Black lentil and spicy Italian chicken sausage soup

Between all the stuffing, au gratin potatoes, cookies, and pie, we must take a break. A small break, albeit, but a break none the less. I don't want to scare you away by calling this dish clean eating. I figured you already are a little less than enchanted by the thought of eating lentil soup, but this dish is darn good. You will look at the simple ingredients and you may not believe it but give it a go. 

The parsnips, carrots, celery, and onions up the flavor of the broth. Use a chicken sausage you really like. That's part of the success here, good chicken sausage. This meal is healthy and good. So so good. In fact, Blake and I ate lentil soup at one of our favorite restaurants in town last night and we thought this recipe was better. We may or may not have served this with a big chunk of crusty bread. We all have our limits. 

Black lentil and spicy Italian chicken sausage soup

Serves 6, adapted from Bon Appetit 

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 pound cooked spicy Italian chicken sausage, cut into 1/2" rounds 

1 large onion, chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

2 large parsnips, peeled and chopped 

2 celery stick, chopped 

2 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning 

1 pound black lentils

3 quarts chicken broth

4 cups of spinach 

In a large pot over medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon oil. Once oil is warm, cook sausage until browned. Transfer sausage to a plate. 

Add last tablespoon of oil to the pot. Add onion, carrots, parsnips, celery, and Italian seasoning to the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften, 7-8 minutes.

Add lentils and stir to coat. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. 

Add sausage back into the soup along with the spinach. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  

Banana bran muffins

I'm reading Bob Dylan's Chronicles right now. He has a brilliant mind. It's like going down the rabbit hole of an endless and interesting train of thoughts. One minute he is ruminating on how little he knows about the Civil War and two sentences later he is talking about Tolstoy and Pushkin and you are wondering how those topics connect so you just hang on for the ride.

I especially enjoyed his reflection on how he came to write his own songs. In Dylan's words, "I couldn't have come up with anything comparable or halfway close to the folk song lyrics I was singing to define the way I felt about the world. I guess it happens to you by degrees. You don't just wake up one day and decide that you need to write songs, especially if you're a singer who has plenty them and you're learning more every day. Opportunities may come along for you to convert something-something that exists into something that didn't yet. That might be the beginning of it."

I like this because I love to write and the way Dylan speaks to writing songs is how I feel about writing in general. Writing is an opportunity for me to express my thoughts about the world in small doses daily. It's a part of the reason I started this space on my favorite topic, food.

Which means my train of thought for the day went something like this: Dylan's ruminations, love of writing, food is great, breakfast muffins, need to use old bananas, love bran muffins, what about breakfast banana bran muffins? See how we got here?

Muffins! You all know how I feel about muffins. I especially love bran muffins. They are nutty, hearty, and full of fiber. I also happen to love banana muffins. Banana adds sweetness without sugar. These muffins were a perfect marriage. I feel good about eating them in the morning. As with all muffins, these are easy to make! Easy, I tell you! You are 30 minutes away from enjoying warm homemade muffins start to finish. Do it on Sunday and enjoy them the rest of the week.

Banana bran muffins
Adapted from my favorite Cook's Illustrated bran muffins, makes 12

2 1/4 cups bran cereal
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 3/4 cups 2% greek yogurt
3 ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a large muffin tin with nonstick spray.

In a food processor or blender, add a cup of the bran cereal and pulse until powder.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cup of bran cereal you just processed with wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, molasses, and vanilla extract until combined. Add melted butter and yogurt and whisk until combined. Add bananas and use a potato masher to mash until mostly smooth (a few banana lumps don't matter). With a spatula, stir in remaining bran cereal.

Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with a spatula until just combined. Distribute batter in muffin cups. Bake 14-18 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Curry sweet potato chicken noodle soup

El Nino has yet to impress me. I find myself possibly, in the very slightest of ways, wanting snow. I'm sure I will get over this small desire soon enough. Snow will anger me with its wanton ways and I will hope to never seen it again. But for now I can't fight the urge to watch it fall outside my window cup of hot chocolate in hand.

Even without the snow, my food cravings have completely shifted. So when the weather man said 6" of snow would fall this week and it didn't, I still wanted soup. Noodle soup. I also happen to be in possession right now of 6 tons of potatoes, root vegetables, and winter squash. This year we elected to extend our farm share through the winter. I love it. I really do. It matters where your food comes from, how it is grown, and who grows it. Now seven months a year I know exactly where my food comes from. I visit the farm every Wednesday to pick up a bounty. I will be making 100 varieties of pumpkin and butternut squash soup, bread, and pasta until February and I will enjoy every moment of it.

