18. Moroccan Lentil with Chick Peas Soup

This recipe is from Wegmans Menu Magazine. It looked quick and easy and is a vegan recipe. I thought I would give it a try.

Moroccan Lentil with Chick Peas Soup

MAKES 13 cups ACTIVE TIME: 15 min TOTAL TIME: 35 min
2 Tbsp Wegmans Basting Oil
1 pkg (8 oz) Food You Feel Good About Cleaned & Cut Mirepoix
4 cloves (2 Tbsp) Food You Feel Good About Peeled Garlic, chopped
1 pkg (16 oz) Food You Feel Good About Organic Green Lentils, sorted and rinsed
1 can (28 oz) Italian Classics Kitchen Cut Roma Tomatoes with Basil
2 cartons (32 oz each) Food You Feel Good About Vegetable Culinary Stock
1 tsp coriander seed or ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp powdered cayenne pepper
1 can (15.5 oz) Italian Classics Garbanzo Beans, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Salt to taste

You'll Need: Handheld or regular blender

1.Add basting oil to stockpot on MEDIUM. Add mirepoix and garlic; cook, stirring, 5-6 min, until soft but not browned. Stir in lentils, tomatoes, stock, coriander, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper.

2.Cook, covered, 20-25 min.

3.Puree briefly (about 15 seconds) with handheld blender, just to thicken (don't puree all the lentils).

4.Stir in garbanzo beans and cilantro. Season to taste with salt. Simmer about 5 min on MEDIUM until heated through.

Changes and Shortcuts: none

Results: Not bad. The soup could be a little smoother, but all in all pretty good. The recipe makes a lot and I enjoyed it more left over for lunch. I saw a review of it on the Wegmans website that suggested serving it over cheese. I may try that next (although it will no longer be vegan)

Keeper? maybe

24. Slow Cooked Beef Minestroneo

I made this soup last week. I am a little behind because we just came back from vacation. But now that it’s officially Fall, I hope to get back to my original mission and make a new soup recipe each week. Unfortunately, there were a few weeks that I got off track.
This recipe is from Wegman’s Menu magazine, Fall 2009, W issue.

Slow-Cooked Beef Minestrone

1 pkg (about 1.5 lbs) Boneless Beef Chuck Roast, cut into 1 inch cubes
Wegman’s Pan Searing Flour
2 Tbs Wegman’s Pure Olive Oil
1 pkg (16 oz) Food You Feel Good About Cleaned & Cut Minestrone Soup Vegetables
Salt and Pepper
1 carton (32 oz) Food You Feel Good About Beef Culinary Stock
! can (14.5 oz) Wegman’s Italian Style Diced Tomatoes
1 pkg (24 oz) Italian Classics Seasoned Tomato Sauce (Prepared Foods)
½ cup dry Italian Classics Ditalini Soup Pasta
1 can (15.5 oz ) Italian Classics Garbanzo Beans, drained and rinsed
1 pkg (6oz) Food You Feel Good About Baby Spinach

1. Dust beef with pan-searing flour; pat off excess.
2. Heat oil in large braising pan on Medium-High until oil faintly smokes. Add beef, sear 10 min until all sides are paper-bag brown.
3. Transfer beef to slow cooker; don’t discard pan drippings. Add vegetables to skillet with beef drippings; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring 3 minutes; add to slow cooker.
4. Add stock, tomatoes, and sauce to slow cooker. Cover, cook 4 ½ - 6 hours on High or 8 – 10 on Low.
5. Add dry pasta and beans 30 minutes before end of cooking on High (45 minutes before end of cooking on Low)
6. Add spinach to slow cooker; stir to blen well. Allow spinach to lightly wilt, about 2 minutes.

Changes and Shortcuts: I just couldn’t find the Italian Classics Seasoned Tomato Sauce so I decided to buy a random can of tomato sauce off the shelf. When I assembled all my ingredients the morning I was making this soup I realized that I had picked up crushed tomatoes by mistake. I remembered that I had some home made spaghetti sauce in the freezer so I quickly threw it in the microwave for a little bit to get it started defrosting. Then, after browning the meat and vegetables, I put the sauce in that pan and cooked it on low for a little while to get it pretty much defrosted before I added it to the slow cooker. I had cut up the meat the night before—that seemed like the most time consuming part of the recipe. The only other change is that I didn’t add the spinach to the soup pot. I hate how spinach in left over soup gets sort of slimy so I just added a handful to each bowl as I ladled it out, stirred it around, and voila!—it was perfect. Oh, and I added just a little more of the pasta to the pot. A ½ cup just didn’t seem like much.

Results: Pretty good. This was a nice thick soup that was very easy to make. It makes a lot so I had leftovers for lunch a few times during the week.

Keeper? YES!