Ginger, Carrot and Red Lentil Soup

So I have been following some other food blogs. Ok I would not necessarily call mine a food blog yet....but if I ever learned how to catalog things by recipe type and season etc then maybe.

Anyway, the blog is http://www.dailyunadventuresincooking.com/
I made cinnamon rolls from there but they were not so great.
This soup however was/is FANTASTIC. Nichols - I give it an A+ and Tom agrees.

It is super simple and takes 30 minutes to cook about ten minutes to make.

Things you need to make this: (and let me tell you...I would immediately double it!)
5 big carrots
1 tablespoon (or more) of ginger - from a jar or grated and peeled
1-2 teaspoons of garlic (I didn't measure)
1 cup of red lentils
handful of cilantro
some cheese (for garnish)
4 cups of chicken or veggie broth (I used both!)
Salt and pepper
1 T of olive oil
3 scallions
1 lemon

How to make this recipe:
1. Peel and grate all of your carrots.
2. Peel and grate your ginger (or scoop from a jar)
3. Peel and mince your garlic (or scoop from a jar)
4. Chop scallions
5. Heat a big pot over medium heat. Add olive oil and swirl to coat.
6. Add ginger, garlic and scallions. Stir for 1 minute.
7. Add grated carrots, salt and pepper, red lentils and all of the broth.
8. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for about 30 minutes.
9. Add a bit more salt and pepper.
10. Squeeze one lemon into the soup and stir
11. Scoop into bowls and add some chopped cilantro leaves and a little bit of cheese (we used mozz...because that was all we had)
12. EAT

Peanut noodles make everything better

It's so odd. I have never been a fan of peanut butter. When all my friends would bring PB&J sandwiches to school I don't remember what I had. I pretend that it was bagels and cream cheese, but that would mean I ate a bagel and cream cheese for lunch from 1st grade THROUGH the present. That seems extreme, but as you can tell I do like my bagels.

Anyway the point is that I have always liked sesame/peanut noodles. I can remember my brother going through a phase where he was obsessed with ordering them at Chinese restaurants.

This recipe is for SURE not truly Asian, but it is Asian inspired.

It's from Cooking Light, but I have slightly adapted it to make it my own.

Ingredients you need to buy before getting too excited: Please note that the first measurement is what the magazine says. After it in parentheses is what I used.

8-12 oz uncooked spaghetti (I say go for the whole package!!)
1/2 cup chicken broth (maybe a little more...like 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup natural creamy peanut butter (closer to 1/3 cup!)
2 TB sesame seeds, divided into 1TB piles
1 TB brown sugar (overflowing and packed in there)
2 TB rice vinegar (plus an extra shake or two)
2 TB low sodium soy sauce (plus an extra shake or two)
1 TB fresh lime juice (just cut the lime in 1/2 and squeeze the heck out of it)
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce (or siricha if you want spicier
2 TB canola oil
3/4 lb chicken tenders, cut in one inch pieces (I do more like 1 - 2 lbs)
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups matchstick carrots (true!)
1 1/2 cups sliced green onions (true!)
The recipe does NOT call for ginger....but it would be good in the peanut sauce so you can add it if you want.

Ok so first you trim the heck out of your chicken so that it is not fatty. Then you cut it up into small chunks. Cooks Illustrated recently said that it doesn't matter what kind of cutting board you use for your chicken as long as you use diluted bleach water to rinse it all off. Tom likes to yell "AH! Uncle Sal is here!!" whenever I cut chicken. "Uncle Sal" is salmonella. I found it amusing at first but now it's just getting old. Put your cut chicken aside.

Now you can kill yourself by peeling and chopping your carrots into matchsticks, or you can just buy 1-2 packages of matchstick carrots at the supermarket. Let me warn you though that those packages are often sort of dry and borderline almost going bad. So if you don't want to buy them, but baby carrots (which are always juice??? Why?) and slice those up. At least then you don't have to peel or cut as much. Really do 2 full cups - especially if you are opting for more chicken and more noodles like I do. Put carrots aside.

Now chop up a whole bunch of green onions/scallions. Put those aside.

Put the water on to boil for the pasta. While you wait for it to boil, get a bowl and add the rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, peanut butter, sesame seeds (1 TB), chicken broth (I recently used beef broth and all was good), lime juice and hot sauce. I would use a whisk, but a fork works well too. One trick my mom told me (or maybe I read it) is to spray the measuring cup with some PAM before you add the peanut butter - then it will slide out lickety-split. Also here is where you might want to add a bit of ginger if you like it. It gives a nice tang to the sauce.

Now the sauce is made and the water is heating up. Put a frying pan on over medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the chicken, sprinkle with some salt, and saute until it is cooked. Then dump in the carrots and green onions and cook a few more minutes.

