Curried Lentil Soup

This is my favorite curry dish because it is so quick to make, healthy, and flavorful. Also, my daughters love making and eating chapati bread, which, if you have a wheat grinder, is a simple way to add bread to a curry dish. Original recipe found in Cook's Library Vegetarian.

Ingredients:

2 T butter

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 t turmeric

1 t garam masala

1/4 t chili powder

1 t ground cumin

2 lb canned, chopped tomatoes

1 c. red lentils, washed

2 t lemon juice

2 1/2 c chicken or vegetable bouillon

1 1/4 c coconut milk

To prepare:

1. In large pot on medium low heat, melt butter and saute garlic.

2. Add spices and combine.

3. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

4. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer 25 minutes.

5. Serve with warm chapati bread or basmati rice.

Penne with Cauliflower, Pine nuts, and Raisins

This one is really good. Its one of those that makes you feel proud you made it. I didn't have saffron on hand and it was great without it. Pine nuts may be expensive but it only calls for 1/4 cup.

Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

This is a great salad for a large group. I've used it a few times and have always gotten good feedback. The dressing is very good.

Lentil Tacos

These lentils make good tacos or taco salad. These are also nice if you want to make a big batch and freeze them for later. This was originally a crock pot recipe but I changed it because lentils are so quick to cook anyway. But if you want to do it in the crockpot, you just transfer everything to the crockpot right before you add the liquid. Low for 3 hours for somewhat crunchy and 6 hours for soft lentils.

Conference Bean Dip

What an amazing General Conference we had today. We had a recipe out of the Friend they called Conference Bean Dip. Basically a 7-layer dip. It was really good. We wrapped it in tortillas for dinner and the kids loved it.

Good news! Peter Berley has two more books out that look really good. They are definitely on my to get list. The Fresh Food Fast looks like my kind of book.

Zesty Tuna Pasta Toss

Here's a quick meal. Sabrina took one look at this dish, said no and pushed it away. Aubree actually liked it (except for the green onions - we picked those out). Its always a victory when Aubree or Sabrina likes it. I always use whole grain pasta, which is surprisingly good.

Pumpkin Cookies

I was so surprised when my visiting teachers told me about this recipe. I had to repeat it back to them a couple of times because I was so shocked at the ingredients. Only 3... how cool is that? Needless to say, I have made them many times since and they are a hit! Eat 'em when they're still a little warm and they are very soft and creamy. Oops! I put cooking time as 10-12 but that was on my stone - so on a regular cookie sheet its probably 8-10.

Peanut Sauce

This is a recipe that Nate's friend (thanks Becky) told us about and we were so excited because we have always been a big fan of spicy peanut sauce dishes in the restaurants and this one hits the spot. I was also excited to find this recipe because it introduced me to a new cookbook that I had a great time experimenting with (that was when I had a bigger kitchen). The picture may not look so appetizing and sugar snap peas may not be the best combo but it was all I had on hand. Oh yeah, a tip on fresh ginger - a little bit goes a long way - I keep mine in the freezer so it stays fresh and I don't have to buy it often.

Rosemary Salmon

We have this one a lot. Its one where we don't have to do a kid version because the girls will actually eat it. Okay, here is some free advertising for PayLess: salmon is only $1.99/lb. this week!