Potato Smothered Lentils, Inspired by Classic Shepherd's Pie

Several fabulous Christmas gifts pictured here: bowls,
blender & pepper grinder in the background.

Happy New Year!
I'm not even going to try to apologize for the looooong absence this time. It's obvious: I am just not capable right now of keeping up as much as I had hoped. I'm okay with that. Hell, I have to be. I'm in school full-time, working full-time, keeping up with my life as best I can and plus trying to share my culinary adventures??? Oh, and I've started sewing and had Christmas present making to get through, plus buy a "new to me" car. Right. So I am busy. And sometimes, sometimes I just don't have time to blog about what I've cooked-- or, uh, even time to cook for that matter!
Right. So, here we are in 2012. And no, I'm not making a promise to blog more regularly. As just noted, that would be futile at this point. I'm just going to post when I do and then eventually there will be enough populated where it won't matter- anyone who happens upon the blog should be able to find at least 1 thing they'd like to cook, read, make, or do. Right? Yes.

Okey dokey then...onward!

For Christmas, my eldest sister flew to Chicago and we piled in my car with my two dogs and drove to Florida, back from where my sister had just flown, back to my hometown. It was awesome. We did the same thing, only reverse, coming back. Again, awesome. The whole time I was home I had an amazing time. I love my family so much and cherished each moment I had with them. And, AND, I was able to cook for them a few times, too. (I am not writing about that now, though, since that was cooking for more than one- I'll make a "cooking for many" section someday.)
For my Dear Santa list, I had asked for single serving baking dishes, like those you might make casseroles in but for one instead of 8. And an immersion blender. My friend Lauren was so kind to lend me hers (which I still have :/ ) and I fell in love. Now I have my very own. These two new kitchen tools inspired the dish I'm going to share with you tonight.

Check out these cutest individual casseroles! Begging- BEGGING- to be stuffed and baked. Ok, casserole, as you wish...

And, check out the fabulous machine behind it or pictured above- it's just...just...just, perfect. The CuisineArt Immersion Blender.  Love! Even though it has that beautiful guard so it won't scratch teflon or other types of surfaces, I am so grateful that last year I wrote to and Santa delivered a beautiful set of stainless steal pots and pans. I think, maybe, my kitchen may now be as complete as one could need without just being over the top.

Back to the begging casserole dishes. I had to choose only one; the decision was made after the meal was nearly finished and based solely on the one that could hold all that it made.

Potato Smothered Lentils, Inspired by the Classic Shepherd's Pie


Ingredients

¼ C dry Lentils
1 C quartered Mushrooms (I tend to use crimini or baby bellas for everything!)
¼ C chopped Onions
¼ C chopped Carrots
¼ C chopped Celery
¼ C frozen Peas
½ tsp white pepper
1 tsp Thyme
1 dash (or more) Salt
1 tsp minced Garlic
1 fl oz Red Wine  
¾ C chopped Potato
2 T fat free, plain Yogurt

Toaster Oven is still kickin' and
it's perfect for this single serving dish.

Make it

Cook lentils in water until soft. Cook potatoes in water for mashing. Heat a skillet with cooking spray, add onions, celery and carrots to soften then add garlic, and other spices. Stir 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat. When lentils are finished, add to the vegetable mixture and return to hi heat. Add wine and stir for 2-3 minutes to absorb. Transfer this mixture to an oven-proof single serving dish. Whip potatoes with yogurt and top the lentils with it. Then broil for a browned top finish. Serve with salad or another green vegetable and enjoy!

Serving Size: 1 individual pie

This one comes in just over 300 calories, but it is soooo filling and totally worth every bite!

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 1

• Calories: 320.5

• Total Fat: 1.2 g

• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg

• Sodium: 274.0 mg

• Total Carbs: 59.2 g

• Dietary Fiber: 15.9 g

• Protein: 17.7 g

Fall = Friends and Pears

A few Sundays ago now, I was hanging out with great friends, one of which came all the way from New Mexico and is my best friend's, Melissa, best friend from childhood, Jessie. Talk about crazy friendness! Jessie made a delicious dish his Mother and Grandmother made years before. It was so freaking good! And then, in the same week I had the fortune to hang out with another group of  great friends. We were enjoying each other's company, some tasty fruits and cheese, and Pear Martinis. Both days involved other people (friends) cooking or preparing food with out my assistance, but of which I was able to deeply enjoy. I love when that happens!   But all this hanging out led to reason there's a 2-week lapse in latest blog posts. Oh well. A girl's gotta have some fun sometime, right?!

