KITCHEN HACKS DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS

CREATIVE KITCHEN CREATIONS - YOU GOTTA EAT!
 
Well, this COVID-19 situation sure has impacted my food stash. How about you?
My cupboards and fridge are far from empty thankfully, yet my holdings are very diverse. Eclectic if you will. My appetite is still as strong as always however, so you can imagine how grateful I am to have food. I know not all are as blessed so let's bless them.

My story today.. I was giving a yoga class over lunch hour today and come 1h45 it was time to make something and make it quick. Thankfully cravings for particular foods aren’t an issue right now yet given it’s rather chilly today, soup seemed like a super idea. What could I whip up fast I pondered?  Hunger was hitting an 8 out of 10.  (Oh drama, I know – ha ha). Yet when I am really hungry, well lets just say I am not in my prime. Needless to say, I took to cooking and this is what I came up with.

The Making of a no-recipe soup (that just had to become a recipe).

Knowing I had leftover lentils in their broth, some tomato juice from canned tomatoes I used a few days ago for a make-shift salsa along with other various vegetables, I knew I had my base.  
What I created was absolutely delish.
 
So much so, I find myself here, capturing my creation and realizing I need to record my impromptu meals more often for its how I find myself most often making meals these days.  Looking at what I have, pondering what I feel like eating and then launching into food prep.  Most of the time, though heck no, not always – it’s the ‘oh yum’ response I generate.
This my friends, as you well know, is exactly how I always aim to eat.

Below is what I made utilizing leftover Thai curry and coconut milk to add big flavor this soup. 
The ingredient amounts are increased as this was a generous one serving meal I made today with the minimal quantities of I had.  Go ahead and sub ingredients as needed and half the recipe it if you find yourself working with odds and ends as well.
 
If you decide to make this, please let me know what you think.  Does it need finesse? Did you vary the beans, the veggies, the spices and if so, how so?  There is lots of room to play here as you’ll see I list in my Teri’s Tips section below.

LENTIL VEGGIE SOUP

•  Lunch or dinner
• Prep time: 5 minutes plus about 10 minutes cooking time
• Yield: 3-4 servings
• Plant-based -Vegan, soy/nut/gluten/grain/sugar free  

 
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups tomato juice or juice from canned tomatoes
2-3 carrots, diced
2-3 celery stalks, diced
2 cups kale, silvered
1 tbsp+ Thai Green Curry paste
3 tbsp creamed coconut or 2 tbsp coconut butter (not oil) or ½ cup canned coconut milk
1½ cups cooked lentils plus 1 cup cooking liquid or approx 1 cup broth
1 small dried red chili to add a little heat
Sea salt and black pepper
 
IDEAL GARNISH OPTIONS:
Fresh lime juice
½ cup fresh sprouts of your choice or any herbs you have
Thai basil, cilantro, or chives

 DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat a large sauce pan or stock pot over medium heat, add the first 6 ingredients and let simmer a few minutes then add the remaining soup ingredients.
2. Continue to simmer infusing the flavors and melting the creamed coconut approximately ten minutes.
3. Now you are ready to eat so transfer to a nice bowl warmed with hot water if you wish. Add a squeeze of lime juice and fresh herbs if you have them then sit down at the table and enjoy. It’s perfect warming comfort in my view.

 
TERI’S TIPS:

• Use any beans/pulses you have yet let me say I really love the flavor home cooked lentil broth adds. Sure vegetable broth with work and canned lentils will suffice yet it’s worth it to cook up your own lentils if you have them. They don’t need pre-soaking and are done in about 20 minutes.
• If you are using canned tomatoes rather than straight juice, go ahead and add some of the tomatoes. The more veggies the better in my view.
• You can sub any vegetables as well. Aim for some color if you can such as red peppers or winter squash, red cabbage, etc.
• Spinach and Swiss chard are good green options for the kale.
• Oh yes, back to the lentils, French Du Puy are my absolute favorite.