Beefy Smoked Paprika Lentil Soup

For the best flavor,  save some cooked beef bones or start with raw soup bones by roasting them in the oven. Remove the marrow if desired (It tends to make soup a bit greasy for my taste,  and I save it to spread on toast instead of butter). Cover the bones with water (I think I put in about 16 cups of water), add a small splash of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice,  and simmer them in a large pot with a clove or two of garlic (I threw in a whole,  uncut peeled clove of garlic). Let these cook as long as you like to give the broth flavor and draw the minerals into the broth from the bones--I let them cook for an hour or two this time,  but if you're not highly sensitive to excitotoxins you can let them simmer for a full day or so. 

Add a cut-up onion (I used a sweet yellow onion), several cloves of chopped garlic (I used 4) and about 2 to 3 cups of lentils, bring to a boil and let these simmer in the broth while you cut up the rest of the vegetables and add them.

I added sliced baby carrots (probably the equivalent of 2 or 3 full-sized carrots),  3 large stalks of diced celery,  4 sliced green onions,  about a half cup of chopped fresh parsely, a small head of chopped broccoli and 3 miniature sweet red bell peppers (probably the equivalent of 1/2 to 1 full sized bell pepper. You could use other vegetables such as cauliflower or cabbage as well. 

Once the lentils are tender, remove the bones and add a can of pureed tomatoes (and/or some chopped fresh tomatoes), a splash of wine (optional--I used about 2 tablespoons of cabernet), about a tablespoon or so of dark blackstrap molasses, about a teaspoon of smoked paprika, about a half teaspoon of cumin, two to three teaspoons of sea salt,  and a dash of black pepper. Simmer for a few minutes to allow the flavors to blend before serving. 

Note: The reason for waiting to add the tomatoes and wine until the lentils are cooked is that adding too much acid while cooking can prevent legumes from becoming tender. 

Basic Yam (Sweet Potato) Puff

This is a simpler (and closer to the original) version of the Spiced Sweet Potato Puff recipe I posted previously.

4 large yams (sweet potatoes, the dark orange kind)

¼ cup butter

2 well-beaten eggs

⅓ cup sugar

¼ tsp baking soda

1 tsp. salt

Pare potatoes and boil until tender, then drain--or, for a richer flavor, bake them in the skins and then peel them. Mash and add remaining ingredients. Beat well and transfer to buttered casserole. Dot with additional butter and bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) for 30-40 minutes.

Crock Pot Banana Buckwheat

Place in crock pot:

2 cups buckwheat grits, uncooked

Sift together and mix in:
1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon

Then add:
1/2 tsp. vanilla
6 cups liquid (I used a can of light coconut milk, 1/4 cup white grape juice, and 4 cups of water)
1 ripe banana, mashed

Stir well.

If desired, add raisins, currants or other dried fruit. I added about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of currants.

Cook on low overnight.

Sweet and Savory Lentil Soup

Small amount of oil (I used olive oil)
1 onion (medium to large), diced
2 to 4 cloves garlic
3 to 5 carrots, washed and sliced thin
1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized chunks (1/2" to 1" or so)
Other vegetables as desired (I added 1/4 head of green cabbage, sliced)
2 cups lentils, rinsed and drained
About 10 cups water
Large pot

Saute onion and garlic in oil in the bottom of the pot until beginning to get soft and brown (carmelized). Add carrots and cauliflower, stirring and cooking slightly. Add water and lentils, bring to a boil, and simmer over medium to low heat until lentils are tender, about an hour.

Depending on what other vegetables you add, you may wish to add them when you add the lentils, or wait until closer to the end of cooking. I added cabbage about halfway through cooking.

If desired, add up to 1 lb. sausage about halfway through cooking also. (I buy a safe uncured sausage made with just meat and fresh herbs at a local butcher shop [Butcher Boys' ground Italian or Breakfast sausage], or there are a few safe brands of chicken sausage available commercially) If you leave out the sausage, this is a vegan recipe. Carmelizing the onions and garlic until they are brown makes the flavor and color much richer, and the carmelized onions and carrots give the soup a sweet flavor.

Just before stirring, add salt and pepper to taste if desired. With the sausage, I found we didn't need any further salt or spices.

This recipe is grain-free and nightshade-free, as long as you are careful about sausage ingredients. The cauliflower gives the starchy, mild flavor that takes the place of rice, noodles or potatoes in this recipe.

If you leave out the sausage, it's vegan. We get sausage with no additives other than herbs and spices at a local butcher shop or natural-food store. Our sausage contained ground chicken, salt, fennel seed, caraway seed, coriander, black pepper, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. For even more flavor, you could use vegetable broth or bone broth in place of all or part of the water.

Meaty Spaghetti Squash

This is one of my family's favorite meals--quite a feat since few of us really like (and several truly detest) squash of any kind.

You can cut up the veggies and cook the meat while the squash is baking, or you can do all the cutting, cook the meat and bake the squash ahead of time for a quick combine-and-heat dish that goes in minutes from refrigerator to stove. I like to use my food processor for the grating and dicing. It makes this dish surprisingly simple to put together.

I scrub and peel the carrots and zucchini, but if you use organic unwaxed produce you can leave them unpeeled for more nutrition.

I came up with this recipe by modifying the Savory Spaghetti Squash recipe from Casseroles (from the Eating Better cookbook series) by Sue Gregg. The original recipe calls for tofu marinated in a ginger/lemon juice/soy sauce mixture, along with a few other twists.

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash
1 lb. italian sausage (I buy a safe uncured sausage made with just meat and fresh herbs at a local butcher shop [Butcher Boys' ground Italian or Breakfast sausage], or there are a few safe brands of chicken sausage available commercially.)
2 medium carrots, grated
1 medium zucchini (use 2 if they're small), grated
2 stalks celery, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wash the outside of the spaghetti squash. Bake the whole uncut squash at 375 degrees until tender--about 1 hour. Turn it occasionally during baking (at least once) to get it to cook evenly. (Alternatively, you can cut it in half, scrape out the seeds, and cook it cut side up with 1/4 cup water in the microwave, loosely covered, for about 7-8 minutes per half (you'll have to do one half at a time). Spaghetti squash can also be boiled whole.)

Allow the squash to cool a bit, then cut it in half and scrape out the seeds. If the squash doesn't seem quite done when you cut it open, just add the strands to the rest of the recipe a little early and cook it a bit more on the stovetop.

Brown the meat in a large frying pan or pot over medium heat, crumbling it as you cook. When the sausage is just barely done, drain all but about 3 or 4 tablespoons of the fat (I never drain the fat, but I should for a less watery dish).

Add all ingredients except the spaghetti squash and saute briefly, until the vegetables start to get tender. Use a fork to scrape the spaghetti squash strands from the shells and add them to the meat mixture.

Stir until everything is blended and heated through, then transfer to a casserole or serving dish and serve hot.

This can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen, then reheated for serving. If you have the meat cooked in advance, reserve 3-4 tablespoons of the fat and saute the vegetables in it briefly first, then add the meat with the squash. Or you can use vegetable oil, but it won't be quite as flavorful.

Some sausages are spicier than others. If the recipe is too spicy for your family, try mixing the sausage with an equal part of unseasoned meat (I use ground beef if I get a particularly spicy-smelling batch of sausage) and using 1 lb. of the milder mixture in the recipe.

Serves 4 very hungry people as a one-dish casserole, or 6-8 moderate eaters with side dishes (a green salad would be a nice compliment to this meal).