I don’t know about you, but here in New York, we’ve gone through about 3 seasons this week, and now it seems to be fall here again for some reason?! I thought it would be a perfect day to share this recipe straight from the mailbag! (Note: If you’re vegetarian just leave the chicken out of this one..)

This one comes from Andrea, who sent me this recipe for chicken soup with a twist. If you can’t find yucca where you live you can always substitute potatoes in this recipe.

This recipe is a House of Brown staple. I love that I can get all of the ingredients from the corner store, and whip the whole thing up in an hour. Very budget friendly!

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Curry*

Ingredients:

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Curry over Red Quinoa

• 2 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
• 1 small onion chopped
• 4 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 tbsp of fresh ginger chopped
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp of chili powder or red pepper flakes
• 1 large or two small sweet potatoes cut into 1/2″ cubes
• 1 can of drained chickpeas (garbanzo beans) or 1.5 cups of dried chickpeas that have soaked overnight

Here’s my contribution to Meatless Monday. This is one of my favorite things to make  because it’s so quick and easy, and everyone thinks I took all day! I got this recipe from AllRecipes.com It tastes great served over brown rice or quinoa.

Red Lentil Curry Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups red lentils
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons curry paste (I found some at Fairway market, but you can get this at any specialty store, )
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ginger root, minced
• 1 (14.25 ounce) can tomato puree

Directions

1. Wash the lentils in cold water until the water runs clear (this is very important or the lentils will get “scummy”), put the lentils in a pot with water to cover and simmer covered until lentils tender (add more water if necessary).
2. While the lentils are cooking: In a large skillet or saucepan, caramelize the onions in vegetable oil.

This is so easy and sooo good!

My friend Gen came up with this one. (Look for more recipes from Gen in the future, he’s an AWESOME cook).
Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing Recipe

Ingredients:
4 lemons
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsps dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1/2-3/4 cup of olive oil

Directions:
Blend the first 4 ingredients in a blender or food processor until combined. Then (while the blender or food processor is running) slowly drizzle in olive oil

I know winter is almost over, but but it’s a crummy cold day here in NY. I found this recipe on suite101 awhile back, and altered it for my tastes. I can’t wait to get home and make this one tonight! (It’s vegan, but you won’t care, trust me)

Homemade Quick Hot Chocolate

Total time: 10 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp. organic or raw brown sugar (you can use vegan sugar too!)
  3 tbsp. cocoa (I use the Hershey kind that comes in a can)
  ½ tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)
  2 1/3 cups plain (almond or rice) milk*
  ½ tsp. vanilla

These are really flavorful and go great with the Easy Flavorful Hummus, I posted last week. and since they’re baked and not fried, they’re better for you!

Ingredients:

• 6 white corn tortillas
• 1/2 lime
• salt
• pepper
• cumin
• garlic
• chilli powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put 3 tbsps of olive oil in a glass bowl or cup. Squeeze the half of lime into the oil and mix well. Stack the tortillas, and cut them in fourths.

cut tortillas

Arrange them on a cookie sheet and brush the lime olive oil mixture onto each side of the tortillas, then sprinkle with the remaining ingredients.

brush with lime/oil

sprinkle with spices

Bake for 15mins, or until the chips are crispy and the edges start to brown.

All Done!

This makes 24 chips. Just right for Sexy and me to eat with salsa dring the game. Feel free to double or triple the amount of tortillas in this recipe. You won’t need that much more oil and lime though.  Try it and lemme know how it goes!

Hummus is basically a chickpea spread that is a very popular middle-eastern dish. Not only is it cheap to make, it’s high in protein. It makes a great spread on sandwiches in place of mayo, and of course a great meal when paired with pita bread and/or veggies.I have discovered that I get a more flavorful hummus if I use dried beans rather than canned. I’m trying to wean us off of canned stuff anyway. (There are tons of BPAs that are in the linings of cans that leech into the food itself).

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried chickpeas soaked over night (or 1 can of chickpeas)
• 3 tablespoons tahini paste  at room temperature*
• A handful fresh flat-leaf parsley (or 1 tbsp dried)
• 1 roasted red pepper chopped
• 1/4 cup lemon juice or juice of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon  ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 4 small whole garlic cloves
• 1 tsp paprika (optional)
• 1 tbsps olive oil (optional)

Directions:

1. Rinse chickpeas after soaking overnight. Put chickpeas back in pot and fill with water until it’s 2″ higher than the beans. Put garlic cloves in with beans and bring to a boil. Then lower the fire and simmer covered for 40 mins. (If you’re using canned beans skip this step)
2. While the chickpeas and garlic are cooking chop the parsley and peppers and squeeze the lemon into a cup or bowl.
3. When the chickpeas are done (you’ll know because they’ll smash easily between your fingers) drain them but save 1/2 cup of the water they were cooking in.
4. Put chickpeas ans garlic into food processor or blender and blend until well blended
5. Add the tahini and blend again
6. Finally add the rest of the ingredients and continue blending until smooth. For smoother hummus, add more of the chickpea water, for firmer hummus add less (I like firm myself, cuz it’s more “scoopable”)
7. Transfer to a container with a lid, and drizzle the olive oil over the top and sprinkle with paprika for garnish.

