Flowfit

Okay.  I’ve talked about easy before, but this soup is easy peasy!  Seriously, you can’t go wrong and it is soooo good.  With all this chilly damp, rainy weather we’ve had lately, this hit the spot nicely.

Carrot and Lentil Soup:

• 1 bag organic carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups (I used 4 palmfulls) red lentils
• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, rough chopped
• 1 carton vegetable broth (or 4 cups broth of choice)
• 3 cups water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• Sunflower Kitchen “Zest-Oh Pesto” Cilantro Pesto to garnish
• 4 slices stale country style bread for croutons (optional)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

In your favorite soup pot, saute onions and carrots with a good sprinkling of sea salt and pepper until onions start to turn colour and get soft – about 5 minutes.  Add in garlic, cumin, bay leaf and lentils and saute for another 2minutes.  Add in broth and water.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium low and cook uncovered for about 20-30 minutes.  Basically until carrots are cooked through and lentils are soft enough to squish with a fork against side of pot.

Get out your handy dandy hand held mixer (if using a blender to do this part, make sure you let it cool down a bit first), remove bay leaf and puree entire mixture until smooth.  Thin with water or broth to taste.  I like mine thick, but thin enough to fall off spoon.

Serve topped with garlic croutons and a few dribbles of Cilantro pesto.  Amazingly delicious!

Quick Garlic Croutons:

Simply cut stale bread (italian loaf or french loaf works best) into thick pieces.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with your favorite herb mixture (I used provincial herbs), sea salt and garlic.  Rub into bread.  Broil for about 30-45 seconds per side – watch them, they burn QUICKLY!  Remove from oven let cool for a few minutes and cut into bite sized pieces.  Awesome in salads, soups or just to munch on.

YUM!

Did you know you need to keep nuts and seeds in the freezer?

Neither did I!

In a nutrtition seminar last night, we learned that nuts AND seeds go rancid VERY quickly!  Not surprising, but exactly HOW quickly they turn was!  Just blending them in with your smoothies is enough to start them on their way to rancidity….. unless you freeze them.

Being the need to know kinda girl I am, I started researching, and sure enough it’s true!! (not that I doubted you Big Dawg).  Not only nuts and seeds, but flours as well should be kept in the freezer.

Because of their high fat content, many seeds, nuts, and flours, can go rancid quickly, especially at room temperature. Even more so if they are chopped or ground or blended.

Freezing them makes them last longer.

Enter mason jars….

I love mason jars… especially the vintage ones with the glass lid inserts.  You can either get a new box of mason jars for about $20.00 or go to your local vintage shops or garage sales to hunt for them and pay only a few cents.  I love the trill of a good hunt and finding exactly what I was looking for – the season is upon us (yay!). How environmentally friendly to use your handy (and free of the icky chemicals in plastic) storage containers for your pretty little nuts and seeds.

LOVE it!

When you are ready to eat your nuts (or seeds) or use them in baking, there is no need to thaw.  Personally however, I like my nuts gently roasted to give them that extra little crunch and bring out that toasty flavour.  And since I don’t buy salted nuts, adding a bit of avocado oil and sea salt (even some cumin or chili powder for excitement) makes a tasty treat.

YUM!

AND!!  Since I was reorganizing my pantry anyway, my little line up of mason jars were not only filled with nuts and seeds, but with dried coconut, lentils, beans and wild rice.  Why not, right?

One of the questions I am frequently asked is, “how can I get more protein into my vegetarian or vegan diet”?  Although lentils and legumes/beans are a great choice, it can get a little tiring.  Quinoa on the other hand can be used in so many forms!  They even make a quinoa pasta!!

I love quinoa and how nutty it tastes.  The added bonus for many, especially vegetarians and vegans is quinoa’s high protein value!  This product has an added benefit of four other natural good for you grains including another protein power house – lentils.

And they are all gluten free!

GoGo Quinoa Granissimo 5 Grain has only 5 ingredients on the label – Organic black quinoa royal, organic millet, organic amaranth, organic red lentils and organic long grain brown rice.  Each 100g serving has 15g of protein!  Not too shabby for a plant based protein source eh?!

Quinoa Pilaf:

• 1 cup GoGo Quinoa Granissimo 5 grain quinoa mix
• 2 3/4 cups water or broth (use boullion if using water)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, finely chopped
• extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups spinach
• Sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Saute garlic, carrots, onion and celery in olive oil in saute pan on medium for about 2 minutes.  Add broth or water and the cup of quinoa mix.  Bring to a boil, stir, reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes (most of liquid should be absorbed).  Add spinach, remove from heat and let stand, covered for 5-10 minutes.

Serve with Fish and Parsnip chips or use as a side to your favorite main.

YUM!

GoGo Quinoa products are available at Marilou’s Market in Burlington.

Don’t let the name fool you… this side is amazingly flavourful and has a very unique texture. It goes great with grilled fish (salmon especially) and is really easy to prepare.
In my quest to find vegetarian/vegan friendly meals more often, I’ve been experimenting with lentils – they are literally packed with protein, dietary fibre, folate, iron and vitamin B1. Not only do lentils help lower cholesterol, they are of special benefit in managing blood sugar disorders since their fibre content is so high.
Lentils fill you up – not out!

Dinner is served! YUM!

Vegetarian Barley and Lentil Hash:

• 1 cup pot barley
• 1 cup split red lentils
• 1 sweet potato (peeled and diced)
• 1 yellow onion (diced)
• 1 zucchini (diced)
• 1 bunch (good handful) kale
• 6 cups water
• 1 tbsp “Vegeta” food seasoning (found in most European markets) – replace with salted seasoning of choice
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp Caribbean style curry powder
• 1 lime, juiced and rinds put in for cooking
• 1 trimmed stalk of lemon grass

Bring water, seasoning, lemon grass, lime juice and rind to a boil. Add barley and cook for 10 minutes. Add lentils, cumin and kale and continue cooking. While Barley and lentils are cooking, sauté sweet potato dice and onion in sauté pan with curry. Sauté for approximately 5 minutes over medium heat until potatoes are browned. Add to barley and lentil mixture. Cover and continue to cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes. Check for doneness and to see if water has evaporated. If too watery, remove lid and continue to cook on medium low until it thickens. Remove lemon grass and lime before serving.

YUM!

Serve under fish of choice. Try with Maple Soy Glazed Salmon. Add fresh organic greens and The BEST EVER Lemony Dressing. HOO-HA!

Red Split Lentils

TIPS – The lentils are dry and come in a bag. Buy “split” lentils. The red colour cooks into a mellow yellow.