Brown Rice, Lentil and Spinach Soup

Even though I live in the lentil capital of the world, I never cooked with lentils until a few weeks ago!  While I was browsing the Saveur magazine, one recipe looked really good.

The serving size is six.  Since I was not sure how the soup would turn out good, I decided to try with a smaller portion to reduce the risk of waisting the ingredients. 

Here is the recipe.

I kept the original amount for the vegetables (onion, carrots and celery)

INGREDIENTS

½ lb. sweet Italian sausage   → 1/4 lb.
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil  → 1 tablespoon
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. cumin seeds       → 1/2 teaspoon
½ tsp. dried thyme      → 1/4 teaspoon
1 dried chile de árbol   → I did not have it 
12 cups chicken broth  → I did not have it , I added 4 cups of water instead of 6 cups
1 cup long-grain brown rice, rinsed  → 1/2 cup short-grain brown rice (I didn't have long-grain kind)
¾ cup brown lentils, rinsed → 3/8 cup brown lentils
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ lb. spinach, coarsely chopped


It was super easy to cook!  It was very hearty soup.  I will make it again (and again) for sure.

Granola Bars

I was looking for a recipe for granola bars, and found this recipe.

When I cook or bake, I do not follow to a tee.  As soon as I saw the list of ingredients, I decided to omit the brown sugar.  As I consume very little sugar, my tongue does not handle sweet stuff very well.

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ                           → Replaced with ground flaxseed
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour                      → 1/4 cup instead
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt                    → 1 pinch instead
1/2 cup honey                                    → 1/3 cup instead
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil                          → 1/3 cup oil plus 1/3 applesauce instead
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried sour cherries, chopped
                                                     → 1/2 cup of dried fruits (I like to use dried cranberries or raisins)
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips             → 1/4 cup or omit
3/4 cup slivered almonds                   → 1/4 cup nuts (I have tried with unsalted cashew nuts)

Serving size 16 bars

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with parchment paper.

 

2. Add all dry ingredients (oats, flour, cinnamon, ground flaxseed and salt) in a bowl.

3. Measure wet ingredients (oil, honey, applesauce, vanilla and egg).  Note: If you do not have applesauce on hand, you may use 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup honey.

Mix all wet ingredients well.

4. Pour the wet ingredient mixture to the bowl. Mix well.

My little helper was a great help! 

5. Add nuts, dried fruits and chocolate chips.  Mix well.

6. Press the mixture to the pan.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes in a 350F oven.

7. Cool for 10 minutes and cut into pieces. 

 

Update (March 24, 2013):

• Baking in a 9x9" pan makes a thicker bars. 
• Coconut, Chocolate & Almonds: Yummy!  I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil.  I omitted vanilla.  

Applesauce

We bought 50 lbs. of apples in Hood River, Oregon at the end of the year 2012. As I often substitute applesauce for oil and sugar, I wanted to try making apple sauce!

We visited Kiyokawa Family Orchards. They had some rare apple.  The lowest price was 39cents per pound!  We should have bought more.

 

I used a few different kinds of apples for the applesauce.

 

 First, I pealed apples and chopped them.

 

Next, I cooked them in my pot.  Finally, I mushed the cooked apples.

The whole process took some time, but it was easier than I had thought. I froze half in a ziplock bag, and I canned the other half.