Oil free chocolate banana bread swirl

I had a bunch of frozen bananas (brown, in the skins, and in my freezer cause I won't throw out bananas.  They're just so useable!).  I knew I wanted to make banana bread today, but I wasn't sure what recipe.  My friend Shannon, who keeps a fabulous vegan blog (killer bunnies inc), had posted about a marbled banana bread she made and it looked fabulous, but I hate cooking with oil.  I know it can make foods yummier, bananas, in my opinion, are yummy and wet enough to skip the oil.  So I went on a hunt for an oil free recipe, which I found here.   I doubled it because I had 5 bananas and mashed them all.

So here the pictures, the bread is oven and smells awesome!

1.  Start with 1.5 cups of smashed banana.  I doubled the recipe - so everything you'll see here is twice as much as I'm putting in the directions.

Above:  About 3 cups of mashed bananas.  I took the frozen banans and put them in the microwave for about 1:30, peeled them, and mashed them with a potato masher, and then fork.

2.  Add in 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup milk, 2 tsp vanilla extract.

Above:  'Nanas mixed with milk (I used cow, recipe called for non-diary), brown sugar, and vanilla. 

3.  In a separate bowl mix together 1.5 cups flour (since I was doubling, I did 2 cups white flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour), 3/4 tsp baking soda, 3/4 tsp salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and stir until totally mixed.  Original recipe says not to stir too much or the dough will be tough.

4.  In a coffee cup, mix 3 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder with 3 Tbs boiling water.  Mix with a fork until totally smooth.

5.  Take 1 cup of the batter and transfer it to another bowl.  Add in the cocoa powder mixture.  Stir until incorporated. (see below)

Above: Banana bread mixture with cocoa mixture.

6.  Add 3 Tbs of boiling water to the original batter to smooth it out.  Stir until incorporated (see below).

7.  Spray a bread pan with non-stick spray (or prepare it however, you like to prepare your baking pans).  Use a measuring cup (I had 2/3 cup in the regular batter, and 1/2 cup in the chocolate batter), and alternate layers in the baking pan. (See below)

8.  Take a knife and swirl it (see below). 

Above:  Then I took a knife and went back and forth through the batter like a skier :)

More when the bread is done!

(Not actually) Spicy (actually) Sun-Dried Tomato and Broccoli Pasta

My phone is out in my car - so this lovely picture is courtesy my webcam.  Why yes, my stove is from 1973.  Why do you ask?  You should see the front - it's actually not all white.  It's white AND black.  Classy.  But it's got a double oven instead of a microwave over the stove, and it works great - so it's mine until it dies.  Function over form.

What you're viewing above is the aftermath of dinner.  I didn't think to take a photo until we started eating and I thought "this is good - I should blog about it!"

This recipe is relatively easy and very tasty, but I found it too salty (this is becoming a trend with recipes I find on line).  Found the recipe here.  There are also much better pictures there!

I loved all the flavor combos, but here's how I'd make it, if I were to make it again.

1.  Boil a big pot of water, and add a box of twisty noodles.  I like smart pasta.  It's white but high fiber, so healthy but the husband will eat it too.  The recipe called for salting the water, but I'd skip that step since you're going to be using some of the pasta water in the recipe.  

2.  Set a colander over a bowl that can handle boiled water.  Next to the stove, place another heat resistant small bowl.  When the pasta is al dente - drain it, but save the water.

3.  Soak 1/2 cup of sun dried tomatoes in warm water, and place to the side.  

4.  In a large pan, heat 2 Tbs of Olive Oil (original recipe called for 3 Tbs, but it's just too much) with 1/2 Tsp of crushed cayenne pepper flakes (the original recipe said 1/4 tsp but it wasn't hot enough for me), and 1 Tbs minced garlic.  Heat until the garlic is sizzling, but don't let it get brown.  You're infusing the oil with the flavor of the garlic and pepper.  When finished, empty into the small heat resistant bowl you put next to the stove mentioned in step 2.

5.  Quickly clean out the pan with a little water and a rag or paper towel.  Heat it back up with 2 Tbs olive oil and add 3-4 heads of chopped broccoli (bite sized pieces).  Sprinkle with a little sea salt or kosher salt.  Original recipe called for 1 Tsp.  I think it was a little bit much (if you look further down you're adding parmesan, olives, and goat cheese - which are all salty).  Cook the broccoli until it's shrunk down to a single layer in the pan and is bright green.  Stir it every so often.  Don't short change it because it'll get a really nice toasty flavor if you cook it long enough.   

