Mustard Caraway Lentils & Stuffed Squash

I mentioned in my last post that I had a friend stay with the Critters this last week and that I cooked up a feast for his stay. I shared with you the Spicy & Sweet-Potato Soup recipe in that last post and I am happy to report- he loved it. But the thing he loved more and has repeatedly said so since his stay was the Stuffed Carnival Squash, which was stuffed with a fancy new twist on lentil stew that I am calling, Mustard Caraway Lentils. I made a large batch of lentils and had plenty to eat for dinner the night I was cooking all of this... I put my lentils over spaghetti squash (see pictures and nutritional info below). I also have enough lentils now for a few lunches the rest of this week. Perfect!

As I was thinking about the menu for my friends' stay, I thought about the blog and how I would share the menu with you. I also thought, man I make a lot of curry. I really wanted to make curry lentils for the squash, but decided to try something new. So I looked in the cupboard to see what flavors I had and happened upon this package of cracked mustard seed I picked up in Devon on my last visit there (I think I've mentioned Devon before- the neighborhood in Chicago that has all the fabulous Indian foods). Then I saw the jar of caraway seeds. I never use caraway seeds, but I love the flavor! So I decided I had to try to cook with them. I also had a ton of tomatoes from the garden which made a great base for the lentil stew. The result?  Really yummy lentils!

Do you know about the health benefits of the Caraway seed? I have recently read a bit about the seed and am intrigued! As a matter of fact, while I sit and type this post I am drinking a cup of caraway and ginger tea. Mmm. According to a few sites, Caraway seeds are a great digestive and even help babies with colic! I am constantly complaining of bloating and supposedly this tea will help that. We'll see...

Here's a blurb from one site: 

Caraway promotes gastric secretion and stimulates appetite. It breaks down spasms in the gastrointestinal tract to prevent flatulence, but it is also used to treat menstrual cramps and gallbladder spasms. The German E commission reports that caraway seeds are an antimicrobial, and can relieve the feeling of bloating or fullness associated with indigestion and stomach complaints. Caraway oil is strongly fungicidal, having a stronger anti-fungal and anti-yeast activity than the prescription medication Nystatin. Caraway seed oil is used as a flavoring agent in pharmaceuticals, a fragrance in cosmetics and body care products, and is used in all major categories of food, from meat to candy to condiments. 

I'll let you know if I feel any relief from the caraway tea. For now, the Mustard Caraway Lentil recipe...

Ingredients for Lentils:

2 C Tomatoes, chopped 

½ C Onions, chopped

3 cloves Garlic

½ C Celery

2 tsp Olive oil

1 ½ C Water 

½ T Cracked Mustard

1 tsp Caraway Seed

½ tsp salt

1 tsp coriander 

1 C lentils, dry

* Ingredients for the rest of the dish includes

Squash - 1 small carnival and 1 small spaghetti squash

Collards or some kind of greens, 1 cup chopped. 

Make It:

First prepare the squash. Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut the top off the carnival squash and scoop out the seeds. Place squashes flesh side down (shell up) in a shallow dish with about 1 inch of water. Bake at 375-400 until the flesh is soft.

While the squash is cooking prepare the lentils. Add the oil to a large pan that has a lid. Chop the tomatoes, onions and celery and mince the garlic and add it all to the pan. Cook on medium heat to mix the flavors and saute a little bit for 5-10 minutes. The tomatoes will start to stew which is what you want. Add the spices and water. Bring to a boil and add the lentils. Stir boiling for a few minutes, then reduce to simmer, cover and cook until lentils are soft. About 30 minutes or so. 

I wanted something green with this and had some collards and kale. For the friend, I made collards. For me, kale. I steamed them with garlic powder and pepper. 

Again, another awesome meal for less than 300 calories. So filling, so nutritious, so fabulous!

Nutritional Info (for lentils only)

Servings Per Recipe: 6

• Calories: 149.8
• Total Fat: 2.4 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 209.8 mg
• Total Carbs: 19.9 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1.3 g
• Protein: 13.1 g

* One cup of spaghetti squash adds about 42 calories and the collards or kale add about 15 calories. 

