Roasted Mushroom & Lentil Soup

1/2 cup lentils
16-20 large button mushrooms
2 bay leaves
3L water
2 tbsps olive oil
Salt
Pepper
For extra thickening of soup
1 heaping tbsp tapioca starch
2 tbsps water
In a large pot bring water to a boil. Add lentils. Remove stems of mushrooms and roughly chopping them. Add these stems to the lentil mixture and simmer at medium high heat. Lentils require 20-30 minutes to soften. Add water if required.
Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a sheet pan with olive oil. Place mushroom caps face down. Roast for 20-30 minutes till golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool and slice.
When lentils have softened add bay leaves and sliced roasted mushrooms. Simmer for 15 minutes or till the soup slightly thickens. If you like your soup more thick, mix your tapioca starch with water creating a paste. Add paste to the soup after shutting off the heat. Keep stirring to prevent clumps.

Salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

If you like creamy soup, add a splash of heavy coconut cream after thickening.

This soup recipe is entirely vegan friendly. Dairy free.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Leave me comments below to let me know how you liked it.

Happy Soup Day :)

2012/10 October: Products I've Used Up

Happy Planet essential energy fruit smoothie with Yerba Mate. This was delicious. It's an easy breakfast too. Mix one scoop of brown rice or soy protein. Give it a good whisk and voila protein shake.

GoBio Organic Berry Pudding a fruity lactose free dessert. I add mashed berries to this to make a raspberry curd. Good for toast, French toast, waffles and pancakes. Odd enough I don't eat it as a pudding.

Tazo Well~Being Tazo Rest herbal infusion. A pulling blend of rose petals, valerian root & citrusy herbs. Caffeine free. This has always been my bedtime tea and I love it.

O'Doughs Flax Buns gluten free burger buns. They don't come pre-sliced and they are frozen. Best microwaved, sliced and toasted. Delicious just the way they are. I enjoy making eggwiches with this bun.

Bacon Meatball Carbonara

Ingredients:
4 slices Freybe bacon, diced
2 eggs
12 mini meatballs (see my meatball recipe)
1 package brown rice pasta
1 tbsp butter
Salt & Pepper

Cook pasta as per directions on the back of the package. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside in colander.

In the same pot on medium high heat melt butter add bacon. Brown the bacon. Add the meatballs. Add a 1/4 cup of water to deglaze the pot.

Add cooked pasta and crack eggs over pasta. Turn heat to medium low. Stir constantly to create the creamy egg sauce.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Jack O Lantern: 2 Ways

Have you ever thought that throwing away or composting a perfectly fine pumpkin wasteful?

Have you ever wondered what you could do with the pumpkin?

Pumpkin Bisque

Peel and cube the pumpkin, lightly toss with olive oil. Roast at 400F on a lightly greased baking sheet until slightly golden.

Blend with 2-3 cups (start with 2 cups and add more as needed, this depends on how much pumpkin you have) low sodium chicken stock. Add a dollop of butter and 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt for a delicious Autumn soup. Sea Salt and Pepper to taste. Serve with some toasted pumpkin seeds on top.

Pumpkin Chickpea Lentil Stew

Peel and cube pumpkin. Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas. Soak 1/2 cup lentils for 30 minutes. Drain and rinse lentils.

In a slow cooker turned to High. Add pumpkin cubes, chickpeas, lentils, 1L low sodium chicken stock, 1 bay leaf and 1 can of cubed stew tomatoes.

Let cook for 4-5 hours on High. Sea salt and pepper to taste. Serve with garlic toast or dinner rolls.

Stuffed Mushroom Caps

30 large white button mushrooms
1 shallot
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
1 tbsp Buckwheat flour
Trim the hard ends off of the stems. Remove stems from the mushrooms. Chop the stems up along with the shallot. Sautee with olive oil until slightly browned. Add 1 tbsp buckwheat flour to thicken mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 375F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Stuff each mushroom cap with a tsp of the filling mixture. Press the mixture in lightly.
Place stuffed mushroom caps on baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until the tops are golden.
Serve when hot.

This original recipe is entirely vegetarian and vegan friendly. Add some crab meat or bacon or even ground beef for a meat lover crowd. Great. Simple. Easy Appetizer.

Thai Style Beef & Potato Stew

Ingredients:

1.5kg of cubed lean beef
1 large potato diced (in this recipe I used a yam because I was out of russets)
1 tbsp whole tricolor peppercorns
6 lime leaves sliced to thin fine strips
1" piece of galangal sliced
3 tbsp minced garlic
2 sprigs of Thai basil
2 cups beef stock
2 tbsps of EVOO

Turn the stove to Medium high heat.
In a pot place EVOO and garlic. Stir and cook till slightly golden. Add beef and brown all sides of the meat.
Deglaze the pot with stock scrapping the browned bits off the bottom for added flavour. Stir in the potato and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes and turn down the heat to Medium.

Add peppercorns, lime leaves, galangal, whole basil stalks only, reserve the leaves for later. Stir and combine with stew mixture.

Cook covered at medium heat for 45 minutes to an hour occasionally stirring. Garnish with reserved basil leaves. Serve with rice, noodles or bread.

Enjoy :)

Thanksgiving Rice Stuffing

Ingredients:

1 loaf gluten free bread - cubed

1 cup cooked brown wild rice

2 celery stalks - diced

1 carrot - peeled and diced

6 mushrooms - diced

3 sprigs of parsley - minced

1/2 white onion - diced

1 tbsp Poultry seasoning

1 cup turkey drippings or chicken stock (you my substitute with vegetable stock for vegetarians and vegans)

1 tbsp butter or margarine

Turn on the stove to medium heat. In a large pot melt the butter and sautee the onions, carrots and celery till soft. Add the mushroom and rice, mixing well. Add the stock, poultry seasoning and parsley. Bring to a simmer while stirring. Add cubed bread and continue to stir until the stuffing has formed. Shut heat off and cover the pot with a lid. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Salt & Pepper to taste.

Serve with turkey, tofurky or whatever floats your boat. I can guarantee this stuffing to be super yummy.