6.  Drain the half cup of sun dried tomatoes from step 2.  Chop the tomatoes.  Add the chopped sun dried tomatoes to the pan, along with 1/3 cup of pasta water.  The original recipe called for sun dried tomatoes in oil.  I used them, but there is so much oil in this recipe that it's unnecessary). Put a lid on the pan and cook until most of the water has boiled out.  If your pan isn't huge, you may want to dump everything into a large bowl at this point so you can mix in the rest of the ingredients. 

7.  Add the cooked pasta and the infused oil (I kept the garlic and pepper flakes in there), stir.  Add another 1-2 Tbs of pasta water, 2-3 oz of crumbled goat cheese, and 1/3 cup of parmesan.  Stir again until the goat cheese is melted.  Add 15 chopped kalamata olives and juice from 1/2 of a lemon.  If it seems dry add a little more pasta water or a little more olive oil if you dig that much oil.

8.  Possible additions:  spinach, chickpeas, arugula, more pasta (the flavor goes a long way in the original recipe), shredded and sautéed brussel sprouts, chopped chicken, etc.  Endless possibilities.  

Skinny Sloppy Joe's

I haven't blogged in a reallllllly long time.  Going back to teaching is always such a shock to the system.  Ask my poor husband... I've barely cooked.  But now that I'm back in the swing of things (3 months later)... it's time to cook again.  Actually, part of it is that I started using Peapod for grocery delivery, which requires advanced planning - so I know WHAT I'm cooking each night.  Planning ahead... who'd have thunk it.  

Anyway, tonight I made Skinny Sloppy Joes from this recipe.    It was DELICIOUS.   Here's the low down and I how I made it a bit different than the original.

1.  I started by browning 1 pound of lean organic ground beef with 1 Tbs of steak seasoning.  Because my husband is anti-onion I can never use store bought steak seasoning, so I used a rub that I made a while back. It was soooo good that I kept the extra.  (*update* Here's the steak rub recipe - I left out the onion powder for the hubby... yes, he is THAT anti-onion).   

2.  Once the meat was browned all the way through I strained some of the fat off (I always do this), and added a handful of pre-shredded carrots that I chopped up, 1/2 chopped red bell pepper, approximately 4 oz of mushrooms chopped, and 3-4 tablespoons of pre-chopped garlic.  The original recipe calls for onion... obviously, that was out, and for the veggies to be very finely chopped up in a food processor.  I didn't do that and the dish was still awesome.  

3.  Then I added 1 Tbs red wine vinegar and 1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce. 

4.  Last, I added 16 oz of tomato sauce.  The recipe called for two cups of sauce plus 2 Tbs of tomato paste.  I always have sauce and paste in the house... except tonight I didn't.  So I figured if I added extra tomato sauce - put a wire mesh screen over the pan, and boiled it down it would be roughly the same thing.  It worked out great. I served them on whole wheat buns and tada - tasty, messy, sloppy Joes from scratch!   

Ribs!

Vegetarians - you may want to skip this one.  If the sight of meat or bones freaks you out - move on.


Making ribs for dinner tonight!  I've had some frozen pork ribs in the freezer for way too long.

Using this recipe 

1.  The first thing that I had to do was defrost the ribs since they'll spend the next 7 hours in the slow cooker.  I didn't really have time for them to defrost in the fridge or on the counter (probably not healthy anyway).  So here's what I'm doing:

That's just cold water pouring over 2 lbs of pork baby back ribs.    I flipped them around a few times, but it only took about 15 minutes for them to full thaw.  

The Next Step:

2.  Make the rub by blending together 1.5 Tbs Paprika, 1 Tbs light brown sugar (I packed mine),  1/8 Tsp of cayenne (I probably used 1/4 tsp or more.  Mine is large pieces because they're dried peppers from my garden from summers past), salt and pepper to taste.  I used about 1/2 tsp of each.  Mix all of that together and you get a really attractive red rub (thanks Paprika!)

3.  After patting the ribs dry with some paper towels, rub the dry mix all over them.

4.  Then place them in a slow cooker with the meat side against the wall and the thicker side down.  I couldn't tell which was the thicker side so I guessed.  Pour 1 cup BBQ sauce over them and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

The Last Steps:

5.  Prepare a baking pan by lining it with tinfoil, and putting a few cooling racks in it.  

6.  Carefully remove the ribs from the slow cooker.  They're tender so watch out cause they can fall apart easily.  Put them on the rack bone side up.

