Meatless Mondays and Two for Tuesdays

We’ve all been hearing about “Meatless Mondays” for a while now.  It has been around since 2003 and was started at Johns Hopkins University as a means to get people to eat less meat while eating healthier one day a week.   Lots of celebs have joined this effort, from Oprah to Denise Richards, not to mention celeb chefs such as Mario Batali and Wolfgang Puck.  San Francisco even passed a resolution in 2010 to  “encourage restaurants, schools and grocery stores to offer plant-based options”* on Mondays.  So finally, here is a little blog about what I’ve been doing for Meatless Mondays.

Since it’s been cold and rainy the past few weeks I’ve been really into soups and stews, plus my daughter really likes them!  She will eat pretty much any vegetable if its in a soup!  After a catering job a few weeks back I had some cooked chick peas leftover.  I scoured my refrigerator to see what else was in there… Hmmm.. Cabbage.  Ok, I can use this!  Below is the Chickpea and Cabbage Curry that came from those two fridge items.  I served it over some nice quinoa to ‘beef” it up a bit… sorry couldn’t resist!  After my family enjoyed this on Monday night there was a good amount left.  On Tuesday it was once again raining and I needed to find something new and different to serve.  I figured by adding some meat to the stew it would be different enough that my husband (not keen on leftovers) would still eat it!  My plan worked!  So for the next couple weeks I took my Meatless Mondays and turned them into Fresh Tuesdays!  Below are two weeks worth of recipes.  I hope your family enjoys them as much as mine has!

 

French Lentil Soup

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 oz. dried porcinis, rehydrated and diced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
1 stalk green garlic, minced (2 cloves regular garlic to substitute)
2 tsp. ground fennel
1 cup dry white wine
2 cups veal, chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups water, more as needed
1 ½ cups green lentils, picked over for rocks
1 cup tomato puree
1 bay leaf
2 large sprigs of thyme
salt and pepper to taste
chile flake to taste
Greek Style yogurt for garnish

Heat a large, heavy bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven over medium high heat.  Add the olive oil, onion, carrot, celery and bell pepper with a generous pinch of salt.  Sauté, stirring occasionally until the onions are translucent, about 4 minutes.  Add the garlic and porcinis, sauté for 1 minute more.

Add the ground fennel to the onion mixture, turning the heat to high.  Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly to toast the spice.  Add the white wine, scraping down any browned bits on the bottom or side of the pot.  Turn the heat to medium and allow wine to cook down by half.  Add the stock, water and lentils.  Bring to a simmer.  Add the bay leaf and thyme, simmer for 25 minutes.  Add the tomato puree and simmer another 5 to 20 minutes, until the lentils are cooked al dente (the same texture as pasta), adding more water if the soup looks too dry.

Finish the soup with salt and pepper.  Serve with a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkle of chile flake.

Makes 2 quarts.

For Two for Tuesdays….

1/3 lb. apple wood smoked bacon
2 cups cooked wild rice

Place the bacon in the freezer for 10 minutes.  Remove the bacon from the freezer and dice.  Add the bacon to a medium sauce pan.  Cook the bacon until crispy, about  8 minutes.  Carefully drain off most of the bacon fat and add the left over Lentil Soup.  Heat over medium, adding water to loosen the soup to desired consistency.  Serve over Wild Rice.

Chick Pea and Cabbage Curry

 

3 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium yellow onions, diced
3 medium garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger
¼ – ½ jalapeno with seeds, minced
½ tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground coriander
¼ tsp. tumeric
4 cups shredded green cabbage
2 quarts water or chicken stock
2 cups chickpeas
2 cups chopped cauliflower or broccoli Romanesque
2 cups tomato puree
juice of ½ a lemon
cilantro for garnish
cooked quinoa
yogurt for garnish

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium high heat.  Add the olive oil and the onions with a pinch of salt.  Stir the onions occasionally until they become translucent, about 4 minutes.  Add the garlic, ginger and jalapeno, stir until soft, about 2 minutes more.  Add the garam masala, cumin, coriander and tumeric and allow all the spiced to toast while stirring constantly.

Add the water or chicken stock being sure to scrape up any toasted bits on the bottom of the pan.  Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low.  Add the chickpeas, cabbage, cauliflower, and tomatoes, allow the mixture to simmer for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until the chick peas are cooked through and the cabbage and cauliflower are tender.

Season with salt and pepper, add the lemon juice.

Serve over cooked quinoa with whole cilantro leaves and a tablespoon of yogurt.

Makes 3 quarts.

For Two for Tuesdays….

1/2  lb. ground lamb
1/2 cup red wine
2 tbsp. currants
2 tbsp. toasted pine nuts
2 tbsp. olive oil

Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat.  Add the olive oil and the ground lamb.  Season with a pinch of salt.  Cook, stirring occasionally until the lamb is cooked through.  Add the red wine to the pan and scrape up any toasted bits on the bottom.  Let the wine reduce by half.  Add the currants and pine nuts.   Add in some of the left over Cabbage Curry and Enjoy!

Happy Cooking Everyone!!!