Easy as Pie Test Kitchen

Warm tummy

It's been unusually rainy and could here in southern California, and I'm trying to be thorough about using the food I have before I make another big trip to the store. So, we've been eating a lot of soup. Nothing else can quite give you that same toasty-from-the inside feeling, can it?

One of my favorite restaurants is a Lebanese place. We go there so often we are now good friends with the owner, and he was kind enough to share his secret to their delicious lentil soup. Well, okay, he didn't so much share the recipe as he said it's a matter of putting some onions and lentils in a pot, boiling them, and adding lemon juice. Turns out that's actually about all there is to it. If only the garlic sauce he serves was so easy to reproduce!

Mediterranean Lentil Soup ($5.20)

3 tablespoons oil
1/2 yellow onion ($.50)
1 tablespoon minced garlic ($.10)
1 lb red lentils ($1)
3 cups chicken broth ($3, or free if you make your own)
3 cups water
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 cup lemon juice ($.50)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley ($.10)

Saute the garlic and onion in oil over medium high heat until onions are getting tender. Add the lentils, chicken broth, water, cumin, lemon juice, and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer until lentils soften and come apart. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle parsley on the top.

Busy doing Christmas shopping? Try this recipe.

Reader Jacob--who cannot eat wheat, sugar or any sweeteners, or preservatives-- shared this recipe with me over email. I added a little cilantro, corn, and tomatoes, plus some vegan mayo to get what you see in the photo, but it's a similar idea. Very easy. Very tasty. For a full meal, just add some meat. Thanks, Jacob!

1 large onion

1 large green bell pepper

1 large red bell pepper

4 cloves garlic

1 chili pepper

1 lime

1 can black beans (ingredients of black beans, water and salt only)

onion powder

garlic powder

sea salt

pepper

¼ cup olive oil

 Chop onions and bell peppers in any size you want.  Put in a large bowl.  Chop garlic and chili pepper and add to bowl.  Squeeze lime juice into mixture.  Add onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt and pepper to taste.  Mix and let stand 30 minutes.

Add olive oil to a pan.  Heat to med-high.  Add mixture and cook until vegetables are soft.  Drain and rinse can of black beans and add to pan.  Cook for another 5 minutes.  Serve hot.

Extreme leftovers

I sometimes write about meals I've made with week-old vegetables. It's time for me to come clean. Sometimes they're even older than that. I have a personal rule that I think of as the "Little House on the Prairie Rule." If I can remember (or imagine) Laura Ingalls Wilder or her sister Mary fetching a piece of food from the root cellar in the winter, I figure it's probably okay to let it age awhile before I cook it.

Earlier this week, it was time to break out the butternut squash I bought in early September. (I won't say how early in September. I have to preserve SOME dignity, folks!) I bought it to make soup, but I made a lot of soup in September. In October, I've just been tired, and I've been nuking spaghetti squash and eating Jack-in-the-Box salad instead. (More on nuking spaghetti squash later. It's great.) I was finally feeling better, and up to the challenge of cutting up squash. Maybe aging helps, because it actually wasn't all that hard to cut. Here's the squash before I prepared it. It has a little character from being on my counter for, um, awhile:

I cut it open, and it seemed a little dry but mostly okay.

To roast:

I cut it in 1" cubes, put them on foil on a baking sheet, sprayed with cooking spray, and roasted at 450 for 25 minutes.

Then I whisked up a quick mustard sauce:

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

And drizzled it over the top. I love mustard with anything sweet.

It was not dry or tough or rotten tasting. In fact, it was very good. So eat old squash without (too much) fear, faithful readers!

"Whoopy once, whoopy twice, whoopy chicken soup with rice"

In honor of the new "Where the Wild Things Are" movie (that I haven't seen yet), here's a recipe inspired by one of Maurice Sendak's lesser known books, "Chicken Soup with Rice". The book is a poem about eating chicken soup every month of the year. October ends with, "Whoopy once. Whoopy twice. Whoopy chicken soup with rice."

Besides having Sendak on the brain, I wanted to make something for my burly Alaskan husband who was sick with the flu. What better remedy than chicken soup? I like my soup thick, so you are welcome to add more water or broth if you prefer yours to actually be soupy. I used red wine, which gave it a nice fall kick and also a neat purplish color.

