Kidney Bean Piquant Pepper Beet Soup & Whole Grain Rice

Kidney Bean Piquant Pepper Beet Soup flickr pics

Kidney Bean Piquant Pepper Beet Soup & Whole Grain Rice

Cumin, paprika, cayenne, turmeric, sea salt, ground pepper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Red Lentil Vegetarian Soup – New Place Starting from Scratch

Starting from scratch in a new place without furniture and the first use of my new used kitchenware that I acquired through a local online buyers and sellers market http://offerup.com I was able to obtain these minimal pots and pans in reasonably good condition – for $20 bucks – to cook my first meal. What a deal!

Just what I needed, some used and in good condition pots & pans

Here are the pics of the ingredients I used to create the red lentil soup with vegetables and spices

And here is the audio podcast itself (which unfortunately takes you away from the pictures, which follow the same storyline). I did this on the fly without scripting it. The peppers which I hadn’t known the name of are habanero (that look like mini orange tomatoes) and I also used the dark green Jalapeño peppers.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZpcfKrrvwFUdgJzNJrpazbf_9ovCB6vO/view?usp=sharing

olive oil, sea salt, ground pepper, paprika, cumin, turmeric, onion, bell pepper, habanero and jalapeno peppers

I started my new kitchen with purchasing a sea salt and pepper grinder, and adding some spices; cumin, paprika, turmeric

I brought the red lentils to a boil, then simmered on low, adding salt, pepper and the various vegetables.

In a separate pan, I started to sauté onions on low heat, adding the spices, and then gradually each of the additional ingredients to that.

sauté onions adding the spices immediately to this low heat with olive oil

What I had not mentioned in the audio is that I learned from one of my hosts in Montpellier, France this last year about the benefits of combining beans and grains. This article http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/120914p36.shtml explains why historically, beans and grains have been combined. Various cultures already recognized the essential benefits of doing so. By combining these foods, one can source all of the necessary amino acids to derive all of the nutritional benefits of the two together. http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/benefits-combining-beans-grains-2574.html

As I explain in the audio, after I’ve sautéd the onions, mushrooms, peppers and spices, I add it to the separately cooking lentils and vegetables.

This article lists the eight essential amino acids. https://www.livestrong.com/article/351077-the-protein-in-rice-beans/ mentioning that “Beans and other legumes — also known as pulses — are nutritional complements to rice and help to complete its amino acid profile. It is not necessary to combine complementary proteins at the same meal. Just be sure to eat a variety of proteins sources throughout the day.”

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1U_vQdzFMfFCvNzLcGy1XTPXpqRZ1iwMp

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U_vQdzFMfFCvNzLcGy1XTPXpqRZ1iwMp/view?usp=sharing

Spanish Tortilla Tapas Spinoff

Here’s the audio podcast of last night’s meal: a Spanish tortilla tapas spinoff

flickr link to pics of the Spanish Tortillas Tapas spinoff in the making

I went through the whole process of making a Spanish tortilla, except without the added egg & milk mixture at the end. I ate it instead in bites together with pasta.

roasting_sweet_bell_peppers

dish_before_tuna_cheese_peppsers

final_dish Spanish tortilla without the egg with walnuts, sharp cheddar, cream cheese, tuna and peppers

I added to the sliced potatoes, onion, garlic, cayenne pepper, (ground pepper and sea salt to every new layer added), fresh mushrooms, fresh chopped tomato. And finally after flipping the whole layered potato dish, I added walnuts, a can of tuna, chopped sharp cheddar cheese, spoons of Greek cream cheese yogurt, and topped it with the roasted yellow, red and orange sweet peppers.

I ate the meal with my garlic toast, in which the bread soaked up the excess tomato juice, added chopped garlic, roasted, then poured olive oil over the piece of garlic toast.

cayenne pepper and cinnamon chocolate_double_boiler

The semi-sweet baking chocolate melted in the double boiler with cinnamon and cayenne pepper, was the desert.

Delicious, medicinal food at it’s best!

Kale Stuffed Portobello Mushroom and More

Kale stuffed Portabella Mushroom, Pork chops, Kale Salad with grated carrots and red beets, sprinkled with walnuts blue cheese with a homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette

The ingredient that went into everything was garlic! The word of the podcast is ample!

Here’s the link to the podcast describing the preparation.

Thyme accompanied the stuffing for the Portobello mushroom and was tossed onto the Pork chop.

Here are the pics, in order of progression of cooking.

shot of pics for the Stuffed Portobello Mushroom and More

I loosely followed this recipe, frankly, only the marinade, and the baking temperature and time of 15 minutes.

Enjoy! It’s delicious AND good for you!

Curried Yellow Split Pea Soup

Here’s the link to the podcast for Curried Yellow Split Pea Soup.

The few pictures at the end with the crushed chili peppers in the pan and the semi-sweet baking chocolate, is turning out to be my almost nightly desert. I play around with different concoctions of chili, paprika, cayenne, cinnamon, all tossed in with the chocolate, which I heat in that little pan (double boiler style) by letting it slowly heat up by resting on the surface of hot water. I recently saw the movie ‘Chocolat’ again, which I’m sure is what instigated me to experiment with creating my own chili, spices and chocolate combinations. It tastes great and is good for you (dark chocolate is better – and adding spices is best !-)

curried yellow split pea soup step by step pics