Lentil And Potato Casserole

Total Time: 2 hrs Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 200 g dried brown lentils
• 3 medium fresh fennel bulbs, quartered
• cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 large waxy potatoes, diced
• 1 tablespoon italian herb seasoning
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 (425 g) can whole tomatoes
• 1 cup vegetable stock

Recipe

• 1 soak lentils in a bowl of cold water for at least 30 minutes.
• 2 drain water and cook lentils for 20 minutes in boiling water.
• 3 drain lentils and put aside.
• 4 place fennel on a baking tray and spray with cooking spray and bake in a moderate oven 180 degrees for 20 minutes or until softly roasted.
• 5 sauté onions in the oil until transparent.
• 6 add the potatoes, tomato paste and herbs and sauté for 3 minutes.
• 7 add the tomatoes, lentils and stock and cook a further 10 minutes.
• 8 transfer to a casserole dish and place the roasted fennel just under the surface.
• 9 bake in a moderate oven 180 degrees for 30 minutes.
• 10 serve with crusty bread or brown rice for a hearty meal of as a side to a piece of steak or chicken.
• 11 note: cooking time can be reduced by using canned lentils.

Low-fat Creamy Green Chile Soup (high Fiber)

Total Time: 20 mins Preparation Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon reduced-calorie margarine
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granule
• 2 cups water, hot
• 2 cups skim milk
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper, ground
• 2 (4 ounce) cans green chilies, chopped, drained
• 8 ounces anaheim chilies, chopped and roasted
• 1 1/2 ounces low-fat cheddar cheese

Recipe

• 1 in a 3 quart casserole combine onion, celery, garlic and margarine and cover with heavy-duty plastic wrap.
• 2 microwave at high for 3 to 4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.
• 3 add flour; stir well.
• 4 dissolve bouillon in hot water.
• 5 gradually add bouillon, milk, chili powder and pepper to mixture and stir well.
• 6 microwave at high for 8 to 10 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring every 3 minutes.
• 7 stir in chiles and microwave at high for 1 minute. stir well before serving.
• 8 to serve: ladle soup into individual serving bowl and top each bowl with 1 tablespoon cheese. serve immediately.
• 9 makes 6 (1-cup) servings makes 4 servings.

Moroccan Couscous And Smokey-paprika Honey Roasted Carrot Salad

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 lb carrot (cut on the diagonal in 1/2' pieces)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon sweet smokey paprika
• 1 (4 ounce) package feta cheese (crumbled) or 1 (4 ounce) package goat cheese (crumbled)
• 8 -10 large medjool dates (seeds removed and quartered on the long axis)
• 1 (14 ounce) can garbanzo beans (drained)
• 1 cup couscous
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable stock
• 1 lemon (reserved for juice)
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon black sesame seed
• 3/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves (chopped)
• sea salt
• black pepper

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 375°f place the carrots, honey, cinnamon, sweet-smokey paprika and olive oil in a cake pan and mix well so all the carrots are coated with the spice/liquid mixture. cook in the oven for 20 minutes, stir in garbanzo beans and cook an additional 5 minutes.
• 2 while the carrots are roasting, prepare the couscous by adding to the boiling hot vegetable stock. stir well and fluff after about 15 minutes.
• 3 right before the carrots are done roast the sesame seeds quickly in a frying pan. be careful they don't burn!
• 4 combine the carrots and couscous, lemon juice, date quarters, toasted sesame seeds and crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese and season with the sea salt and pepper to taste. after seasoned just right, add in the cilantro and serve in a bowl warm.

Lentil And Red Pepper Soup

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 12 ounces hot italian sausage
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onions
• 1 1/2 cups chopped celery
• 1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 12 ounces roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
• 1 1/2 cups lentils
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 14 1/2 ounces diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves

Recipe

• 1 cook sausage (casing removed) in olive oil in large pan over medium high heat.
• 2 add onions, celery, and carrots and cook until tender, add garlic.
• 3 add remaining ingredients bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes or until lentils are tender.