This soup was the perfect antidote to my need for something warming and used up some of my large supply of potatoes. The curry gives it all the kinds of warming spices you are wanting this time of year. The coconut milk gives it a little richness without the addition of dairy. Snow or not it's deeply satisfying.

Curry sweet potato chicken noodle soup
Adapted from Bon Appetit, serves 6

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons, minced and peeled ginger
2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste, found in the Asian aisle of your grocery store
1 tablespoon garlic chile paste, also found in the Asian aisle
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 14 ounce cans light coconut milk
5 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons fish sauce (Asian aisle)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups sweet potatoes, chopped into 1/2" cubes
1 pound dried pad thai rice noodles (Asian aisle)
3/4 pound chicken breast, cut into 1" cubes
1/4 cup cilantro
1 lime, cut into wedges

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add onion, garlic, jalapeno, and ginger. Cook stirring occasionally until the onion is translucent, 7-8 minutes. Add in curry paste, garlic chile paste, and curry powder and stir until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add in coconut milk, chicken stock, fish sauce, and sugar. Bring to a simmer and then turn to low to keep warm while you prepare the sweet potatoes and noodles.

Bring water to boil in a large sauce pan. Add sweet potatoes and boil until slightly softened, 7-8 minutes. Remove sweet potatoes with a slotted spoon and put on a plate to reserve for later. Use the water you boiled the sweet potatoes in to cook the rice noodles according to package directions.

Increase the heat on the stock to medium and bring to a simmer. Add chicken and cook 10-15 minutes until cooked through. Turn off heat and add back in sweet potatoes.

Place rice noodles in individual bowls, pour broth over the top, and serve with lime wedge and cilantro.

Potato pull-apart rolls

Woops...It looks like I disappeared for a few months. Summer got the best of me. I want to be outside, must be outside, when the sun is shining. But you can bet I have been cooking.

Have you heard of Malcom Gladwell's 10,000 hour rule? The basic idea is that if anyone does something for 10,000 hours they will become experts. He posits that this is how Bill Gates became a computer tycoon. I think I'm getting close to reaching that 10,000 hours spent baking and cooking. I feel I have grown leaps and bounds in the past few months. I love food. I really do. From the ground to the plate. I will keep cooking and sharing.

In the past few months, Blake and I have started an America West book club. The America West is one of our greatest loves. We have created a list of books, both fiction and nonfiction, that we want to read and discuss in this lifetime. We just kicked off Epitaph: A Novel of the O.K. Corral by Maria Doria Russel.

For fun, because life should always be fun, we decided to make a cowboy dinner in tandem with beginning the book. Coffee rubbed steak, baked beans, and potato pull-apart rolls made up the menu. Health food if you will. These rolls would be perfect for Thanksgiving. They are fluffy, buttery delights. Here's Blake taking the theme seriously.

Potato pull-apart rolls
Adapted from Bon Appetit, makes 18 rolls

2 medium Yukon Gold potato (you want a 1 1/2 cups when pureed)
1 cup 2% milk
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
4 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for brushing
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon sea salt

Boil potatoes in small sauce pan for 30-40 minutes until soft. Puree in a food processor or blender.

Proof the yeast: Heat the milk up in the microwave until it is warm not hot. This was about 30 seconds in my microwave. Add yeast and sugar to milk and stir until sugar dissolves. Let sit for 10 minutes until the yeast gets foamy. This is how you know your yeast is active.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, mix together yeast and milk mixture with the potatoes until no lumps remain. Add butter and mix until incorporated. Switch to the dough hook and add half the flour. Mix on medium until a sticky wet dough forms. Add eggs, egg yolk, the rest of the flour, and salt. Knead on medium high for about 5 minutes. Brush the top of the dough with butter and let rise in a warm place covered for 40 minutes. The dough should be about 1 1/2 times its original size.

Brush a 13" by 9" baking dish with melted butter. Turn dough out onto a lightly oiled surface and roll the dough into 18 balls with your hands. Place dough balls into the baking dish, brush with melted butter again, and let rise uncovered for another 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush dough one more time with butter (the more butter the merrier) and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the rolls are a golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

French onion dip

Date night. It's important. I have been married for almost 2 years. I know, right? Two, whole, crazy years. I still really like my husband. I rarely find him annoying. I want to spend all the time with him. In the scheme of the 60 years I intend to married, 2 is not much, but that doesn't make it any less important to do good things for our relationship everyday. Good things like French onion dip.

