Share your favorite recipe...

I am new to CC. I have been a "semi-veg" for sometime and eat chicken and fish every once in a while.  I am ready to switch over to a full vegetarian lifestyle, but I think in order to do that I need some yumm recipes to add to my plain meal plans. So, would anyone like to share their fave recipe to help me fill my recipe box?

- Amy

I've recently gone vegan (been vegetarian for 3 years) and I've been eating a lot of lentils. They're really low cal and very filling. I had this last night.

1/2 c green lentils
1 tsp minced garlic
1 small onion
3 carrots
1 celery stalk
1/2 c organic canned tomato sauce
1 vegetable broth cube
1 c water
1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (optional)
Herbs, spices, salt & pepper to taste.

Boil water and add broth cube. Once dissolved, add lentils and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until desired texture is reached.

In the meantime, heat oil in pan (or spray it with cooking spray). Dice onion and add to pan, along with the garlic. Cook until transparent. Chop carrots and celery and add to pan. Cook until tender.

By this time, your lentils should be done. Drain excess water if necessary, although they should soak it all up. Add veggie mixture into pot and mix well, but gently.

Now is the time to add the tomato sauce. If you're going to add any kind of dried spices, you might want to heat the sauce in a separate pan, because it may get too thick to stir properly if you add the spices right into the lentils. I like to add a little dried parsley, black pepper, salt, and a tiny bit of ginger. Add the sauce to the lentils and veggies, cook on low heat until sauce is warm.

Make 1-2 servings, depending how hungry you are. :)

I like to serve this with grilled zucchini. I cut it into rounds, spray it with a little bit of that 1 cal per spray balsamic vinegarette dressing, and grill it for a few minutes.

You can add whatever kind of veggies you want, but make sure that you don't add too many, or else that texture over powers the lentils.

Good luck on your journey to vegetarianism! :)

I am not a vegetarian nor will I ever be.  However, there is a recipe for lentil soup i like.  I don't know my mother's recipe but I found one online here, http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lentil-Soup/Deta il.aspx ; that has all the ingredients she puts in.  We have it on New Year's Eve/Day in German tradition.  The lentils symbolize weath and good fortune in the coming year.  The vinegar is key to making it German.  Add what the recipe tells you and go more if you like.  My mom has done that a few times...a lot of vinegar is an acquired taste. :)

Best of luck to you and I hope you cook/enjoy the soup.

EDIT: the recipe site has the nutritional info for the recipe...just scroll down some

I really like cold lentil salad, with celery, cabbage, carrots and onions diced in.  The key is the dressing:  1/4 C olive oil; 1/4 C red wine vinegar; 1 tbsp sugar; 1 tsp salt; black pepper to taste; 1-2 tbsp stone ground mustard (or to taste); 1 tbsp capers.

SWEET POTATO AND BLACK BEAN CHILI!!!!! I found an AWESOME recipe for this light and refreshing dish and I made it last night. WOW it tasted great! So many flavors combined into a healthy dish, and it's really perfect if you sometimes struggle to get protein in your diet. I highly recommend it! You can find it here or at eatingwell.com.

Lauren!
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