Pumpkin and Red Lentil Curry

Courtesy of Bright Idea Photo

I have fallen in love with the Cooking Light site, it has such a wealth of recipes!  I needed a recipe to use up the leftover pumpkin from the pilau.  I originally wanted to puree the pumpkin but time got away from me and today the pumpkin began to scream from the fridge to be used up.  I found this recipe and I love that it had lentils in it because I am trying to find more recipes without meat but high in protein.  Mike and I loved it and the girls...well they are distracted by the mounds of candy they will recieve tonight.  I even tried to entice them by telling them that they needed to eat the magic pumpkin before 'trick or treating'...no dice but Ally did like the broth.

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil
2 cups chopped onion (about 2 medium)
5 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled fresh pumpkin (about 1 3/4 pounds)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
4 cups organic vegetable broth (such as Swanson Certified Organic)
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup dried small red lentils
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
6 lime wedges

Directions

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in pumpkin and next 7 ingredients (through jalapeño); cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until pumpkin is just tender. Stir in lentils; cook 10 minutes or until lentils are tender. Stir in salt and black pepper. Ladle stew into individual bowls; sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Light Bites - Tuscan Bean Soup

This week was my pick for the Light Bites Group. I picked this soup because it sounded interesting and healthy. I also wanted something I could put in the freezer and eat after baby #3 came. And this soup is packed with protein so a perfect baby moon food. I didn't know what to expect I am not a huge fan of bean soups, if I had my pick I would eat cream soups all the time. But I love soup and it breaks my heart that I am the only one in the family that loves soup. I let this soup simmer for a couple of hours on the stove and I kept tasting it and it was fairly bland but I resisted the temptation to add any more spice because I knew the balsamic vinegar at the end would either make it or break it. The balsamic tops it off so well and then the parmesan! Wow! It was delicious. I ended up changing this recipe a fair bit, not on purpose but out of lack of options and poor reading. I sent Mike to the store to get some canned chickpeas, he could only find a chickpea and fava bean combo so I thought, "Why not?" And then as I was opening the cans to make the soup, the can that I had in the pantry that I thought was chickpeas actually turned out to be lentils. So this in now a 3 bean Tuscan Soup. Enjoy!


Ingredients
Adapted from Cooking Light

2 cups finely chopped onion
8 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 teaspoon minced fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 (15 1/2-ounce) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained or a mixture of fava beans and lentils
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 to 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions
Spray a large soup pot with pam quite liberally. Add onion and garlic, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the water and the next 5 ingredients (water through tomatoes), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.
Place 2 cups soup in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Pour the pureed soup into a bowl. Repeat procedure with 2 cups soup. Return all pureed soup to pan. Stir in the vinegar, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Spoon 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 6 bowls; sprinkle each serving with 1 tablespoon cheese.