Food goodness

Adapted from a Care2 recipe. 1 1/2 cups lentils 4 cups water 2 dried chiles, left whole 1/2 teaspoon curry powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1/2 teaspoon cumin 1 cup chopped onions 4 cups chopped fresh spinach 1 teaspoon freshly-grated ginger root (plus a couple shakes of ginger powder) 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice Add washed lentils to a medium pot and cover with the four cups of water. Add the dried chiles, curry, and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until lentils are very tender, about 35 minutes. Add water if necessary to keep lentils from sticking. About 10 minutes from the end of the lentil cooking time, heat the oil in a small saucepan. Stir in onions, cumin and ginger and cook for about 5 minutes, until onions are softened and translucent. Add spinach and continue cooking for 5 more minutes. When the lentils are cooked, remove the chiles and discard them. Add the onion-spinach mixture to the lentils, then add the lemon jui

from "More Slow Cooker Recipes," published by Betty Crocker (2004) You'll need a slow cooker that holds 3.5-4 quarts. 2 cans (15-16 oz each) black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained 1 package (16 oz) smoked turkey kielbasa sausage, cut lengthwise in half and then sliced 4 medium carrots, chopped (2 cups) 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1/2 cup uncooked wheat berries (couldn't find these, so we did it without them) 1 cup water 3 cans (14 oz) each beef broth (I used some low-sodium kind, some regular, it's what I had on hand) 2 cups shredded fresh spinach 1 tsp dried marjoram leaves (didn't have any, I used oregano) Mix all ingredients except spinach and marjoram in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat setting 8-9 hours or until wheat berries are tender. Stir in spinach and marjoram. Cover and cook on low heat setting about 15 minutes or until spinach is tender. Notes: Like I mentioned above, I did without the wheat berries and substituted oregano for marjoram. I

I really sort of just made this one up. It tastes good, though, and was really easy to make. 6-8 c. water 2 c. low sodium beef broth 1 packet beef-onion soup mix 2 beef shanks (with the bone) Bring to a boil, then simmer for at least an hour, or until the meat is really tender. Pull shanks out, and cut meat off the bone and into bite-sized pieces. Return to broth. Add: 4-5 carrots, sliced 3-4 potatoes, peeled and diced Cook until carrots and potatoes are soft. Then add: 1 bag frozen green beans 1 bag frozen corn Cook until everything is hot. If you put this in the fridge to serve the next day, you'll be able to skim off the fat that collects on the top.

adapted from Grazing All these recipes were made for the potluck we had the other night. All took about 15 minutes to prepare, and were super easy. 1 10-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained 2 Tbsp. light peanut butter or tahini 2 Tbsp. plain yogurt 2 garlic cloves, peeled 1 Tbsp. olive oil juice of 1 lemon 1/2 tsp cumin salt and pepper Place garlic in food processor and chop finely. Add everything else but the salt and pepper and puree, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until it is right consistency. Add salt and pepper, and a little water if it's too thick.

adapted from Grazing 1 small onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed with excess moisture squeezed out 1 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped, liquid reserved 1 8-ounce package light cream cheese, cubed 1/2 cup milk 1 c. lowfat sour cream 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese salt and pepper 1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese (optional) Preheat oven to 350. Spray skillet with nonstick spray. Add the onions, garlic and a little artichoke liquid and saute until onion is brown. Add the spinach and saute until all the liquid has evaporated. Reduce heat to low and add artichokes, cream cheese and milk. Cook, stirring, until the cheese melts. Stir in the sour cream, Parm cheese salt and pepper and cook until it's heated through. Transfer to bowl and serve warm, or put in a pie plate, cover with the mozzarella cheese (or more Parm cheese) and bake 30 minutes, until golden and bubbly.