Drain your pasta, but save a few tablespoons of the water. Now dump the pasta into the pan with the chicken and carrots and green onions (or dump the chicken mixture into the pasta bowl) and then re-whisk the peanut sauce and add that too. Stir it all around and then sprinkle the rest of the sesame seeds on top.

I like to squeeze lime over my bowl too, and while I haven't done it, I bet some chopped cilantro would be delish on top too. Cilantro is amazing on everything.

Sorry no pictures - I just made this at a friend's house.

So delicious Allison might eat it (if she could pick out the string beans)

Tonight's dinner is one of our staples. My mom used to make it when we were younger - and then she even made it when we were older, but then she used FAKE meat instead of real beef. I can remember her trying to tempt my high school boyfriend into eating it and he was NOT having it. It's quick and easy and it comes from the hysterically named book "Living the High Carbohydrate Way" by Jane Brody. Hey is that really any crazier than eating NO carbs and lots of bacon? Not really.

To prove how much of a staple this meal is, look at the recipe card! It is a mess. You can still make out my mom's impeccable handwriting though. Beware: I don't perfectly follow this recipe - well really I just double the amount of beef! Everything else stays about the same.

First put some rice on to cook. I don't know what proportion of rice you like to the stuff on top, but I like quite a bit. So for the two of us and leftovers I make 1 1/2 cups of rice. I am not including a recipe for rice because that would assume that whomever reads this is stupid. Check your rice package.

Have a helpful assistant (or yourself) cut off the ends of the string beans and then cut them into pieces. You can make them as small or large as you want. Here's how we do it in the Hodgman household:

Ok I lied that does NOT show you the size, but I cut them into about 1/2s of thirds or fourths if they are really big. Notice the AMAZING new Shun knife that Tom is carefully using. Really... they are worth the investment.

When your string beans are cut up put them in a bowl - you will need it for later.

Get a bowl and make the sauce. Dump in 1/3 cup of broth - I don't know why it says it should be warmed, I think that is ridiculous, one heaping Tablespoon of soy sauce, one heaping teaspoon of cider vinegar, one heaping teaspoon of sherry, and two teaspoons of cornstarch (to thicken it up). The heaping amounts should only be if you choose to double the beef. If you like skimpy amounts of beef then don't heap the liquids! Mix this all up with a whisk making sure to incorporate the cornstarch in. You'll need to stir this again later, but now you can just leave it.

Heat a frying pan over HIGH heat for however long it takes for it to get hot. The recipe says 30 seconds but currently we have an insanely slow electric stove. 30 seconds is good on a gas stove for sure. Put in some canola/vegetable oil - I'd say about 1-2 Tablespoons (2T) and swirl it around. Dump in the green beans and maybe turn the heat to JUST below high. Stir and let them sizzle. Don't burn them, but the sizzle is a good sign. Cook them for about 4-5 minutes. Then dump them out of the pan into the bowl and put to the side.

Now it is here that the recipe unwisely tells you to add garlic and ginger to the pan. If you do that (as I have done countless times) you will burn the crap out of the ginger and garlic, and it will spit and burn the crap out of you. Take the pan off the heat for a little bit if electric.....if you have gas just turn it the HECK down and let it cool down. When it is somewhat cooler and you feel safe, add a little more oil to the pan (I always need a little more) and add the garlic - 2 teaspoons (2t) and the ginger. I add way more ginger than it calls for. I probably do 2T instead of 2t. I like ginger. I use the pre-bottled kind because I got sick of peeling the ginger and having it be all stringy and nasty.

Ok so stir the garlic and ginger for maybe 30 seconds to get some flavor out. Sometimes I don't even add them first - I just add the meat and garlic and ginger at the same time. I do not think there is a big difference - so you choose. Now dump in your meat. Then add in a few shakes of red pepper flakes. Once again add as much as the amount of spice that you want. Like I said before I like to add 1 pound of meat instead of 1/2 a pound. This is where you veggie-only eaters could add tempeh or some other fake "I taste like meat" substance. Stir the stuff until the meat cooks through. Then very carefully spoon off the grease. I like to pour it into a glass jar that is now empty (veering off from this idea, I find it sad that only small things come in glass jars. I still have fond memories of the old Hellman's glass jars being reused by my parents. Isn't plastic worse than glass? Or is just that it's cheaper?) There will be varying amounts of fat depending on what meat you bought. Spoon off as much as you can.

Now at this point hopefully your rice is done!

Re-whisk the sauce and dump it into the beef/ginger/garlic/red pepper flakes mixture. Stir and turn the heat up a bit. When it starts to thicken (30 seconds) then add the string beans and stir them up so they can get warm again. Serve over the rice. Ta-da.

                          

I'd say it takes about 20 minutes from start to finish (including prep time). This serves 2 people with enough leftovers for one big lunch or two small lunches (I am basing that on the way Tom and I eat). I have made it to feed 4 people, but I feel like that is stretching it a bit. I'd say 3 normal eating people and maybe an anorexic friend too.... but not 4 normal people.