Carrot Soup for Cold Weather

Tonight's dinner plan calls for turkey meatballs with marinara sauce and pasta. I'm not sure what to do about that because it's freezing here in New York and a craving for warm soup completely took over and I've just made this giant batch of carrot soup. 

It was innocent enough; I had all of the ingredients in the kitchen and this soup is easy enough to prep and finish in under an hour so it seemed like a good idea. And that giant bowl I just had for lunch really hit the spot. The hardest part of this soup was pureeing it, because after my run-in with a stick blender a couple of years ago when I almost lost two fingers, I threw it out and my only option is a blender, which does the job, but not as seamlessly. 

If you're craving something hearty and warm and also vegetarian, I've got you covered. 

Carrot Soup with Sweet Potato

ingredients
4 tablespoons of grapeseed or vegetable oil
5 -6 cippolini onions, chopped, or one small yellow onion chopped
2 pounds of carrots, peeled and cut into pieces  
2 sweet potatoes
7 cups vegetable stock or water
1/3 cup fresh dill, chopped  
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice of one lemon + zest of one lemon

In a large pot on medium high heat,  add the oil and onions. Sauté until translucent, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add the carrots and potatoes and stir. Add the stock or water, bring to a boil and simmer for approximately 35 minutes. Add the dill, salt and pepper and continue to cook until vegetables are soft. Add the lemon juice and purée with a stick blender.  Garnish with lemon zest.

Want more carrot soup ideas? Right this way and here too. 

For more deliciously hearty winter soups, check out: 
Winter Root Soup  
Lentil Curry Soup
Kale Soup

Spinach Pesto (Dairy Free)

When I close my eyes and dream of the ultimate comfort food, it's nothing fancy... it's the dinner that my mom cooked often when I was a kid: roast chicken with broccoli and white rice, with the chicken juices poured on top. I probably complained about it at the time (chicken again?!) but even now when I go to my parents' house and smell her chicken roasting in the oven, it's a comfort like no other. I'm hungrostalgic just thinking about it. 

Beyond dishing up delicious food, though, cooking enabled my mom and I to spend time together. As a food writer and cookbook author, she was always in the kitchen and she encouraged my sister and I to get on board early and often. It was a thrill to be included. Today, I invite my kids into the kitchen as often as possible. And while they don't always take me up on my offers, I see that each of them is slowly developing an interest in flavors, ingredients and cooking. Most recently, my youngest (2 1/4 years old) joined me in the kitchen for the very first time and helped get her own dinner on the table! 

She's at an age where she enjoys bold flavors and doesn't shy away from new foods or textures so pesto was a huge hit. She helped me to wash spinach and basil, peel a clove of garlic and pour olive oil. When I loaded the ingredients into my mini chopper, I let her press the buttons (and naturally, made sure to unplug immediately after we were done). This was a hit! 

When the pesto was done (in about 2 minutes), I let her spoon it into the bowl of cooked macaroni and stir. Voila! 

Fast, easy, delicious. My gal gobbled this up and reminded her older brother and sister at least four times during dinner "I made that, you know!" I used the leftovers in her lunchbox the next day: 

Here's the very-flavorful, super easy recipe: 

Spinach Pesto (Dairy Free)

Ingredients:
1/2 bunch spinach, washed and cut
10 basil leaves
1 clove of garlic
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup olive oil
2-3 cups of cooked macaroni (we used half whole wheat and half plain pasta) 

Method
Cook the pasta as directed on the box. As it cooks, add the spinach, basil, garlic, salt and olive oil to a cuisinart or chopper of your choice (an immersion blender can also work) and blend until smooth. Spoon into cooked pasta, stir and enjoy! 

Pasta with Carrots and Peppers

I don't know about you, but by the time Friday rolls around, I've had it. These feelings hit me like a ton of bricks on Thursday night, at which point, I typically make an easy dinner in boatload quantities so that there's enough for lunch leftovers Friday. Usually there's pasta involved and it works beautifully (except with carbonara, which is gobbled before there are leftovers and is best when served immediately). 

I've compiled the best lunchbox list: a week-long meal plan for kids' lunch, complete with the grocery list that you'll need to make it happen. Day 5 is a Pasta with Roasted Carrots and Peppers. The dish uses the remaining vegetable ingredients from the week of lunches and has a hint of lemon that makes it bright and tasty when served warm or cold. Admittedly, kids are game to try pretty much anything if it's mixed with pasta, which made it easier to throw in the unused veggies here. We've had this many times and though I've tried it with whole wheat pasta, the kids don't really like it. My son has pretty much declared a war against "brown pasta." Taste preferences vary and I'm okay with that and I'll be honest, by Thursday night, I can't fight it anyway. 

For this pasta, first I preheat the oven to 400 and slice the remaining carrots and peppers. I spread them out on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and drizzle with olive oil. 

After about 15 minutes in the oven, the carrots and peppers are done and can be set aside to cool. 