Evidence of the difficulty of moving them (see the fallen rib).

7.  In the slow cooker, skim off any visible fat.  Then pour the juices through a strainer into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and the reduce the heat to simmer for about 15 minutes.  (I accidentally skipped the strainer step.  Oops.  I did skim the fat, but it's tricky.  After a while I just said forget it and started the boiling to simmering).

8.  Make sure that your oven has a shelf at the very bottom (original recipe says 10 inches from broiler, that's the bottom tier in my oven).  Turn on the broiler and let it heat up.

9.  Brush the ribs with the sauce you were just simmering and broil the ribs for 3-4 minutes.  Take them out, flip them over (tongs are handy here... again, be careful so they don't fall apart).  Brush the top side with the sauce and broil meat side up for about 3 minutes, remove and brush with sauce, broil for 3 more minutes, remove and brush with sauce, and then broil for 3 more minutes.

10.  Serve remaining sauce with ribs.

As you can see - there were NO remaining ribs. *burp*  The meat literally just fell off the bone, and the broiler at the end gave them that perfect bit of crustiness.  This one is a winner!

Husband approved!

BBQ menu

July 20, 2012

Having a BBQ tonight with some friends.  Found out our grill was dead so last night the hubby and I bought a new one and put it together from 8:30-11:30pm (after he'd worked a full day - poor hubby). It looks pretty badass though, and now that we've built it we also know how all the parts work and what to replace if it breaks.  As we were putting it together I think we figured out how we could have fixed the old gas grill, but too late.  The junk guys who go down our ally looking for metal are going to be stoked.  Annnnnyway.....

I always cook too much, but I'd rather have too much than not enough.
Here's the menu:

Starters: Chips & Salsa, Watermelon.

Drinks:  Sarasota Lemonade (Mix 2 bottles of Moscato + 1 container of frozen pink lemonade concentrate + 3 cups sprite + 1/2 container of crushed raspberries + ice).  Add fresh raspberries to individual drinks.  AND Adult Root-beer Floats (pour 2 oz vanilla vodka over ice, and 5 oz. root beer.  Top with whip cream.)  Serve with a straw!  Beer (but really, would you drink beer with the other two available??)
VERDICT:  Sarasota lemonade was AWESOME!  I put it in mason jars, sealed them and threw them in the cooler with beer.  They were soooo yummy.  The root-beer floats were also good, but a little strong.  I made them with vanilla ice cream.

Burgers: They should be juicy! (Mix 2 lbs 80% lean ground beef + 1 egg + 3/4 c. bread crumbs + 3 Tbs. evaporated milk + 2 Tbs. worcestershire + 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper + 2 tbs chopped garlic with your hands.  Make into 8 patties).
VERDICT:  I wound up using 2.25 pounds of 75% lean ground beef.  The flavor was fine, but it needed salt & pepper and way less bread crumbs (maybe a quarter cup or more less).

Sides:  Caprese Pasta Salad (4 cups cooked & cooled pasta + 2 cups sliced grape tomatoes + 8 oz fresh mozzarella cut into 1/2 inch cubes + 2 Tbs olive oil + salt & pepper to taste.)  Tabbouleh (1/2 cup bulgar soaked in water for 30 minutes + 1/4 c. lemon juice + 2 Tbs olive oil + 1/2 tsp minced garlic + 1/4 tsp salt + pepper to taste + 2 bunches (2 cups) of flat leaf parsley chopped  + 1/4 c. fresh chopped mint + 2 tomatoes diced + 1 small cucumber peeled seeded & diced.  Toss & Chill.
VERDICT:  The Caprese Pasta salad was good but I didn't salt it enough and it could have benefitted from a little balsamic vinegar.  The Tabbouleh was AWESOME and I forgot the cucumber.  Ooops.  It was a huge hit, which actually surprised me.

Dessert:  Grilled Banana Smores (slice 1 banana per person down the middle & stuff with mini marshmallows & chocolate chips.  Wrap in tin foil & grill.  Sprinkle with crushed graham crackers.  I will also serve with ice cream if people want it.
VERDICT:   We wound up having the root beer floats for dessert.  Guess I'll make the banana later!

What do you think?  Too much?  Just enough?  There will only be 5 people there :) HA!

Egg White Omelet: My favorite healthy breakfast

The following is my go to breakfast when I'm not working.  It's low in points+, filling, and tides me over for about 5 hours.

