Indian Lentil Soup

Dede, a reader of Runs for Cookies, e-mailed this recipe to me when she learned I like lentils. She said she got it from the newspaper years ago and made a couple of changes. And then, because I can never leave a recipe alone, I made a change or two myself. ;)  I've been eating it every day for lunch, because it is delicious! Here is the recipe, with my changes:

Indian Lentil Soup

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of red lentils
4 cups of broth (I used chicken broth)
1 (15 oz) can of crushed tomatoes
1 medium potato (about 6 oz), peeled and diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. turmeric
dash (1/8 tsp) of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a soup pot over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Cook the onion for a few minutes, and then add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the broth, lentils, tomatoes, and spices, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially-cover it with a lid, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the carrots and potato, and simmer, covered, until veggies are just tender, about 20 minutes.  Makes 4 servings, about 1-2/3 cups each.

Homemade Chocolate Vitatops

One of my favorite snacks is a chocolate Vitatop with fat free Cool Whip. The Vitatops are so good, but SO expensive. So after buying a muffin top baking sheet at a garage sale, I decided to create my own Vitatops. You can find the original recipe here. I altered it to my liking.

Homemade Chocolate Vitatops

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Dash of salt

2 egg whites (or 3 Tbsp of liquid egg whites)

1/4 cup baby food prunes (you could use applesauce, but the baby food prunes are richer, sweeter, and have more fiber)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

A few chocolate chips to sprinkle on top (optional--I chose not to use them)

Combine all the wet ingredients in a bowl. Add the dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Pour a scant 1/4 cup of batter into a muffin-top pan (if you don't have a muffin top pan, you could probably make these in a regular muffin pan or just pour the batter into 1/4 cup mounds on a baking sheet).  Top with a sprinkle of chocolate chips, if you're using them. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and let them cool. Wrap individually and freeze. When you're ready to eat one, just unwrap it and nuke it in the microwave for 20 seconds. I love these topped with Cool Whip!

I got 9 1/2 muffins by using a full 1/4 cup. You could stretch it to 10 muffins if you use just barely shy of 1/4 cup of batter.

 

Pumpkin Craisin Walnut Bread

What could taste more fall-like than pumpkin, cranberries, and walnuts? I love to eat this spread with a little lot of peanut butter ;)

Pumpkin Craisin Walnut Bread

1 (15 oz.) can of pumpkin
1-1/3 cups of sugar
1/3 cup of canola oil
1/3 cup of unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup egg beaters (or egg whites)
2 whole eggs, beaten
3 cups of flour (I used white--normally I use whole wheat pastry flour in baked goods, but sometimes I just want bad-for-you flour)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking powder
4 oz. walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup of Craisins (dried cranberries)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients until smooth. Add the dry ingredients (except nuts and craisins) and stir just until combined. Fold in the nuts and craisins. Divide the batter into two loaf pans (sprayed with cooking spray). Bake at 350 for about 1 hour, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  If you cut each loaf into 12 servings, nutrition info per serving is: