Chickpea and Crimini Soup

Fall brings weather that naturally welcomes one of my favorite foods- soup!  Although yesterday was pretty humid, the gloomy weather made it a perfect day for soup.  See the soup and recipe at the end of this post!

This WIAW started on a pretty average note:

Old Fashioned Oats with Banana, Peanut Butter, and Honey accompanied by a cup of coffee.  While tasty and satisfying, I found myself wishing I still had a couple of these guys around:

Breakfast Egg Rolls!

I made these over the weekend, and let me tell you, the breakfast burrito has got some competition.  Click here for the recipe.

Luckily lunch involved less wishful thinking.  It was (as per usual) leftovers from the night before:

Roasted Beet and Carrot Curry.  This one is definitely a keeper!  The carrots and beets are absolutely delicious in the creamy spicy coconutty broth!  It's an unusual curry, but it definitely works.  The green bits are  raw shredded beet greens, mostly there to make the picture pretty.  Recipe coming soon!

Through out the day at work I also snacked on a pear, laughing cow swiss wedge, and some cut up carrots, celery and radishes.  Also more coffee.  Always, always, more coffee :)

Now finally on to the soup!

Chickpea and Crimini Soup

This soup is relatively simple, but incredibly deep in flavor thanks to the sauteed mushrooms and onions.   The blended chickpeas add body, and make this a very substantial soup.  This hearty vegan recipe will keep you cosy on chilly fall evenings. Recipe is slightly adapted from here.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chickpeas

About 4 cups liquid from cooked chickpeas, or water, or vegetable stock

1 tbsp olive oil

1 extra large onion, chopped (about 2.5 cups)

2 cloves garlic, minced

12 ounces mushrooms, chopped

3-4 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 vegetable bouillon cube

salt and pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne

Directions

1.  In a large pot heat the oil and cook the onions until translucent and slightly brown around the edges. Add the garlic and cook another minute or so until fragrant.  Deglaze the pan with some water and add the mushrooms and fresh thyme leaves.  Season with salt and pepper and cook for 7-8 minutes until mushrooms have lost moisture and are tender.

2.  Add the chickpeas, bouillon, bay leaf, and enough liquid to completely cover the mix.  Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer and let cook another 10 minutes.

3.  Remove pot from the heat and the bay leaf from the pot.  Allow to cool slightly and then blend to desired consistency with an immersion blender.  I left some whole chickpeas and mushroom pieces in mine for texture.  Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.

I hope you enjoyed my eats of the day.  Be sure to hop over to Peas and Crayons to see how everyone else is Fall-ing into!

Indian Red Lentil and Chickpea Stew

In today's WIAW post I mentioned that I would post a recipe of my lunch:

While the photo may not be awe inspiring, I assure you this recipe is worthy of your admiration and appetite.  It's a spicy, flavorful, and a bright way to shake off your January blues.

It was created from an amalgamation of various Indian recipes I have tried over the past couple of months.  I actually made a dish similar to this one lazy afternoon, but stupidly failed to write down my creation.  This time I made sure not to make the same mistake and took meticulous notes.

Ingredients

1 med yellow onion, diced medium

1 jalapeno, diced small (seeded if you like)

1 tbsp ginger, grated or minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp canola oil

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes

2.5 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)

1 cup red lentils

1-2 cups cooked chickpeas 

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp madras curry powder

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/8 tsp cayenne

salt to taste ( I used about 1 tsp)

Directions

1.  In a large sauce pan or deep frying pan heat up the canola oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and allow to soften slightly, then add the jalapeno and ginger.  Cook a few more minutes, until onions are soft, and add the garlic and cook an additional minute.

2.  Next add the tomatoes and their juices.  Allow the tomatoes to cook for about 5 minutes until they have released more of their juices.  Now add the chicken stock, lentils, spices, and 1/2 tsp of salt.  Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer and let cook 15-20 minutes until lentils are almost done. 

3. Add the chickpeas and simmer an additional 5-10 minutes until lentils reach desired consistency.  Salt to taste.

I served mine with brown basmati rice; it's slightly springy texture was a nice contrast to the soft lentils and chickpeas.  If you've only ever had short grain brown rice, I insist that you try one of it's long grain cousins.  I find that it is less nutty and chewy, and they're an overall more relatable replacement for white rice.

Happy hump day!

WIAW 9- Last Post of the Year!

Happy WIAW everybody!  As always thanks to the wonderful Jenn at Peas and Crayons for hosting this wonderful linkapalooza.






I've been gorging myself this holiday weekend (actually, it's kind of turned into a week long food fest), but unfortunately I didn't manage to snap many photos.  So this week I'm keeping it short and sweet with some of the good eats I did manage to make/photograph/eat.


They are all crazy delicious recipes that you have to try.  If you only make one, please let it be this:

Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Red and Brown Onions

Seriously, I could not get over how amazing these potatoes are.  I had about four cups of leftover mashed potatoes from Christmas dinner, which would have been pretty good on their own.  However, I find that reheated mashed potatoes kind of loose their sparkle, and since I'm one who can't leave well enough alone, I had to jazz them up.  It's so easy, and the results are insanely delicious.  Imagine the savory, salty, oniony goodness with the creamy buttery potatoes.  Make these.  Right now.  

Ingredients

3-4 cups mashed potatoes

1 medium brown onion

1 medium yellow onion

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

fresh thyme

garlic powder

cayenne powder

Directions

1.  Peel and cut your onions into half, then slice into thin rainbows, about 1/8 of an inch thick.  In a large skillet melt butter and oil over medium high heat, when hot add the onions and stir to coat evenly.

2.  Add salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste to the onions and let cook over medium high heat for about 15 minutes.  Lower the heat and cook an additional 5-10 minutes until thoroughly caramelized.  They will be pretty browned and very soft.

3.  Add the thyme and garlic powder to taste.  I used 3 sprigs and 1/2 tsp.  Next add the potatoes and stir until thoroughly combined.  Allow to cook until heated through. 

Buffalo Chickpea Dip

As a lover of all things 'buffalo' I often find myself faced with the problem of delicious food that is absolutely horrible for me.  For most people this is not an issue because the are sated with the occasional buffalo product at a party or potluck.  I however have to get my fix on a more regular basis.  If you find yourself in the buffalo crazed crowd, then by golly you should give me a medal.... or at least try this spread.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chickpeas

1/3 cup melted butter

2 tbsp blue cheese crumbles

7-8 tbsp Franks' Red Hot

Directions:

1.  In a small sauce pan melt the butter and add the blue cheese and hot sauce.  Stir to combine.

2.  In a food processor combine chickpeas and butter mixture.  Puree until smooth and creamy.  Add additional hot sauce if desired, and serve with celery sticks, tortilla chips, etc.

This dip tastes exactly like buffalo chicken dip (a.k.a crack-cocaine of the culinary world), with the smooth creamy texture of a fine hummus.  Give this a try, you won't regret it.

And this boys and girls is where I must end my post.  I've been a bad photographer this week, but I pledge that next year (only a few more days!!) I will make a more valiant effort to document my culinary exploits.

Have a fantastic New Years!