1.  Start with a good non-stick pan.  Spray it with cooking spray and put it on medium heat.
2.  Separate the whites from 3 eggs.  You can save the yolks for another recipe or pitch 'em.  If I'm making my husband French Toast I add them to the batter to make it more custardy.  If not, I thrown them down the drain.  Put all three egg whites in the pan.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
3.  Once the egg whites look pretty solid, cover the pan.  You can flip the omelet if you want, but adding a cover steams the top so it firms up without having to do the flip.  Once firmed up add low fat cheese (I find that 1/2 oz. of feta or parmesan OR one wedge of laughing cow swiss is perfect).  You can recover and keep cooking if you want to melt the cheese.
4.  Slide the omelet out of the pan and onto a plate.  Meanwhile add chopped veggies of your choice into the same pan.  You may need a bit more pan spray.  Today I used chopped tomatoes and asparagus.  Salt and pepper if desired, recover.  When veggies are cooked through (I like them well cooked for an omelet) dump them onto of your open omelet and fold it over.
5.  While veggies are cooking toast 2 slices of Sara Lee 45 Calories & Delightful Wheat bread.  (1 pt+ per slice).
6.  When everything is done - eat up.

I usually have this with a big mug of coffee with half a cup of Almond-Coconut Breeze & Stevia.  The Almond-Coconut Breeze is 1 pt.+ per half a cup.  It makes my coffee taste like an almond joy bar (really).

The total point count for this is 5 points.  Pretty good.  Add fruit and this is HUGE!

Steaming the top of the egg whites.

All cooked!  Never flipped!

Tomatoes, onion (not for the hubby), spinach, summer squash

Dumped the veggies on top of a broken up wedge of laughing cow cheese

Folded (of course it broke on the day I'm taking pictures) with toast!

Weight Watchers Zero Point+ Veggie Soup

Weight Watchers Garden Vegetable Soup

It's 0 points plus per cup and a good snack to keep me from eating what I actually want to eat.  Says it makes 6 servings.

1.  Use cooking spray to spray a nonstick saucepan, heat.  Saute' 1/2 cups sliced carrots, 1/4 cup diced onions (my husband will never eat this), and 2 minced cloves of garlic over low heat until softened about 5 minutes.
2.  Add 3 cups fat free broth (beef, chicken, or veggie), 1 cup diced green cabbage (I buy the pre shredded stuff), 1 cup chopped spinach, 1 Tbs. tomato paste, 1/2 tsp. dried basil, 1/4 tsp. dried oregano, and 1/4 tsp. salt.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, & simmer for about 15 minutes.

(Obviously, I used a huge soup pot... overkill.  A large sauce pan will be fine).

3.  Stir in 1 cup diced zucchini, and cook 3-4 more minutes.  I also added 1 cup of diced summer squash (yellow squash).

(Taken with my phone... much better!)

This was absolutely delicious!  Yes, I'm eating soup on a 100 degree summer day.  No, I don't know what's wrong with me.

A rhubarb recipe I love

We have an ENORMOUS rhubarb plant in the backyard.  It's always a little magical in spring when it starts to unfurl from winter's death.  We can watch it grow inches every day.

This is a recipe I discovered when my husband and I were first dating.  He got sick in our first year together and while caring for him I had to find foods he could eat and would eat to keep his weight up. This one isn't super weighty, but he'd eat lots of it.  I'm posting it here because I currently have the recipe on a ripped piece of paper, and while I've kept it for 7 years, I can see it getting lost or ruined.

The following is for an 8x8 baking dish or a pie pan.

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Put 2 Tbs butter into whatever dish you're using and put it in the oven to melt.
2.  In a bowl mix 2/3 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of vanilla sugar (I have never owned vanilla sugar, so I just throw in some actual vanilla), 1.5 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. salt, 2/3 cup skim milk.
3.  Add batter to pan & sprinkle 2 cups chopped rhubarb on top.
4.  Bake 40-45 minutes then cool.

It is light and yummy and especially good with vanilla ice cream!

Pear Risotto with Prosciutto & Fried Sage Leaves

Sunday July 1, 2012
Well, it's Monday July 16 and I'm just getting to this.  We went on a fantastic vacation to San Diego where I ate as much local fresh fish as I could, but we went camping so there were lots of burgers and brats too :)

Pear Risotto with Prosciutto and Fried Sage Leaves.  From Eating Well Magazine.

