Post Punk Kitchen Forum

i found out recently i am a tad bit anemic so i went hunting for lentil recipes.
normally the Lotsa Veggies Lentil soup wouldnt have really appealed to me but since i was specifically looking for lentil recipes i gave it a whirl.

it came out really good! i was surprised it wasnt bland.
i put 8 oz of tomato sauce in it cause that's the size can i found and i used kale instead of spinach cause that's what i had.
my only issue (which was my own fault) was that i dont think i let it cook long enough after i put the kale in and the kale was kinda chewy.

with kale, lentils, and then the tomato sauce for vit C to help absorption i called it Iron Stew.

I made the smoky split pea soup last night - it's good! Next time I will soak the peas beforehand though, I used yellow split peas and they took forever to cook, at least two hours, so my carrots are very mushy! Is there another type of pea I should be using?

No, that's the right type but Isa has magical split peas that cook quickly. It came up in Isa Does It testing too. I love that soup but I always soak the split peas now.

ive had split pea issues before. i dont remember if it was an Isa recipe or not but something i made with split peas needed to cook 10x longer than the recipe said and they were still crunchy when i got tired of waiting and started eating anyways.

clearly these pro chefs have a split pea secret!!! ;-)

How long do you guys soak them for?

Either in just boiled water for an hour or in cold water overnight. You'll need less liquid in the actual soup though, so start low and keep an eye on it.

Thanks, and after having the soup for lunch I need to amend my 'good' to 'delicious'! The flavours really melded and mingled over night (either that or I was too tired at 11.30pm to taste properly!). I did, however, have about two portions, so I'm now very full.

I'll definitely make it again, it's tasty, filling, and a good whack of protein for lunch - 380 cals and 26g protein (according to myfitnesspal) for two portions.

Finally gotten to the point with this book that we've made the same dishes a billion times, but there are still a few we haven't made at all. Need to try something new!

I recently made the trattoria bean salad dish that was really tasty! I didn't end up using arugula because my husband forgot to buy it, but romaine worked just fine as some greenery and freshness. Next time I make it I will use fewer onions though, I found myself picking out about half of them because it was just too zingy for my taste.

Thanks! I really love this soup but was sad when the peas never got soft, so I'll definitely make this again now. (I have the same issue with the pot pie stew, but I kinda like the crunch :P)

Get a pressure cooker and you will have split pea soup within minutes!!

I must have magical peas too. How strange!

Had baked falafel and hummus for a very WW friendly lunch.

And here I thought it was just *my* split peas that were strange and took forever to cook. Glad I'm not the only one!

OMG. Today I made one of my favourite AFR recipes, the Potato & Spinach Curry, and added cubed butternut squash along with the potatoes. It was awesome! I recommend waiting a bit longer before you add the squash, though, because mine utterly disintegrated. But it went perfectly with the other flavours.

About split peas, I feel like half the ones I ever try to cook (AFR recipe and others) take forever or never get soft... yellow or green.

I posted this on the vitamix thread, but if you have a vitamix or blendtec, you can grind split peas into split pea flour. I use that to make split pea soup and it cooks in about 10 minutes. Just whisk it into simmering water so it doesn't get lumpy, and then simmer. My DH hates pea soup, so I never used to make it because it was too much work just for me. Now I make it all the time because it's so easy. The only thing is they don't quite measure the same. I usually use 3 T of ground peas for 1/4 cup of regular split peas. I don't really know if that's the right conversion. I should really weigh them to be sure, but I don't have any whole split peas to use as comparison right now.

i made a bastardized version of the vietnamese noodle salad with grilled tofu.

i dont have a grill that can use inside so i pan fried it with soy sauce and some of the dressing.

i had some bean threads from New Years and i used those instead of noodles which was a major major fail. i ended up picking them out and tossing them out so there were no noodles in my noodle salad ;-)

i also didnt buy any mint cause i feel lik everytime i buy mint i never use all of it but i forgot you need it for both the salad and the gremolata so i probably could have used all of it.

so basically in the end i had a veggie salad with the tofu and dressing and topped with chopped peanuts ;-)

so even my fail version was pretty good

What are bean threads???

I was wondering that too!

I've seen noodles listed as bean threads that look like those little rice stick noodles in the Asian section of the grocery store.

My aunt ordered this! She wants to start eating more vegetarian. I've been talking it up to her since testing. I suggested she start with the soups and maybe the shepherds pie.

Mom and I are really hooked on the shepherds pie.

the bean threads i think were also called cellophane noodles?
we bought them to make spring rolls at new years.
you dont cook them you soak them in water for 10-15 mins then rinse and use.

we had some leftover from new years and i had no idea what to do with them so i used them in this but they are super chewy and i kept having to pick them out of my throat.

not sure why they work so well in a spring roll but were so wrong for a salad.

this is the kind i had

http://www.kame.com/products/bean-threads

Yes, I made the shepherds pie this week for the first time since testing and it much better than I remembered it being.

Just made the yam and black bean soup - I think I ruined it a little with the OJ... too sweet! Next time I will suck it up and use fresh squeezed like the recipe said (I need a reamer) or cut it with some water.

It's still very good and was really easy to make!

still trying to cram iron into my body via lentils so i made the lentil/eggplant chili mole last night.

it was good! my husband liked it too and i wasnt sure if he would cause he wasnt really into the other mole recipe in the book (i liked that one though)

i have to say though, i never realized before eggplant is an insanely farty vegetable.
after this recipe and after the shakshuka recipe from VEW it's been nothing but toots galore.