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Pancetta Parmesan Lentils with Smoked Paprika Oil

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Pancetta Parmesan Lentils with Smoked Paprika Oil

I live off of lentils. For someone who’s often too busy, viagra here too tired or too lazy to soak beans overnight, herpes lentils are the perfect option. No overnight soaking and they cook up in just a half an hour. Not to mention that they’re some of the healthiest food around. Full good things like protein, unhealthy fiber, iron and vitamins. They’re a veritable powerhouse of awesome.

And what better to pair this health food with than cured pork, aged cheese and flavored oil? Like bacon, everything is better with pancetta. It gives the lentils a subtle porky flavor. Onions and garlic add aroma. Lemon and sherry vinegar give the lentils a bite. Shaved Parmesan cheese and smoked paprika oil lend them a richness that balances everything out and makes this a meal. These lentils are hearty, deeply flavorful and delicious. One of my favorite quick lunches.

If your lentil experience is limited to soup, give these a try. You’ll be singing the praises of the lowly lentil in no time.

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Black Bean & Roasted Red Pepper Soup

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Black Bean & Roasted Red Pepper Soup

I appear to be on a soup kick recently. This may be due to the fact that I haven’t really been grocery shopping in two weeks and I’ve been having to dig deeply into the pantry. So deep, find in fact, that the pantry is actually starting to look a little bare. It hasn’t been this bare since the week we moved in. But, I’m not knocking pantry meals. They’re usually quick, inexpensive and surprisingly delicious.

This morning I found myself in need of lunch. I take lunch pretty seriously, and have some requirements for my mid-day meal. It needs to be filling, nutritious, easy to eat at a desk (or meeting, or standing) and must be tasty. So I grabbed a couple cans of black beans, a huge jar of roasted red peppers, fire-roasted tomatoes and bulgur. Into the pot for 30 minutes with some garlic and spices and out came a surprisingly delicious soup. I actually wanted to eat some for breakfast, but held out.

Black beans and roasted red peppers compliment each other perfectly. A little cumin, cayenne, sweet paprika and sherry vinegar make this soup a little spicy, a little tangy, a little earthy. It just goes to show that you’ll always have a great tasting and healthy meal on hand if your pantry is well stocked.

On a side note, I promise this will be the last bean/soup recipe for a little while. I’ll post a fun one on Friday so stay tuned!

Other pantry meals:
Quinoa & Red Lentils
Sausage Bean & Barley Soup
Three Bean Vegetarian Chili
Green Rice & Beans
Sausage & Red Lentil Soup
Tomato Almond Soup
Double Curry Lentils

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Butternut Squash Beef Stroganoff

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Butternut Squash Beef Stroganoff

A couple of years ago I found and made a recipe for Turkey Pumpkin Stroganoff that was absolutely delicious. Since then, click I’ve moved twice and lost the recipe along the way. Yesterday was the first almost-cool day of the year in Miami. It was overcast and breezy and I wanted to make something a little spicy, sickness beefy and noodly. Stroganoff was just the thing.

Although I’m loving pumpkin and turkey right now, bronchi I decided against trying to recreate the lost recipe, and used butternut squash and lean ground beef instead. Mostly, because I was too lazy to drive out to the good grocery store and the one nearby doesn’t carry organic ground turkey. This happens a lot. Anyway, I spiced it up with sweet and smoked paprika, nutmeg and caraway seeds for a warming fall dish.

This Stroganoff would be equally delicious with your favorite winter squash or pumpkin, and you can add chunky cubes of it, or creamy pureed squash. Go ahead and use ground turkey or beef, or even thinly sliced steak in the traditional method for Stroganoff. I would also add some portabello mushrooms next time to give it more of an earthly flavor and I might even bake it with some breadcrumbs scattered on top. I love baked pasta (who doesn’t?) and this just might be the best way to reheat the leftovers!

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the pioneer woman’s easy goat cheese hors d’oeuvres

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the pioneer woman's easy goat cheese hors d'oeuvres

Everyone needs a pretty and easy hors d’oeuvre recipe. Whenever I have people over, link I usually end up with one hopelessly complicated starter that takes me entirely too long to make. Whether it’s fussily topping mini toasts with cheese and fresh herbs or wrapping something together until it’s just so, I always end up in the kitchen sweating it out until the very last minute before my guests arrive.

That’s why you have to have those other make-ahead hors d-oeuvres. Like hummus or dip. The ones you can make in the morning and pull out of the fridge right when you need them. I found this recipe for simple goat cheese cylinders coated in fresh herbs and spices over at The Pioneer Woman and thought I’d give it a go for a dinner party.

the pioneer woman's easy goat cheese hors d'oeuvres

That was the night I stupidly left the ravioli-making until the very last minute. Thank God I’d made these pretty little goat cheeses earlier. They saved the day and they were a total hit. My guests devoured them. Loved every last bite of them.

So, in case you missed it on the Pioneer Woman, here’s the “recipe” with the addition of a poppy seed coated cheese. Next time, I might try an aromatic curry one, or Chinese five spice. I highly recommend you make these for your next dinner party to save yourself some stress. Or maybe you’re smarter than I am and you make everything ahead of schedule, in which case, don’t rub it in…

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