Moroccan Lentil Soup

Ingredients

1. 6 cups Cooked lentils (I soak and sprout them before I pressure cook them with a little turmeric). Cooked lentils freeze very well, so it is always easy to have some on hand when you need it.
2. 1 large onion sliced
3. 3 2" pieces of cinnamon (grind one of them)
4. 6 cloves
5. 4 pods garlic -- crushed or minced
6. 4 large carrots -- chopped into small pieces
7. 1 green pepper chopped into small pieces
8. 2 sticks celery -- chopped into small pieces again
9. 1 lemon -- juiced
10. 1 tsp cumin seeds -- optional
11. 2 medium sized green chili peppers -- sliced
12. 3 medium sized, vine ripened tomatos
13. Tan-Tan seasoning to taste
14. chili powder to taste
15. salt to taste
16. 1/3 bunch parsley to garnish -- chopped

Method:

1. Heat some oil of your choice or butter in a pan
2. Drop two sticks of cinnamon and the cloves
3. When you start to smell the aroma of cinnamon, drop the cumin seeds and let it splutter
4. Immediately, drop the onions, garlic and green chilies and saute for a bit
5. Add about two Tbsp Tan-Tan seasoning and fry a little
6. Add the green peppers and saute a little more.
7. Then add the celery and carrots and the half of the cooked lentils
8. Grind the remaining cinnamon
9. Puree the rest of the lentils along with the cooking water in a blender which still has the cinnamon in it. Add to the pot. Note: If you cook the lentils in a pressure cooker you don't need a lot of water, so you will just about have enough water in the lentils to make the soup rather than a pulp. If you cooked the lentils in an open pot you are likely to have a lot of water in the pot. So don't add the whole thing -- just enough to make the soup look like soup (more stew-ish)
10. Add some salt and add chili powder according to taste.
11. Chop the vine ripened tomatoes and throw them in.
12. Leave on medium heat for about 10 minutes (or less). Stir often since the soup is thick and can stick the bottom if left for too long. Check a piece of carrot to see if it has cooked. If it has, you are done. Otherwise, cook for a little longer.
13. When done, add the juice of one lemon and the parsley.
14. Stir, dish it on to a bowl and enjoy!

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Black Bean, Beetroot, Almond, Chocolate Brownie

This is my take two on black bean-beetroot brownies. Take one is here. This husband likes this version better than the previous.

Ingredients

1. 1.5 cups Cooked black beans, mushed up in a blender 
2. 2 cups Soaked and ground up almonds 
3. 1.5 cups Beetroot, cooked and ground up
4. 1 cup Dutch processed unsweetend chocolate powder
5. 4 Eggs
6. Stevia to taste
7. Oil for lining pan
8. A pinch of salt
9. Baking powder, a pinch
10. Baking soda, a pinch

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix 1 through 4 together
3. Break the four eggs into the mixture and incorporate
4. Add stevia and salt and taste to make sure they are in the right proportions
5. Line a 9"x9" pan with aluminum foil and dribble some oil on it
6. Bake for 45 minutes or until done.

Made 25,  2"x2" brownie. Texture was almost crisp rather than moist.
Total Macro Nutrients:
Protein: 118 gms
Carbs: 119 gms
Fat: 167.9 gms

Macro Nutrients per piece:
Protein: 4.3 gms
Carbs: 4.76 gms
Fat: 6.716 gms

For a dessert, I suppose this is not too bad. Top with berries or berry compote for added flavor/style/fun

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Lentil Pistachio Salad in Lime EVOO Dressing

I read somewhere that pairing lentils and pistachio nuts gives you a complete protein profile. So I have been thinking about how to combine these two in something awesome. Today, was the day that I finally managed to make this salad.

The Ingredients

• 3.25 cups of cooked whole lentils. Not mushy, just cooked.
• 1/4 cup salted, roasted pistachios-- shelled
• 2.5 cups of chopped carrots
• 1 garlic pod
• juice of 1/2 a lime
• 1 Tbsp cumin seeds
• 3" piece cinnamon stick
• 1 tomatillo (completely unnecessary -- I added it because I had it)
• You could sub celery or green/red peppers for above
• EVOO -- 1/8 cups or less
• salt and pepper corns to taste