I pack my own lunch: part 2 (spicy & sweet-potato soup)

I'm back! Hooray! It has been several weeks now, but I assure you I have been cooking and have some great recipes to share soon.
I pack my lunch nearly everyday. However, most of the time it's nothing too fancy or special to speak of or it's leftovers from the night before and well, if that's the case, you've already seen the recipe and likely don't care. This time, though, I was making dinner for a friend that will come stay with the Critters while I am away this weekend. Actually, I made a dinner, breakfast and lunch so he could eat while spending his time in my apartment.
For dinner, I made a stuffed carnival squash- but that recipe comes later. For breakfast, I kept it simple with Almond Butter Toast and Pears w/ Goat Brie. Of course, he will assemble that when he's ready so the toast isn't mush. What about lunch you ask? Well, I made a rockin' Spicy Sweet Sweet Potato Soup. I also roasted some of my garden veggies for my friend to make Napoleon Sliders w/ Smoked Mozzarella...(hence the colorfulness pictured to the left and in case you don't know how, look for instructions below).
But the soup-- oh! it was so tasty I had to bring it to lunch with me today!

I have several sweet potatoes in my hanging basket. One has been there so long it's vining. I like it vining and allow it to persist. The other items come and go as needed. Back to the sweet potato... I had one staring at me the other night. So I decided to hack it up and make it into soup! I didn't follow a recipe but I was inspired by several from Vegetarian Times and a few online sites. All were praising the fall foods (squash, potatoes, root veggies, etc.), which I love so had to do something about it.

I knew I wanted something sort of sweet and not spicy. (Rare for me, I know!) Here is the recipe...

Ingredients:
17 ounces,about 4 cups, peeled and cubed sweet potato
2 C water
1/2 C chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 dashes of each -
- allspice
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp (maybe more) cayenne pepper
1 tsp coriander

Make it:
Okay, this is where it gets really tricky so pay close attention* - In a large sauce pot, add all the ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until potatoes are soft enough to mash. Mash everything in the pot. Then transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth. If you have an immersion blender (which I don't but would really like one) you can use that instead of messing up the food processor. Then serve and enjoy!
*sarcasm- so simple!

It's really a wonderful mix of flavors. The spice is just right. I think next time I might add a dollop of almond or peanut butter, but it certainly is not necessary. This recipe made 3, 1 and 1/2 Cup servings. I brought 1 serving to lunch and left the rest for my friend. He's a big kid, I am sure he'll eat it all.

I couldn't resist bringing these fresh, sweet yellow pear tomatoes with me. And someone at work didn't like their pita chips and offered them to me. So my meal was quickly complete and still under 300 calories. Bueno!

Nutritional Info*

Servings Per Recipe: 3

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 202.8

Total Fat: 0.8 g

Cholesterol: 0.0 mg

Sodium: 27.5 mg

Total Carbs: 46.6 g

Dietary Fiber: 6.2 g

Protein: 3.4 g

*again courtesy of recipes.sparkpeople.com 

p.s. About the veggies...

I had a medium eggplant, 2 red peppers, and 1 eight ball zucchini. I sliced them all lengthwise and tossed them with olive oil and salt and pepper. 

Then I sprayed a cookie sheet with olive oil, and placed the veggies on it in one layer. While the squash  (mentioned above) was roasting I threw these in the oven, too. About 400 for 15 or so minutes. They should be soft and easy to bite through but not mushy. 

apologies for absence

To my oodles of readers (sarcasm) sorry I haven't posted any recipes. school has me very busy, plus I'm out of town since Saturday, through next Saturday. I will be back. I promise.
if you're curious, this is where I am. having tons of fun & learning much!
www.conf2011.aashe.org

Base Soup or Sauce 4: Stuffed Pepper w/ Ranchero Sauce

the pepper with its garden friends, see it?

I love peppers, especially I love their versatility. You can enjoy them raw, or fried, stewed, pickled, roasted, stuffed, baked... I am sure there are others manner of which you can prepare this awesome vegetable, but this post will focus on the latter of the list- stuffing and baking. FYI, in case you love all peppers and will seek recipes here for a specific type: my stomach doesn't tolerate green bell peppers well, so I tend to avoid them. Therefore, it's highly unlikely you'll find a recipe within that calls for them. Red, yellow, purple, spicy or mild, jalapenos, habaneros, and so on are fine. For no good reason, what troubles my stomach most are the standard, green bell pepper- regardless of how it's prepared- my Dad has the same ailment so maybe it's hereditary? Anyway...

