so). Add cumin, chili powder and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the chickpea liquid/broth, season with S&P.  Reduce heat and let simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated (approx. 10 minutes). Turn off heat, add cilantro and 1 tbs of EVOO. Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly.  I like to add a splash of habenero hot sauce to give it even more of a kick.  Serve hot and enjoy!