Perfect Roasted Chicken And Root Vegetables

Total Time: 2 hrs 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut into thirds
• 1 celery rib, cut into thirds
• 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into half
• 1 (3 1/2-4 lb) whole chickens, rinsed and patted dry
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• pepper
• 1 lemon, halved
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 1/2 cup dry wine
• 6 garlic cloves, smashed, roughly chopped
• 4 sprigs rosemary, roughly chopped, substitute dried
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup dry wine
• 1 -2 tablespoon cornstarch flour
• 2 -3 carrots, large, peeled and cut into 3rds
• 2 parsnips, large, peeled and cut into 3rds
• 2 onions, large, peeled, cut into thick slices
• 2 -3 tablespoons olive oil
• kosher salt or sea salt

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 500°f.
• 2 you will need a 9 x 13-inch roasting pan with rack. place roaster on the bottom most oven rack. reserve the top rack for the roasted root vegetables.
• 3 season the chicken both inside and out with the kosher salt and pepper.
• 4 in a small bowl, combine the garlic, rosemary, olive oil and butter to make a paste.
• 5 rub the chicken both inside and out with the garlic rosemary blend. place chicken in the roasting pan on a rack to raise it out of the fatty drippings.
• 6 pour 1 c water into the roasting pan, note: watch to refill during first 30 minutes of roasting.
• 7 squeeze the lemon halves over the chicken and place the rinds inside the cavity.
• 8 place the bay leaves, 1 carrot halved, 1 stalk of celery halved and 1/2 onion in the cavity.
• 9 pour 1/2 cup of wine inside the cavity.
• 10 place the pan in the oven and roast the chicken uncovered at 500° for 30 minutes. add water to the bottom of the roasting pan as needed. drippings will burn & smoke!
• 11 in the mean time, prepare: roasted root vegetables:.
• 12 combine root vegetables with olive oil, spread on a baking sheet, sprinkle wit salt and bake until chicken is done. they will be carmalized on the bottom.
• 13 reduce the oven temperature to 350°, cover with foil tent and continue baking until the juices run clear. to test this, insert a thermometer in the thickest part of a breast meat. it should register at 160 degrees internal temperature.
• 14 remove the chicken from the oven and allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before carving. cover with a foil tent until ready to carve & serve.
• 15 pour off excess fat from pan and return to heat. whisk in 1 t flour or cornstarch, chicken stock, wine, scraping up the bits on the bottom of pan. bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. reduce gravy by half, until thickened. strain if necessary.
• 16 serve chicken with mashed potatoes & gravy on the side.

Cucumber Raita

Total Time: 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped plus sprig for garnish
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, roasted in dry skillet until you can smell it
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt
• pepper

Recipe

• 1 mix the yogurt and sour cream together. add all the other ingredients and mix. cover and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Ginger Honey Chicken Stir Fry

Total Time: 19 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 9 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 2
• 20 -40 chicken pieces (see chinese chicken nuggets)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sake
• 1/2 tablespoon sesame seed oil
• 1 meyer lemon, juice of
• 2 teaspoons washed raw sugar
• 2 -4 garlic cloves, micro grated
• 2 -4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 inch frozen ginger, mirco grated
• 1/2 inch frozen ginger, mirco grated
• 2 -4 green onions, chopped whites
• 1/2 large orange bell pepper
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil

Recipe

• 1 combine the honey, teriyaki, vinegar, sake, sesame oil, juice from the meyer lemon, sugar, grated garlic and 1 inch grated ginger in a bowl. mix thouroughly.
• 2 heat the peanut oil in a wok on medium high. add the onions and reduce the heat to medium. cook for a minute and add the chopped garlic and 1/2 inch ginger. cook for 2 minutes and then add the colored bell pepper and cook for another 2 minutes.
• 3 next increase the heat to med. high and stir fry for another minute.
• 4 now add the chicken pieces and stir fry for another minute. increase the heat to high and then add the honey sauce. cook for another minute or two.
• 5 add the chopped onion greens to the dish. serve hot from the wok .
• 6 serve over rice. sprinkle roasted sesame seeds over serving.