Lentil & Buttercup Squash Stoup with Brown Rice & Rye Berries

Every Sunday I make meals for the week, by doing so, I never have to worry about what I’m going to have for lunch or dinner. Today, I made Lentil & Buttercup Squash Soup (well, Stoup because it’s thicker than soup) with Brown Rice & Rye Berries (cooked using the Saveur method).   If you have never tried a buttercup squash then I suggestion you run out right now and purchase one. If you’re a squash lover like I am, then BC Squash will knock you over. The taste is incredible. I have cooked it in various ways (soups, stews, roasted, etc.) and I never grown tired of it.

I also used the last of my mutant carrots from my garden.  I didn’t want to toss these babies into the composter. I mean, just because they look like something from an alien planet, doesn’t mean they deserve a tossing with nary a care, right???

 

 

The ingredient list line-up:

Photo Left:  Buttercup Squash, onion, lemon, my mutant carrots and garlic.

Middle Photos: Kombu (I use kombu in most of my soup (stoup) and stews recipes. Kombu assists the body in breaking down legumes. )

Picture of Rye Berries

Photo on Right:  Snapshot of the Saveur brown rice cooking method

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The finished product:

 

And here is a picture of my cat Sammy (just because), baking a sunshine cake (that’s what my father calls it when he sees a cat lying in the sun – “baking a sunshine cake”).

 

And this is a picture of my favorite snack (again, just because) which goes great with everything, especially hummus or Tahini. Yum!

I hope everyone remembered to set their clocks back 1 hour.

🙂

-GiRRL_Earth

Red Lentil & Chickpea Stew with Rice & Rye Berries (not Wheat Berries!)

Those of you who follow my blog might recall from previous posts that I cook all of my meals on Sundays so that I have lunch and dinner for the entire week.  Eating this way allows me to control what I am putting into my body as well as control my spending.  I work in Boston and quite honestly the food offerings around the vicinity of my office aren’t that great. We do have one vegan food truck which is terrific in a pinch. But quite honestly, I prefer to cook my own food as I don’t like a lot of people touching/prepping my food.  This probably stems from my days working in the industry as a Garde Manger and then Pastry Cook.

As I mentioned in my post: Cutting the Cord with Cable, well almost, I have friends who cannot make time to cook, and yet seem to have ample time to watch their favorite reality TV line-up (go figure).  I receive so much enjoyment from cooking that I would prefer to cook than watch TV.

Also, due to the hours I work (plus my commute in/out of the city), I don’t have a lot of time during the week to prep and cook a meal, which is the other reason I cook meals (usually two or three) on Sundays to cover me for the week.

Anyway, yesterday I made Red Lentil & Chickpea Stew with Rice & Rye and I thought it might be nice to share this with my followers.

In case you are wondering about the Brown Rice & Rye Berries, let me say this:  Brown Rice and Rye Berries cooked together is the best! I love it and eat it with everything and so good for you. 

Chick Pea and Red Lentil Stew

(FYI: This is a great recipe for a Crockpot!)

Ingredients/Equipment:

• Crockpot, Soup or Stock Pot
• EVOO (or whatever oil you like)
• Celtic Sea Salt ~ eyeball it. I think I used 1 heaping tsp
• Yellow Onion (or whatever onion you like) ~ rough chopped
• 1-3 large carrots ~ cut on the diagonal
• Chile pepper(s) ~ Fresh (use whatever kind you like. I used Serrano) ~ chopped
• 1 Green Bell Pepper ~ rough chopped
• Garlic (use as many or as little cloves as you like. I used 5)
• Garam Masala ~ eyeball it. I don’t use exact measurements as I use the palm of my hand
• 2 cans Garbanzo Beans (a.k.a. Chick Peas) drained/rinsed
• 1 package of red lentils (I used Goya brand)
• 1 can of Tomato Puree (I used Cento brand)
• 2 cups of vegetable broth
• ¼ – 1/3 cup of black pitted olives ~ eyeball it, I didn’t use exact measurements

Method of Prep:

Gather all of your mis-en-place

• Pre-heat pot
• Rough chop: Onion, chile pepper and green bell pepper
• Slice carrots on the diagonal
• Drain/rinse Chick peas ~ set aside
• Open can of crushed tomatoes ~ set aside

• Add EVOO to pre-heated pot
• Add onions, carrots, green and hot peppers and salt.  Cover and sweat the vegetables until translucent
• Remove lid & Add Garam Marsala, leave lid off and cook until you can smell the spices.
• Add a little water and scrape bottom of pan
• Add Chick Peas, Red Lentils, and Tomato Puree, plus 1 can of water from puree can, vegetable stock and olives.

• Give a good stir and simmer , slightly covered,  (unless using Crockpot) until cooked through.

Serve with Rice & Rye

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 RICE & RYE

Important: MUST SOAK OVERNIGHT (Best cooked in Rice Cooker and/or Pressure cooker, or you could even use Crockpot)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Brown Rice
• 1 cup Bob Red Mills Rye Berries (NOT: Wheat Berries)
• 4 cups Water
• 1 TBSP of Wakame Seaweed ~eyeball it
• ¼ cup Shoyu

Method of Prep:

1 large pot

1. Measure: 1 cup of Brown Rice, 1 cup of Rye Berries and add to pot.
2. Add 4 cups of filtered water and Wakame
3. Cover and soak overnight 

Next day:

• Remove lid
• Add 1/8-1/4 of tsp of Celtic Sea salt
• Bring Rice/Rye to a boil ~ DO NOT STIR OR DISTURB, otherwise the rice/rye will turn out mushy.
• Reduce to low heat
• Cover and allow to cook.  PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB

After an hour or more, check to see if all the water is absorbed. Turn off heat, add Shoyu, cover and allow pot to sit on burner (w/out heat).

Be sure stir before serving. Rice and Rye goes with everything!

Enjoy!

 

-GE