Weekend Update and a Recipe!

Hey All!

I am back already! I made some great meals over the weekend and I couldn't wait to post them! I had such a great eventful weekend. T and I have been enjoying the weather and feeling well again to the fullest! Friday night we went on another long bike ride and then stayed in and watched Twilight. We really liked the movie, I can see what all the hype was about. Now I have to start to read the books (yes, I do things backwards!). Anyway, before all of that went down, I made a nourishing meal of red quinoa, broccoli and large cannelini beans. I added a ton of garlic, since my neighbors next door have been coughing a lot and the last thing I need is a cold!
Saturday during the day my sister came over and so did my brother in law and future sister in law and we went to lunch at Whole Foods. It was so nice to catch up with my sister, who surprisingly has a lot of the same views on food as I do, growing up she mocked what I ate and did a lot. But lucky for me, for about 3 years now she has been eating similar and is now very much into fitness.

On Saturday night, I made black bean and brown rice tacos. I basically made the rice taste Mexican with cumin and some other spices and added some onion and Mexican spice to the black beans. I topped them with lettuce and avocado and ate them in organic GMO free blue corn tortillas. Definitely satisfied my craving for Mexican! YUM! After this meal we took Ginger for a nice cold night walk. Tomorrow is the first day of Autumn, YAY!
Sunday, after brunch, T and I went to a Fall Festival in town. Then I made a big pot of soup while T watched his football game. I made Lemon Lentil Chickpea Soup from Dreena Burton's - Eat, Drink and Be Vegan. Only I changed a bunch of things and made it my own.

Here's my version:

Healing Lemon Lentil Chickpea Stew (adapted from Dreena Burton's Lemon Lentil Chickpea Soup)

Olive oil
2 small onions
3 stalks of celery
4 cloves of garlic
Sea salt (I use Pink Himalayan sea salt)
Ground pepper to taste
Dried mustard
Cumin
Paprika
Cayenne pepper
Italian seasoning
Dried thyme
3 tablespoons Miso (I use soy free from South River Miso Co.)
3 cups chickpeas
1 bag of red lentils

2 yellow zucchini
One bunch of kale
One Daikon
Bay leaf
Water
Kombu
Lemon juice for garnish

In a large soup pot on medium heat, heat oil and add onion, celery, garlic, a crank of salt, pepper, dried mustard, cumin, paprika and Italian seasonings. Cook until tender about 10 minutes. Add lentils, daikon, zucchini, kombu stick, bay leaf, a drizzle of olive oil and chickpeas cover with water bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat to medium low and let cook until lentils are soft. About 30 min. Stir kale in add more cumin and sea salt (to taste), let kale wilt. Turn heat down to low and add miso (I add this to water first to break it up). Remove kombu stick and bay leaf and serve with lemon juice on top. I don't measure my seasonings, so use with discretion, whatever flavor you want add more. I like the whole cumin flavor throughout this, it goes well with the lemon. I also didn't use broth or stock, so you might want to salt this to your taste. The miso and kombu help with that as well. Also, I like this type of soup to be thick, so the less water you use the better. You want it to be like a hearty thick soup. The zucchini with break up into pieces and add to the texture.

Have a nice week everyone! I've got lots of good stuff cooking up for the week! Pun intended! :)