Red Lentil Soup with Turmeric & Lemon

To me, this is a cleansing soup. It's clean and simple, with lots of fiber, protein and anti-inflammatory properties. If my body feels off, this soup is a great way to get back into rhythm.

I usually serve this with quinoa or sprouted brown rice. For the greens, we almost always have kale, therefore we usually eat this with kale. And I love the way the kale slightly crisps up in the pan. But chard, spinach, or collards all work as well.

~~~~~

Red Lentil Soup with Turmeric & Lemon
Adapted from this  Red Lentil Soup with Lemon recipe from www.101cookbooks.com

Notes: If you need to be strictly gluten-free like yours truly, you'll have to pick through the lentils to see if there are any wheat berries hiding in there. I pour half cup at a time onto a large white plate, sift through with my fingers and remove any wheat grains and little pebbles, then rinse the lentils before adding them to the soup. Also, this soup thickens a bit overnight so the 7 cups of water make for a slightly thinner soup on day 1, which becomes a more hearty soup on days 2 and 3. If you'd like a thicker soup to begin with, start with 6 cups of water and add more as needed.

Special equipment:
Immersion blender

For the soup:
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cups red lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 tablespoon turmeric
2 teaspoons ground cumin
7 cups water
2 teaspoons sea salt
Juice of 1 lemon

To serve:
Coconut oil
Kale or other dark leafy green, chopped
Sea salt
Quinoa, brown rice or another grain of your choice

In a large stock pot, heat coconut oil over medium heat and add onion. Sauté for several minutes until softened, stirring frequently. Add the red lentils, turmeric, cumin and water, bring to a gentle boil, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes. At this point the lentils should be soft and falling apart. Uncover, add the sea salt and lemon juice and puree with an immersion blender (or a regular one). For this soup, I like to leave a bit of texture.

Just before serving, sauté some kale (or other green) with a little coconut oil and a pinch of sea salt. If you're working with kale, let it crisp up in the pan a little.

To serve, put some grain in each bowl, cover with a couple ladle-fulls of soup, and finish with the greens.

Serves 6-8

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Energy Bars

This is my first take at reverse engineering a favorite health bar (see below). The buckwheat (which is not wheat) in combination with the seeds and the peanut butter will keep you satiated for quite a while. They store well in the fridge but can travel for the day as well.

~~~~~

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Energy Bars
I used this recipe on the 101 Cookbooks blog for the proportions and toasting idea, and then based the ingredients on these bars from Elemental Superfood.

Notes: The Type A side of my personality gets frustrated that it's almost impossible to get the wet and dry ingredient balance so perfect that you don't have any dry crumbles at the bottom of the bowl after all the bars are formed. I'm trying to get over it. One thing I wouldn't do is add more peanut butter when you're most of the way through the mix because those last few bars will be too dry without the right balance of maple syrup and vanilla stirred in. Also, my sister has tried this with millet in place of the buckwheat and she says it works well. Finally, these store best in the refrigerator, but travel well for the day if you'd like to take some with you.

Dry ingredients to toast:
1 cup buckwheat groats
1/3 cup raw pepitas
1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Wet ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 heaping tablespoons salted, natural peanut butter
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Also:
3 tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (I use 70%)

Place the buckwheat groats, pepitas, sunflower seeds and shredded coconut in a skillet and toast for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. (The buckwheat can burn otherwise.) The mixture should smell toasty and the coconut should have a caramel color to it. Remove from heat.

While the dry ingredients are cooling, combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract and sea salt. Stir until well combined.

When the dry ingredients have completely cooled (otherwise the chocolate chips will melt), add them to the peanut butter mixture, along with the chia seeds and chocolate chips. Stir to combine everything. The mixture will look crumbly by this point.

Use your hands to form bars. I make them so that they fit into the palm of my hand. Store in the refrigerator. Eat one whenever you need a chocolate and peanut butter pick-me-up.

Makes about 20 energy bars.

Roasted Pepitas

These seeds are soaked for 8-10 hours before roasting to maximize digestibility and nutrient absorption. Pepitas (pumpkin seeds) are particularly high in zinc and magnesium and are excellent for hormone balancing. I make a large mason jar full at a time and keep them in the cupboard. We use them most on salads and for snacking. They're good on their own or in a quick trail mix, and my husband has discovered that if you add a little sea salt and small drizzle of olive oil they make a great snack with a glass of red wine. They’re very multi-purpose :)

~~~~~

Roasted Pepitas
Raw pepitas (how many depends on the jar you're filling)
Filtered water

To start, measure out your pepitas by filling your jar about 85% full (the soaking step slightly increases their size), then place them in a bowl. Cover the seeds with filtered water by about two inches and let them soak for 8-10 hours. I usually do this the night before a day that I know I'll be home in the morning.

After soaking, drain and rinse well and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. I roast them at 300 degrees for about 2-2.5 hours. The length of time in the oven depends on several factors: how well drained your seeds were to start, how many seeds you're roasting at once, the specific variety of pepitas that you’re using (sizes vary) and how toasted (browned) you'd like them to be. When you start to smell them, start checking for doneness.

Once you pull them out of the oven, let them cool right on the baking sheet, then transfer to a jar.