Lentil Soup

This is a very hearty and economic soup and can be easily served as a meal on its own. After being married for two years I learned that this soup was my husband's favorite. That was what my mother-in-law who is an exceptional cook told me on the phone. Two women and one man. Two women love the same man in their own ways and one of the women surely knew more about this man. The question was to ask for the recipe or not to ask for it. You know what happens next. That is our family favorite now. Lentils have a very high level of protein content. You can serve this with a lettuce salad with a simple dressing like lemon juice and olive oil.

Cooking time: about 40 minutes

6 servings

2 tablespoon oil

1,5 cup lentil

3 cups water

1,5 cup diced onion

1,5 tablespoon flour

5 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup  alphabet durum pasta or orzo

dried mint 

Wash the lentils, soak over night. Bring 3 cups water to boil, add the lentils, simmer for about 5 minutes. Drain the brownish water. Lentils double their amount after being boiled. Set aside. Dice a medium size onion. 

Saute the onion in oil on medium high heat.  Canola or sunflower oil would be fine. Add flour when onions start to change their color. Keep sauteing. In about 4 minutes the flour will be changing its color. Stirring frequently start adding water. Bring water to a boil, add salt and the lentils, simmer for about 25 minutes. Add mint and orzo or pasta of your liking into your soup (I used alphabet whole wheat durum pasta), check for doneness according to the  cooking time on the pasta package. Mint adds a distinct flavor to this soup. You can be as generous as you like. My husband and I would love 4 tablespoons of mint in this soup but our children set the limits on this. They like their soup without mint and less "watery". I  season my own bowl not the pot. You choose your battles:) Below is the version our children prefers.

No Knead Whole Wheat Bread recipe

No hurries but time for bread...

You could smell the earth in the air. A storm was coming. My mother and I were walking from school on a windy winter day.  I would usually walk from school with a friend or two but that day there was my mother with an umbrella in her hand.  Dark clouds heavy with rain were rushing. On the way we bumped into a relative of my father's who happened to invite us to her home. We would drink tea and let the storm pass.

 In a couple of minutes we were at her house for the very first time.  This was a very basic, one story dwelling surrounded by bare looking trees in a big garden. We entered the living room. A sofa against a wall, on the opposite stood a stove, a rug on the floor. The home owner lit the wood stove. The wind outside was so strong that smoke filled the room. She adjusted the vent, picked the laundry that were left on small racks above the stove and left the room. In a couple of minutes a teapot was on the stove. She also brought in a small blue plastic tub with a mixture in it. She knelt on the floor, pushed her strong fists in the mixture for some time then covered the tub with a towel and said the dough would be ready shortly.  

I lost track of time.  I was hearing the heavy rain punishing the windows. Although it was about midday it was growing dark outside. No one turned on the lights. The conversation kept on going. 

We never had a wood stove. I was mesmerized. I was sitting on the floor watching the flames dancing from the opening in the front. I was feeling the heat on my forehead. She opened a latch and pushed a pan filled with the risen dough from the plastic tub into a drawer in the stove. Some time later out came the most wonderful smell. I love butter, honey and tulum cheese with my bread. That's what I ate that stormy day.

May all stormy days end with good food and company for everyone!

School is out for a week. No classes, no morning rush, no "we are late again" worries. Time for long conversations at the table. Time for baking bread and enjoying it while it is warm. I love this recipe, simple, forgiving and versatile. I first came across the "no knead bread" recipe online a year ago, baked it  a couple of times, loved the result but did not have a chance to  experiment with different ingredients. I finally did. I did not have all purpose flour at home but had whole wheat and oat flour. My son had fever and neither my husband nor me wanted to go out for grocery shopping. Out of necessity came the no knead whole wheat bread.


No Knead Whole Wheat Bread

1 teaspoon  active dry yeast

2 cups warm water

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup oat flour

2 teaspoon salt 

1-2 tablespoon olive oil

In a large bowl mix yeast and water, wait for a couple of minutes for the yeast to dissolve (some use honey or sugar to feed the yeast but I didn't). Add flour and salt. Using a spoon give a couple of stirs. Do not over mix. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap. This will be a loose mixture. Let it rest for about 12 hours. The loose dough will rise and almost double its size. You will see air holes on the top. Oil  bread / cake pan, transfer dough to the pan, oil the top. 

Cover the top of the pan with a moist towel, let the dough rest for about an hour. Heat oven to 350F. Bake the bread for about 45 minutes or until bread looks golden brown. Let the bread rest for about 10 minutes before you devour it.

While three of us were digging in butter, cheese and honey, my dairy allergic son helped himself with some chicken sausage, olive oil and avacado.

Winter Break started with Watermelon

Winter break is here. My daughter had a play date at her friend's house today. She was about to have her watermelon when I came to pick her up. How unfair! We went to the grocery store, bought a watermelon, came home, tried to find an appealing presentation to get my food allergic, food specific, meat lover son to show some interest in eating it. Nope but sister and brother both enjoyed making shapes using cookie cutters.
Happy Winter!
P.S. Planning on buying the next watermelon in season.

Measurement and Conversion Charts

Americans typically measure ingredients by volume, while just about everyone else measures them by weight. Here is a quick summery of some of the basic cooking conversions.  At the end of this post there are links to food specific online conversion calculators. Charts.