Tonight, I am thinking of what can I do with the remaining 2 (possibly a little more) servings of the Base Tomato Soup or Sauce I made several days ago. As I left work one day, a colleague gave me an habanero pepper from his garden. I was thrilled! I am only growing Giant Marconi sweets and jalapenos. So, the habanero was welcomed. I had a Giant Marconi that was turning its brilliant red and I knew I'd have to do something with it soon. I think stuffing it was the best solution. Tell me you don't look at that pepper and hear it scream- stuff me! Go on, tell me. Yep, didn't think so. 

As I stood and pondered the vegetables, plus Base Soup and Sauce I had in front of me, I thought of Don Pablos, the restaurant where I worked during college (or what was supposed to be college years...)with many friends, including cocktail waitress extraordinaire- Melissa Basilone. I remembered days when "PaPa" the resident lead cook and coincidentally (?) Mexican patriarch would say, "Estephenie, I made for you especial no meat "insert name" (dish), you'll like it!! es Muy bien!" Queso Stuffed peppers with Ranchero Sauce was definitely one of my favorites. Here's my go at something probably not nearly authentic enough, but still really, really Muy Bien.

Ingredients:

• ½ Habanero Peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1 serving (1- 1 ¼ C) Base Tomato Soup or Sauce
• ¼ C dry TVP
• 2 T cooked kidney beans (left over from another meal, fine to omit)
• 1 large Sweet pepper (oblong is nice, but bell shaped is fine, too)
• ¼ C chopped carrots
• ¼ C chopped onions
• 1 tsp mince garlic
• 1 tsp ground oregano
• 1 T Cilantro
• 1 C Water
• ½ ounce Goat chevre 
• ¼ C dry rice 
• 2 T saffron flowers
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder

Make It:
Pepper -
Slit the pepper from the stem to the base, only on one side, so that you can seed and core it without breaking it entirely in half. Place it in a shallow, oven proof dish. Add a thin layer of water to the dish. Set aside.

Ranchero Sauce -
In a small sauce pot, mix together 1 C base Tomato Soup or Sauce plus, oregano, garlic, and chopped habanero. Cook on low-med heat. Leave it cooking while the other items are prepared.

Pepper Stuffing -
In a small frying pan, mix dry TVP with 1/4 cup water and 2 T Tomato Soup or Sauce, plus cilantro, cumin and chili powder. Heat to simmer. Add onions and carrots, plus 2 T of kidney beans. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Rice -
Bring to a boil together, 1/4 C dry rice, plus ¾ C water, 2 T Saffron flowers, 1/2 tsp white pepper, 2 T base soup/sauce recipe
Once boiling, reduce to simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes. While not traditional Mexican rice, it's still very yellow and Mexican-like flavored.

Pepper -
Fill the pepper with the Pepper Stuffing. Cover with foil and bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes. (I used the toaster over again, since it seems a waste to heat the whole giant oven!) Remove from the oven and top with the goat chevre. Bake, uncovered, for 5 minutes more to melt and roast the cheese a little.

Serve the Stuffed Pepper with the rice and smother everything in the yummy, spicy Ranchero sauce and top with some more fresh cilantro!

Ok, so when you see the Nutritional info you will realize that this meal did not come in under 300 calories, in fact, it's almost 500! But, when you see the size of this meal, you'll realize there's no way I could have eaten it all. Since this dish came out bigger than expected for dinner, I had dinner tonight and lunch ready for tomorrow. Perfect! I didn't have lunch planned yet anyway. Still very nutritious and about 12 grams of protein as split in two. Yay!

Nutritional Info (as 1 serving, but I made it 2)

Servings Per Recipe: 1

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 486.2

Total Fat: 4.2 g

Cholesterol: 0.0 mg

Sodium: 193.0 mg

Total Carbs: 91.9 g

Dietary Fiber: 15.9 g

Protein: 23.3 g