 
Chicken soup with rice ($7.24)

1 1/2 cups rice (I used a wild rice mix from Trader Joe's, but I don't remember how much it cost. $.75 for everyday grocery store rice)
2 large carrots, sliced ($.50)
2 stalks celery, sliced ($.50)
1 14.5-ounce can tomatoes ($1.49)
4 cups broth ($2)
2 cups red wine ($1 from Trader Joe's)
2 cups pieces of chicken ($1)
3 tablespoons dried parsley
salt and pepper

Put all ingredients in a crock pot and heat on high 4-6 hours. Or, if the chicken is already cooked, just nuke it until it's hot. Whoopy twice and enjoy. 4-6 servings.

Yam Shepherd's Pie

I was going to use these yams to make soup, but I've been making a lot of soup lately and I'm a little tired of it. This is easier and sticks to your ribs a little more. :)

Yam Shepherd's Pie--$7.13

2 lbs. yams, cooked and mashed ($2.40) or 1 can ($3.55)

1 lb. ground beef ($2.99)

1 onion ($.74)

1 lb. frozen mixed vegetables ($1)

Brown the ground beef in a large skillet. Once it's browned, remove to a small casserole dish, leaving some of the grease in the pan. Add the onions and vegetables to the skillet and heat, stirring periodically, until the vegetables are heated through and the onions start to brown. Add to the casserole and mix with the meat. Spoon the potatoes evenly over the top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat the pie under a broiler until it is a little crisp and browned on the top.

I'm not obsessed with pumpkin, really...

...okay, maybe just a little. I used to love pumpkin flavored chai lattes and pumpkin beer around this time of year. Just because those days are over, though, does not mean I can't enjoy pumpkin-flavored goodness. This risotto is actually healthier than the kind with cheese, and it has a great fall kick! And, incidentally, it is easy and inexpensive (even with the organic pumpkin!) I made it for about $7.61, not counting pantry items. I'm sure someone who is better at clipping coupons and looking for sales than I am could probably even make this for a lot less than that.

Pumpkin Risotto

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 white or yellow onion, chopped ($.75)
2 cups rice ($1.50)
1 cup wine (I use $2 wine from Trader Joe's, so about $.50)
1 can (15-ounce)  pumpkin purée ($2.36)
5 cups stock/broth ($2.50)
1 teaspoon nutmeg
6 pistachios, (optional)
3 cloves, (optional)

Heat the oil in a wide, large sauce pan over medium-high heat. Saute onions for 2 minutes. Add rice. Cook and stir for about a minute. Add wine. Cook and stir until wine is absorbed. Add 2 cups stock. Cover and allow to simmer until liquid is absorbed. Continue adding stock 1/2 cup at a time, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid before adding more. Pumpkin with final 1/2 cup of stock. Stir and cook until liquid is absorbed. Add nutmeg.

Grind the pistachios and cloves in a food processor. Stir into risotto. Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.

Sausage & Asparagus--Quick & Easy

This is becoming a new favorite at our house. Basically, cut up some asparagus ($3), cut up some chicken sausage (half a package--$2.50), saute them together in a pan with a little oil and garlic. Add some halved cherry tomatoes ($1.50) or cannellini beans ($1.25) and heat for another two minutes. You can serve it by itself or over rice or pasta. And, of course, make sure to read the sausage ingredients before you buy. Weird things can lurk in sausage, but it's not too difficult to avoid allergens if you're careful. So, here you are, for about $7 total and almost no effort:

 

With tomatoes...
 

With cannellini beans...

Celebrate Fall with Sausage & Apples

It may not feel like it, but Fall will officially be here Tuesday. Besides, I couldn't wait to get started on some of my favorite fall recipes. Here's one that my mom used to make when I was growing up. We all loved it, and I'm guessing that made my mom pretty happy because it's extremely easy, not to mention pretty cheap. It's kind of a breakfasty meal because of the syrup and sausage, but one of the homiest dinners is breakfast for dinner, right?

Baked Apples with Sausage Links

8 apples, large, baking apples preferable
8 sausage links
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup apple juice

Heat your oven to 400. Core the apples. Put sausage links through the apple cores and set them in a glass baking or casserole dish. Mix syrup and apple juice and pour over the tops of the apples. Bake uncovered about 45 minutes, spooning the syrup and juice mixture over the tops of the apples every so often. Serve hot.