So a quicky for this post and a note about fun and indulgence. Sometimes, even though this blog focuses a lot on healthy eating and watching calories and nutrient intake, sometimes- and yes, I mean more than once a year- sometimes you just need a break from it all. This recipe will definitely help you do that- take a break, sit back, enjoy good company and good spirits without worrying about it. You'll run tomorrow, or you'll do your yoga later in the week...for now... indulge in this deliciousness.

A Pear-fect Pear Martini (I couldn't resist, sorry!)


Ingredients
1 part Pear infused Vodka, or just Vodka
2 parts Pear nectar (sans corn syrup or other juices, this should be straight pear juice)
pre-sliced pears, covered with the juice of 1 lime
ice

Make It
1. In a shaker, add the ice, vodka and pear nectar.
2. Shake vigorously.
3. Strain into a martini glass.
4. Garnish with 1 or 2 slices of pear.
5. Sip and enjoy. Really, you're not going to have any trouble with the enjoy part- maybe the sip and not gulp part, though.

Nutritional Info
Happiness - 100%

If You Eat, You Should Care About This:

Ok, so I normally post recipes but I warned in my "about" section that I might post things about food, health issues, policy, green initiatives, etc. This is about food policy. And a grotesque abuse of our right to access information, safe food and healthy options for our families- through food. So if you eat food, you should seriously care about this. Please click the link to learn more.

Why you should care about the farm bill

The farm bill matters to you if you care what you and your kids eat, how government policies affect the cost and availability of healthy, chemical-free food and how clean your drinking water is.

Its three most important sections deal with (or possibly won't deal with):

• Support programs for farmers who grow grains.
• Provide money and technical help to farmers to protect soil, water and wildlife.
• Fund the all-important nutrition and feeding programs for low-income Americans, especially women, children and infants.

It’s a huge piece of legislation that drives federal spending and policies on agriculture, nutrition and conservation programs, and it’s usually debated and passed every five years. It was due to come up for renewal in 2012, but industrial agriculture interests and their powerful allies in Congress are trying to circumvent open debate and get the bill they want passed as part of the “Super Committee” plan for cutting the federal deficit.

Stop the Secret Farm Bill | Environmental Working Group

This is a gross abuse of the democratic system. Regardless of whether you agree with the language in the bill, the fact that it is being pushed through without the standard democratic process of review is alarming and disturbing! Stand up for your right to know. Stop this.

Split Pea, Cabbage & Radish Soup

I freaking love split pea soup! There, now you know. I think it's delicious and kind of get a kick out of how it actually looks pretty gross, all green and clumpy. But a lot of dishes look or smell awful and end up being delightful (like Mom's Tuna Casserole!). Since it's nice and chilly now, I have been really really into soups and stews.  They are so warming, easy to make, cheap to make and nutritiously filling.

For this split pea soup, I wanted something more than just carrots and peas- I wanted a hardiness to it. I decided on using up 1/2 a head of cabbage I had and a beautiful (watermelon?) radish I got from the Farmer's Market. I was almost certain I had heard of split pea and cabbage soup before, but googled it just to be sure. Yep. Several (hundreds?) have done this before. But I didn't find any that suggested adding radish to it. I was hopeful this would work out and be tasty, because it was going to serve as my lunch for several days to come. Happily, it did.

Before I jump into the recipe, check out this beautiful radish I picked up from a farmer at the market. I am almost positive it's called Watermelon Radish. It's an heirloom variety and grows big like a turnip. Isn't it stunning? Oh and it's just absolutely scrumptious!

Ingredients:
4 C Tap Water
2 Stalks Celery chopped
3/4 - 1 Carrots chopped
1/2 Onion chopped
2 C Cabbage, chopped
1 C Radish chopped
1/2 C Dry Split Pea

Make It: 

Heat the water ready to a boil. Add the celery, onions and carrots to the water. Boil and continue to boil fror a few minutes. Add the Spit Peas and cover to reduce heat and continue cooking. When the peas have cooked all the way through, remove from heat and blend to make smooth. I used my food processor, however, an immersion blender would be perfect for something like this! 

Then return to heat and add the cabbage and radishes. Cook on med-low for 15 minutes or so until the radishes are soft to chew.

Serve hot or reserve in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

Not sure how this happened, but I have no pictures of the final product. It was really yummy, but honestly as previously noted this was not that pretty (muddy green and what not). So use your taste-bud imagination, cook it up and enjoy!

Nutritional Info: 

Servings Per Recipe: 3

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 75.7

Total Fat: 0.4 g

Cholesterol: 0.0 mg

Sodium: 55.6 mg

Total Carbs: 15.2 g

Dietary Fiber: 5.7 g

Protein: 4.3 g