adapted from Grazing I made these the day I was home from work, because they didn't require much effort, but were sort of time consuming. They are worth it, though. Fresh wonton wrappers Non-stick spray or canola oil Garlic salt (or granulated garlic) sesame seeds grated Parmesan cheese Preheat oven to 350. Combine seasoning ingredients in a small bowl. (just wing it, it's what I did) Cut wontons diagonally into triangles, or across into strips, then separate them on a cookie sheet. Spray lightly with nonstick spray, or brush with canola oil. Sprinkle with seasoning mixture. Bake for 5 minutes (mine took 10) or until deep golden and crisp. Watch carefully, because they darken fast. Other possibilities for seasoning: sugar and cinnamon spicy curry -- curry powder, salt, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, black pepper salt and pepper garlic and salt

This came from an old (1970s) community cookbook that Geoff's mom has. This is what we brought to Shannon's potluck dinner tonight. Enjoy! 1 pound carrots 16 oz can crushed pineapple 1 1/2 cup pineapple juice + water 3 T cornstarch 1/4 cup sugar Slice carrots and boil until tender. Drain pineapple, adding water to juice to equal 1 1/2 cups. Mix carrots and pineapple together in 1 1/2-quart greased casserole. Blend juice, cornstarch, and sugar. Add to casserole. Bake at 350 until juice is clear and it's slightly browned.* * Mine took about 50 minutes, but I had a cookie sheet underneath the casserole dish, in case of spillage (no spillage occurred). Maybe that's why it took so long?

I read about these on a blog , but the recipe is actually from Cooking Light. I made them four times this holiday season, partly because I wanted to bring them different places and partly because I kept eating them faster than I could keep up with baking them. They're the most chocolatey cookies I've ever had -- I was using those Ghiardelli 60% cacao chips and Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder, which made it even more intense -- and they're outstanding. Not too sweet, just chocolate heaven. One note about this recipe as written: It's tiny, only making about 12 medium-sized cookies that fit on a single baking sheet. Twelve of these cookies is not enough. I doubled, tripled and even quadrupled the recipe. 1 cup ap flour 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/8 tsp salt 1/4 cup butter, room temperature 7 tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened) 2/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup plain yogurt 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 cup dried tart cherries or chocolate chips (I did it once with the ch

I made this pot roast recipe yesterday, and it turned out to be the best slow cooker pot roast to date. Even the gravy was really good. 1 can cream of mushroom soup (I used low-sodium kind) 2 c. beef broth (either homemade or low-sodium) 1 package onion soup mix (Liptons) 1 pot roast (the roast I used was partially frozen, which is better if you're going to be cooking this a long time) Mix soup, broth, onion soup in a bowl. Put roast in slow cooker, pour soup mixture on top. Cook at 6-8 hours, until roast is done. Take roast out, mix 2 Tbsp. cornstarch with 2 Tbsp. water and then add that to gravy in slow cooker, turn up to high. Cook about 5 min, so sauce thickens. Easy as can be. The house smelled good when I walked in the door from work, and all I had to do was make some rice and roast some veggies. Good as leftovers, too.

From Bon Appetit , January 2007 My friend Tracy and I made this for dinner last night, and it was quite tasty. Tracy's Le Cruset French oven (5.5 qt) was perfect for this recipe. I would recommend serving with a crusty bread for sopping up the broth. The ingredient list is long, but most of it is spices and things you probably have on hand (rice, etc). Makes 6 servings 1/4 cup fresh lime juice 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro stems 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 Tbsp finely grated lime peel 1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme 2 tsp chopped seeded jalapeno chile 2 tsp Hungarian sweet paprika 2 tsp ground black pepper 1 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp ground alspice 10 chicken thighs with skin and bone (about 4 1/2 pounds) 1 Tbsp olive oil 1/2 lb fully cooked Spanish chorizo or Portuguese linguica sausage links, cut into 1/4 inch rounds (we used some homemade bratwurst that Tracy had) 2 cups finely chopped onion 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper 3 garlic cloves, chopped 2 cups arborio rice or short-gra