Done! This is a great little snack to take to work with you!

This recipe makes about 2.5 cups of hummus. And since a serving is only 1/4 cup, you get quite  bit! It lasts about2 weeks in the fridge. If you’re using dried beans, this costs less than $8 a batch to make!

*Note: Tahini is sesame seed paste, and it can be expensive. (I’ve seen it at TJ’s and Whole Foods for as much as $17!) I have found some for cheaper that’s available in the Savvy Shop under Food/Condiments for $6. Check it out here. Since you don’t use much, it will last you for several recipes!

Do you make your own hummus? What do you use?

I made this for dinner on Friday night for the big NYC snowstorm that never happened…

Ingredients:

2 cups rigati pasta (you can use ziti, or rotelle even shells if you want, try whole grain!)
4 baby portabello mushrooms
15 grape tomatoes (or 8 cherry)
1/2 med onion
1/2 large green pepper
1/2 cup salsa
2 tbsp olive oil (first cold pressed extra virgin)
2 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic

Makes five 3/4 cup servings. 1 serving = 220cal

Seasonings: chopped fresh is always best, but dry is just fine
- rosemary
- thyme
- oregano
- garlic powder
- salt
- pepper

What you’ll need:
- 1 pot for the pasta
- 1 large saucepan for veggies
- 1 small pan for sauteeing mushrooms

I’ve made this a bunch of times before, but I JUST realized that the trick to making this simple dish successfully is the ORDER in which you cook the ingredients.

Directions:

1. Pour 3 cups of water into the pot and set to boil.
2. While the water is getting hot, chop veggies, onion and garlic.
3. While chopping the veggies, add olive oil to the large saucepan till hot.
4. Cook onion and peppers in oil in large saucepan until the peppers are tender and the onion is clear.
5. While the onion and peppers are cooking, put butter into the small pan and melt.
6. Add pasta to the now boiling water. In the large saucepan, add the tomatoes and all of the seasonings, (just shake a little of each on the mixture and stir, we’ll be adding more in later).
7. Coat onion, peppers and tomatoes in spices for a minute, then add the salsa.
8. Stir, cover and simmer. Add the mushrooms to the small pan and sautee with garlic powder.
9. Drain the pasta, and run cold water over it. Then toss pasta into the saucepan with with vegetable mixture and stir.
10. Add some more seasonings to taste and serve immediately.

Hope you like!

It was rainy and crummy on Monday, so I decided to make soup for dinner. I headed on over to one of my favorite new blogs Broke Ass Gourmet, (yes you read that right) to see what I could find. Gabi Moskowitz has a great selection of recipes with simple ingredients many of them for $10 or less ! Right up my alley. It came out really good!

Sweet potato-Coconut Soup

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 6-oz. can coconut milk
• juice and zest of 1 lime
• 4 cups (32 oz.) chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1 small piece ginger, peeled and minced
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large soup pot and cover. Bring to a light boil. Reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are very soft. Puree in a blender, food processor directly in pot using an immersion blender.

Ladle into bowls and serve

Serves 2-3.

For the full recipe and many others click here

I’ve fallen in love with greek yogurt. There’s a few brands out there, among them Fage (pronounced Fah-yeh), Oikos ( by Stonyfield Farm) and Chobani. Greek yogurt is much thicker than regular yogurt because it has a higher fat content and is strained longer. The result makes it the consistency of sour cream, but the higher fat content gives it more protein as well.

1/4 cup (2oz.) plain 2% greek yogurt
1.5 tbsps strawberry preserves
1 tsp ground flaxseed (optional)

Cal: 125; Pro: 5gms

The thing I love about it is that because it’s so thick, I eat a lot less and it fills me up! (I usually buy the 2% or 0% fat versions to keep the calories down). It can be expensive, up to $2 each for a small 5.3 oz.container. I find it’s much more cost effective to buy it in the larger 17oz. container at $5. I can get 6.5 servings out of the larger container by just adding my own fruit! Preserves are more natural than jams or jellies, it’s made with real fruit and there’s no high-fructose corn syrup added, Polaner makes some that’s great, but I like buying it fresh from the farmer’s market when I can. Flaxseed is excellent at lowering cholesterol, blood pressure and inflammation.