Directions:
1.  Put about an inch of vegetable oil in a small sauce pan.  Heat it and drop in four largish fresh sage leaves & 1 slice of prosciutto (cut into strips).  Cook until crispy.  Place in a strainer over heat proof bowl to drain (I used a porcelain cereal bowl).
2.  (My directions here based on there being too much salt in the initial recipe.  If you want the original directions go to the link above).  Heat three cups of broth and three cups of water together in a sauce pan until simmering.  Keep it simmering.
3.  In a large pot or dutch oven heat 1 Tbs of olive oil.  Add 2 tablespoons of shallots or garlic (I used garlic because my husband won't eat shallots).  Stir for 1-2 minutes.  Add 1-2 tsp of minced fresh sage leaves.  Add 1 cup of chopped peeled Bosc pears.  Add 1 cup of Arborio Rice (risotto).  Stir to coat the rice with oil.  Add 1/3 cup dry white wine.  Turn up the heat and stir for 1-3 minutes until the wine is absorbed.
4.  Start adding the hot broth/water mixture 1/2 cup to 1 cup at a time to the rice.  Keep a simmer going.  The Arborio rice will absorb a lot of water and become creamier.  After about 10-15 minutes if you want softer pears, add 1 more cup of peeled chopped Bosc pears.  If you want your pears to have a bit more tooth feel - wait another 5-10 minutes.  This is the annoying part of making risotto.  You need to baby sit it, stir it, watch the water absorb and when the mixture feels more creamy than liquid - add more.  You'll be doing this for 20-30 minutes total.
5.  When all broth has been absorbed, turn off the heat.  Add 2 Tbs parmesan & 1 Tbs butter (I used brummel and brown because it's what I had in the house.  Honestly, I don't think this needs any additional butter.  It's creamy enough.
6.  Serve with fried prosciutto and fried sage leaves on top.  Should make four 1 cup servings.  1 cup was pretty filling.

From eatingwell.com:

NUTRITION

Per serving: 267 calories; 10 g fat ( 4 g sat , 4 g mono ); 22 mg cholesterol; 32 g carbohydrates; 10 gprotein; 2 g fiber; 405 mg sodium; 122 mg potassium.

Pictures as I go!

Fried Sage Leaves and Prosciutto 

Cooking!

My husband's dinner.

The Verdict:  This was too salty and the pears didn't hold up after being cooked for so long, but I used Anjou instead of Bosc (which are a bit harder), so that may have been the problem.

Here's what I would change if making this again:  I would use HALF broth and HALF water.  I think the intense saltiness was caused by too much broth being cooked down.  I would also cut it down to 6 cups total liquid instead of 8 (the original recipe called for 8 cups of broth).  I would definitely use Bosc pears and I would use more fresh sage in the cooking.  I also might not add the pears until the end so they weren't mushy like the risotto.

Fruit, Chicken & Goat Cheese Spinach Salad

Friday June 29 Dinner

Simple tonight, strawberry, blueberry, and chicken spinach salad with optional goat cheese.  Dressing will be just balsamic vinegar that I got at the Olive Oil Shops.  It's so good it doesn't need anything else.

Roasted Lime Cilantro Eye of Round Tacos

Dinner Thursday June 28, 2012

Roasted Lime Cilantro Eye of Round Tacos.   If using a 2 pound roast, 4 servings = approx. 8 points+ each (not including taco fixings).  Honestly, I think it's more like 6 servings.. maybe more.

This needs to be prepped the night before you cook it!  I always miss that so I thought I'd put it first.

The Night Before
1.  In a cuisinart make a paste of 8 garlic cloves, 1 jalapeño seeded (if you're weak) and diced, 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (about 3 limes), 1 Tbs. Coriander seeds (the website I got this from says 1 Tbs of ground coriander will work too), 1 Tbs. Cumin seeds (I didn't have seeds, so I just used 1 Tbs ground cumin), 1 Tbs coarse-grained salt, 1 Tbs olive oil.
2.  Slice into a 2 to 4.5 pound eye of round roast (I have a 2 pounder, and so did the website I got this from), making a few one inch cuts on each side.  Rub a tsp. of the paste (mine was a sauce) into the cuts and then slather it onto the whole roast.  Wrap the roast tightly in plastic wrap and put it back in the fridge.
Day of
3.  Put the roast into a crock pot on low for 8 hours.  Shred and serve with taco fixings.  You can also do this in an oven, but it's going to be 100 degrees F tomorrow.  Why would I turn on the oven if I don't have to?