I made this dip for a surprise date night for Blake. I threw him a summer party complete with decorations, build your own mojito bar, strawberry shortcake, hot dogs, and dips! Dips was kind of the theme. For the hot dogs, we had mustard, jalapeno jam, kimchi, and homemade BBQ sauce. Then I made homemade potato chips with salsa, herbed goat cheese dip, and French onion dip. Dipping is fun.

I will argue French onion dip from the packet mixed into sour cream is pretty darn good but it has nothing and I mean nothing on this dip. Slowly caramelizing the onions bring new layers to dip you never thought possible. It's sweet and rich. It's really one of my favorite things. Perfect for BBQs or date nights.

French onion dip
Adapted from How Sweet It Is, serves 4-6

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
4 sweet onions, sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (8oz) block of cream cheese, softened
1 cup 2% greek yogurt

Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium low heat. Stir in onions, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are deep golden brown, about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, add the garlic and brown sugar and cook for another 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

Place the onions, cream cheese, and yogurt in a food processor and pulse until combined. You can eat it immediately or let it sit overnight in the refrigerator.

Maple Yogurt Bread

Summer. Ah, summer. You make me so happy. The best thing about summer is all the hours of daylight. When I get home from work, I still have so much time to have fun. Blake and I's most recent version of fun involves birding. I kid you not. We are eighty years old at heart. Last night we went to a talk on the Colorado River. The average age of the group? Probably around 60. Did I mention that the photos of the Colorado River reaching the ocean after a decade choked both us up? And yes I immediately went out and hugged a tree afterwards. Judge if you will.

Back to the birding. After the 100th time of me pointing out pretty birds to Blake, we finally bought a book. Now we are spending evenings out by ponds and walking trails trying to identify any birds we can. We are made to be birders. We love the outdoors. We love animals. Blake loves cataloging things. I secretly want to be clad in a khaki Patagonia vest and wide brimmed hat as I wander amongst my fellow retiree birder brethren. If you need us, we will be sitting on a bench listening for the song of the meadowlark.

My love of summer and birds really has nothing at all to do with this bread. Who makes maple yogurt bread in the summer? Maple is a flavor of the fall. The maple trees are actually tapped this time of year so maybe that's some justification? Not that we need any justification. Maple yogurt bread is a slice of comfort. The maple flavor is subtle with a touch of lemon zest. It makes for a great breakfast. Perfect for enjoying on a quiet morning on the porch watching the blue jays flit around your trees.

Maple yogurt bread 
Adapted from Food 52, makes an 8" loaf pan

1/2 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup 2% greek yogurt
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup coconut or olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter an 8" loaf pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, greek yogurt, eggs, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.

In a medium bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir with a spatula until just combined. Add your oil and stir until absorbed by the batter. Bake 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

 Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Cut around sides to remove and cool on a cooling rack.

Grilled honey chipotle chicken salad

Blake and I returned from the desert last week. As always Utah left us breathless at every turn. If you are seeking solitude in a world where little is left, the desert is for you. We hiked to some of the most beautiful places I have ever been. With nothing to distract us, Blake and I talked for hours around the campfire. In the morning we would awake and hike out among hoodoos, to waterfalls, and hidden desert arches. Utah makes our lives simple again. Escaping cell phones and TV is a gift. Talking to my husband, I mean really talking to him is my favorite thing. The desert is a wondrous place.

Leaving the desert sun behind is the hardest thing. When we returned home we were both craving some fresh food. Our camp dining consisted of beer cheese fondue, nachos, pasta, and burgers. So I made a salad and a really good one at that. A salad I would eat time and time again for dinner and feel completely satisfied. The honey chipotle marinade/dressing gives the chicken a nice crispy sweet crust when grilled. Toss with a bunch of crispy romaine lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, and honey chipotle dressing for something delightful.

Grilled honey chipotle chicken salad 
Adapted from How Sweet It Is, serves 4

Honey chipotle chicken marinade/dressing
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons adobo sauce from can of chipotles
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons dijon mustard
4 garlic cloves, minced

Salad
1 head of romaine lettuce, rough chopped
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, rough chopped
4 green onions, sliced
1 lime, juiced
Avocado, sliced

Whisk together the salt, pepper, olive oil, adobo, honey, dijon, and garlic. Pour half the marinade over the chicken. Save the other half for salad dressing. Marinade the chicken in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Preheat your grill to medium high heat. Grill the chicken about 6-8 minutes per side, until chicken is slightly charred with grill marks. Slice chicken and toss with all the salad fixings and the remaing marinade.