African Curried Coconut Soup with Chickpeas

We had this last night and it was wonderful -- a great meal on a cold, fall evening.


2 Tbs. oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
4 large garlic cloves, crushed
32 oz low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
2 cans chickpeas (15 oz), rinsed and drained
1 cup chopped tomatoes (if canned, drain)
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 can light coconut milk (14 oz)
1 cup brown rice
2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

1. In large stock pot, heal oil. Add the onion, red pepper and jalapeño; cook, stirring periodically until softened, about 5 minutes. 
2. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. 
3. Add the broth, chickpeas, tomatoes, curry powder, salt, black pepper and rice, bring to a boil over high heat.
4. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 30 minutes until rice is done.
5. Add the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Chicken Barley Chili

We had this last night and all loved it. It's great on a cold and blustery night.

3 can low sodium chicken broth

1 cup salsa

1 cup barley

1 Tbs. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

1 can black beans

1 cup frozen corn

2-3 cups cooked chicken, cut into small pieces

1. Combine broth, salsa, barley, chili powder, cumin and beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes.
2. Add chicken and heat through.
3. This is great as is, but it's also wonderful served with grated cheddar, avocado and tortillas.

Corn Bread

We make this almost every time we have chili. It tastes so good with a little dab of butter and a drizzle of honey, it makes me lick my lips just thinking about it. It's really wonderful right out of the oven, but seems to lose something with time. Serve generous slices so you don't have much left-over.

2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

4 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 Tbs. lemon juice

1 1/3 cups milk

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9-inch square pan.
2. Combine lemon juice and milk in small bowl. Set aside to curdle.
3. Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Push dry ingredients to the sides of the bowl and make a well.
4. Crack the eggs into the well and stir lightly. Then add the milk/lemon juice. Stir quickly until almost combined. Finally, add the melted butter and blend.
5. Pour batter into greased pan. Bake until the top is golden brown and lightly cracked, about 25 minutes.
6. Cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes and then serve warm.

Easy Quiche

We had this for dinner the other night. Everyone was getting home at different times, so it was nice to have something that could be eaten "whenever". This crust is not a traditional flakey one, but it tastes pretty good and is really easy to make.

Crust

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. milk

1. Combine flour, sugar and salt in bottom of pie plate.
2. Add milk to oil and whisk until blended.
3. Pour oil/milk mixture over flour and combine. Once blended, press into pie shell to form crust.

Filling

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup grated cheese (cheddar, swiss, monterey jack, etc,.)

1/2 cup chopped onions

2 cloves of garlic, minced

salt and pepper

1 tsp. butter

Optional additions -- make sure they're all well drained: cooked spinach (chopped), sauteed mushrooms, diced and cooked zucchini or yellow squash. diced ham or crisp bacon.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Saute onions until soft and starting to brown. Add garlic and continue cooking for 30-45 seconds. Set aside.
3. Whisk eggs, milk and salt and pepper.
4. Spread onion and garlic around bottom of crust. Add optional additions. Top with grated cheese.
5. Pour egg mixture into crust. Dot top with small pieces of butter (this helps keeps the top tender).
6. Bake for 35-45 minutes until set and starting to brown on top.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

We have these almost every Sunday morning. The kids love 'em and I do too! A lot of the best pancake recipes call for buttermilk. Well, I NEVER have buttermilk on hand. However, I almost always have lemon juice. I'm not exactly sure what happens when you combine milk and lemon juice other than it becomes a great facsimile of buttermilk. So, give these a try. They're the best whole wheat pancakes I've ever had!

1 1/2 Tbs. lemon juice

2 cups milk

2 cups whole wheat flour (I use whole wheat pastry flour because that's what I have on hand)

2 Tbs. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg

3 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1. Whisk the lemon juice and milk together in a medium bowl; set aside to thicken -- at least 5 minutes.
2. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in bowl to combine.
3. Whisk the egg and butter into the milk until combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; pour the milk mixture and whisk gently until just combined. Don't over mix -- there will be a few lumps.
4. Fry as normal.
5. We top these with a little vanilla yogurt, toasted nuts (put walnuts, pecans or almonds in the oven at 350 degrees when you start making the batter -- they'll be ready when the pancakes are), fruit (if I have any on hand) and maple syrup. Wow. This is making me hungry!