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil, add pasta and cook as directed. As the pasta is cooking, tear some fresh leaves off of your basil plant (basil is included in the Best Lunchbox List) and slice thinly. Drain the pasta once it has finished cooking and in a mixing bowl, drizzle with olive oil and salt to taste. Add zest from about 1/2 of a lemon, sliced basil and gently combine. Toss in your roasted veggies and there you go! Perfect for dinner and for lunch leftovers! 

I used Instacart to get the groceries I needed for this recipe. They were part of an entire week's worth of the best lunchbox foods for my kiddos. Here's a sneak peak into that grocery list... you can order and have your groceries delivered in 2 hours! Don't forget to use this coupon to get $10 off your first grocery order and free delivery! 

Here's the recipe made with whole wheat pasta

Pasta with Carrots and Peppers

Ingredients
2 cups of baby carrots, sliced lengthwise into quarters
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups of dry pasta
6 leaves of fresh basil, sliced thinly
Zest from 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Preheat oven to 400. Place vegetables on parchment paper, drizzle with one tablespoon of olive oil and roast for approximately 15-18 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil for the pasta. Cook as directed and drain. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, basil and zest from 1/2 lemon and combine well. Toss in the roasted veggies and mix so that the flavors all play nicely together. Voila. 

Fresh Chickpeas

As I've said before, I like to try new foods. So when I came across fresh chickpeas, I couldn't pass them up. I never even knew that the chick peas I know and love and eat all the time, originally look like this: 

A quick google search turned up a bunch of ideas that sounded delicious, like this one from Bon Appetit and this one from Epicurious and this one on Yum Sugar. For my first foray into fresh chickpea land, I decided to try them sautéed and eaten from the shell like edamame, as I found on Bon Appetit. I tossed 1/2 pound of them in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and then added them to a pan on medium-high heat for about 2-3 minutes, when little brown crispy spots appeared on the pods. 

Meanwhile, I added 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds to a hot frying pan and toasted them until they became fragrant. When those cooled, I added them to the rest of my spice mix, which included 2 teaspoons of each: salt, cayenne pepper and granulated garlic. 

Once the chickpeas were done, I tossed them with the spice mix and served immediately. 

My husband and I agreed that these would be easier to eat if the pods were sturdier, like edamame. But they were tasty nonetheless. I probably wouldn't make them this way again but I'm certainly eager to keep experimenting with fresh chickpeas.  

Red Lentil Pasta

Grocery shopping is always an adventure. Ok fine, sometimes it's a chore, but I've always kind of enjoyed it if I'm not in a hurry. I love to choose my own produce and meat. I like to see for myself what new products are out there. The other day, I chatted with a woman in the pasta aisle while I was picking out dry pasta for carbonara (note, this is totally unusual for me. I'm not one to chat up strangers at the grocery store). She was putting several boxes of a pasta I hadn't seen before in her cart - it's single ingredient pasta by a company called Tolerant Foods, and it's gluten free, non-GMO and organic, made from legumes. 

Wow. As it turned out, this woman is gluten free and loves this stuff. I'm not gluten free but I love to try new foods. I checked out their website and you can buy their products online. They are pricey... but you can sign up for their mailing list if you'd like and get a $2.00 coupon.

And so began our red lentil pasta adventure. My littlest one is fond of flavors that my older kids avoid like the plague, like sun-dried tomato and peppers. This red lentil pasta experiment was just for us two. I soaked one ounce of sun-dried tomatoes in water for about 15-20 minutes, then drained and chopped them. I also chopped two scallions and 1/3 of a bell pepper. 

Meanwhile, I brought a pot of water to a boil and added the red lentil pasta. I let it cook for 9 minutes (the box says 8-10 minutes). I reserved 1/4 cup of the cooking water and drained the rest. While that cooked, I sautéed the tomatoes, peppers and scallions in olive oil for about 5 minutes. 

I added the reserved cooking water and the drained pasta to the sautéed veggie pan and stirred to combine the ingredients. 

I scrambled an egg and added it to the pan after I turned off the flame to make the sauce richer. This was unnecessary. I'll leave out the egg next time. 

Success! The little lady and I both enjoyed this lunch! I'd buy this pasta again and plan to experiment with loads of recipes with this red lentil pasta and with their black bean pasta.

Red Lentil Pasta with Peppers and Sun-Dried Tomato
6 oz red lentil pasta (the only version I've seen is from Tolerant Foods)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 bell pepper, chopped
1 ounce sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in water, drained and chopped
2 scallions, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil
salt and pepper to taste

Method
Cook the pasta as directed on the package. Before draining, reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water. Drain the remaining pasta completely and set aside. Meanwhile, sauté the vegetables in olive oil over medium heat for approximately 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the reserved cooking water from the pasta, return to a low heat and let the pan bubble so that some of the water evaporates. Add the pasta and stir. Add chopped basil, salt and pepper to taste. ** I added a scrambled egg here but I don't think it's necessary. ** Serve and enjoy immediately.
 

p.s. - these opinions are my own. I am not paid to this brand or compensated in any way to mention them here.