5 1/2 hours left to cook.  I really need to get a better camera.

3 Hours left.  Look at all that juice!

It said 1 hour left, but I wanted to test how shreddable the beef was... and it just fell apart.  AND THE TASTE! OMG.  I just texted my husband and told him to come home from work early because dinner is going to be SO GOOD.

Notes:  Next time I make this I'm going to try half the salt (1.5 tsp instead of 1 Tbs.)  It's really good, but I am pretty salt sensitive (just taste, not effects).  I think this would be fabulous with much less.

For those who watch calories (or points plus), hard taco shells are 3 pts+ each, soft corn tortilla's are 1 pts+ each.  Light sour cream is 1 pt+ per table spoon.  Avocado is 3 pts+ for 1/4.  I went WAY over points tonight because I didn't pay attention to the extras when I was eating.  I still have activity points, so I'm okay, but I think I'd eat this on a salad next time.  The beef was delicious.  The rest is gravy. 

Chicken & Corn Salad. Cauliflower Tots!

Wed. June 27, 2012.

Tonight's dinner.

Chicken with Corn.  From Weight Watchers Magazine. Makes 4 servings.  Pointsplus 6

1.  Remove kernels from 3 ears husked corn on the cob.  Mix Kernels with 2 Tbs. water in a shallow microwavable casserole.  Cover with paper towel and microwave on high until corn is crisp-tender, 1:30-2 minutes.

2.  Meanwhile, whisk 2 tsp olive oil, 1.5 tsp balsamic vinegar, and .25 tsp kosher salt in a large bowl; stir in 2.5 c. diced cooked chicken breast, 1 c. halved tiny red & yellow tomatoes, .25 c. chopped fresh basil and 12 sliced pitted green olives.  

Combine.

Also making Cauliflower Tots.  I initially heard about them on pinterest, but did a search for a weight watchers friendly version (linked above).

Review
Salad:  This is absolutely delicious! I will definitely make this again.

Tots:  I screwed up the recipe and they still came out well.  I wound up ricing the cauliflower in my cuisinart (like the recipe said), but I didn't cook it.  I just tried to squeeze out the water (does anyone have a good method for this?  I used paper towels... there has to be an easier way).  Then I added the ingredients, shaped the tots, baked them on parchment (highly suggest)... and they came out great!  Pretty sure I could eat the entire recipe.  And since other than cauliflower it's just 1 egg and 1 egg white... oh and half a cup of low fat cheese... it can't be that bad.  The recipe says 15 for 3 points.  I don't know that mine were the same size as the original chefs.  Even my husband liked these and I've made cauliflower faux mashed potatoes before, and he HATED them.  So this is kind of huge.

Anyway - good dinner tonight!  

Introduction & Curry

About Me & This Blog
This is a place for me to post recipes that I'm cooking for myself & my husband that aren't on line, and to link to recipes that are.  I try to cook healthy foods because I'm on a perpetual diet, which means the hubby has to make up any calorie deficit with lunch, breakfast, and snacks.  He's no worse for the ware and I don't seem to be any thinner.  But we eat well :)
Also, all recipes will be Onion & Shallot free because my husband is, well not allergic, but as he puts it "mentally ill."  He just can't stomach onions.  So lots of garlic (he can handle that), no onion.


The First Recipe:
Red Lentil Curry

Spray the bottom of a sauce pot with cooking spray (I use organic), but you can also make your own.
Grate some fresh ginger into the pot, I probably had about 2 tsp.  Add 2 tsp of curry powder.  I used one that had other seasoning in it.  It's called Curry Row from Urban Accents (it has turmeric, Moroccan coriander, cumin, China #1 ginger, Cayenne red pepper, nutmeg, fennel, cinnamon, white pepper, fenugreek, fennel arrowroot, cardamom, cloves, & Tellicherry black pepper).  Then add about 2 tsp of minced garlic (I definitely used more, but use what you like).  I always buy the pre-chopped kind.  Then a pinch of red pepper flakes.  Add 1/2 cup of red lentils (they cook faster).  Add 2 cups of broth (veggie or chicken).  Bring all of this to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes.  Then stir in a few cups of fresh spinach until it's wilted (a minute or so).  Serve with brown rice.

Review:  The flavor was fantastic.  The brown rice gave it just enough tooth feel.  I think if I made this again I would add some roasted veggies like asparagus and carrots just to thicken it up.  It was quite good though and I'll probably make it again.