The Method

1. To make the cooked lentils: I soak a whole batch of whole lentils in water for a day or a little more. Rinse and then cook it all in a pot of water. I don't use pressure cooker for this, because pressure cookers will make the lentils mushy. It should be possible to cook it in the electric rice cooker, although I have never tried. I store the cooked lentils in the freezer and use as necessary.
2. Put 1/8 cup of salted, shelled pistachio in a blender or food processor and pulse to chop it unevenly and set aside.
3. Chop the carrots and microwave them for about 2 minutes -- cooking them slightly lets the beta carotene be more accessible.
4. Chop the other veggies-- tomatillos or green pepper or celery
5. Combine all of these ingredients in a large bowl.
6. Squeeze a half of the lime into the blender
7. Add the olive oil.
8. Drop in the cinnamon sticks and cumin seeds
9. Add a few pepper corns and a little salt
10. Give it all a whir in the blender until it looks creamy. Some of the cinnamon pieces and peppers will not have ground up well. That's what I like since I like to see some texture in my dressing.
11. Add the finely chopped garlic into the blender and give it a final whir to incorporate everything together.
12. Pour dressing over the salad and mix thoroughly. Enjoy!

Some resources:

• To cook or not to cook your veggies
• Other lentil-pistachio salads:
• http://foodbloggaprintrecipes.blogspot.com/2012/04/raw-beet-lentil-and-pistachio-salad.html
• http://food52.com/recipes/12861-lentil-salad-with-fresh-peas-pistachios-mint-sheep-s-milk-feta

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Black Bean Beetroot Chocolate Brownie -- Dracula's Wedding Cake

Guess what? Blogspot's decided to allow me to post pics again! Whoo-hoo!
So the blogiverse has been abuzz with black bean-beetroot brownies. This is my version of it.

It has such an interesting color, I might even call it Dracula's wedding cake and serve it for Halloween!

The Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked black beans
• 2 cups roasted beets (peeled)
• 8.3 oz (slightly less than this, actually) dark chocolate bar (I used 72% pound plus from Trader Joes and nearly used half a bar) melted.
• 3 eggs
• 2 Tbsp cacao nibs
• 4 Tbsp stevia powder
• Handful of chocolate chips (optional)

The Method:

• I already had roasted beets in the freezer. If you are going to roast them afresh for this recipe, just heat the oven to about 350F, take a pan with a little water in it and add your beets in them. Plop it in the oven for about an hour. The beets are done when the skin looks all wrinkled and a fork will go through it easily
• Remove from oven, let cool and peel it. 
• Pre-heat the oven to 350F
• Take 3 cups of black beans (pre cooked-- preferably in a pressure cooker until soft) put in a blender and blend until it looks like smooth hummus
• Remove it from blender and blend the beets the same way (without water) with the cacao nibs.
• Transfer both pulps to a bowl and break three eggs into it. Mix well.
• Add stevia and mix well.
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave -- I just used my microwave setting for melting chocolate and it came out fine.
• Dribble the molten chocolate into the "batter" and mix well again.
• Taste and see if you need more sweetness. If you do, add more stevia. 
• Line a square baking tray with wax paper or grease it.
• Transfer the batter into the tray and bake for 40 mins.
• Remove the brownie and let cool.

Notes:

• The above method left the brownie a little dry. I might add some butter (about 1/2 cup may be) in future.

References:

• http://www.neverhomemaker.com/2013/02/red-velvet-black-bean-brownies.html

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Italian Inspired Black Bean, Cauliflower Casserole

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked black beans
1 egg (skip if you don't eat eggs)
1.5 cups pepper jack cheese
1 whole cauliflower
Oregano
Rosemary
Basil (fresh if possible)
4 pods of garlic
chili flakes (crushed red peppers)
salt
pepper -- whole and crushed
1/4 to 1/2 cup butter

What to do with the stuff:

Preheat the oven to 350 F
Blanch the cauliflower in a little water with a little salt. Make sure not to over cook it.
Break and egg and mix it in with the cauliflower and the black beans
Add the shredded pepper jack cheese
Crush some rosemary (releases the fragrance)
Add some salt and crushed pepper and chili flakes and mix it all up in a big bowl


In a pan, add some butter and add whole pepper corns to it. Let it pop (smells awesome!) Then add in the chopped garlic and some basil and saute until the garlic is sort of roasted

Add this into the rest of the stuff and mix it up.



Grease a couple of oven safe dishes and add this mixture in each.

Bake for 20 minutes and its done.

Unfortunately, we were too hungry to bother with pics of the finished product!

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