Spicy Red Lentil Soup

  

I'm a big fan of soups.  I love how the flavors come together to create something new, I love that they're usually good for several meals and I love that there's typically very few dishes when you're done cooking.  I hate dishes.  This is a great weeknight soup, it doesn't take forever to come together, especially because the red lentils cook faster than most of the other lentil varietals.

What you'll need:

• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 cup green chilies, diced (to taste for preferred spiciness)
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 ear of corn, kernels removed (about 1 cup)
• 1 T olive oil (or cooking oil of your choice)
• 1 cup red split lentils (tip: they're actually orange ;-)
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 4 cups water (or stock if you have some on hand)
• Avocado, cotija cheese (or feta), cilantro, sour cream, etc. for garnish
• 1 t. dried basil
• 1 t. dried oregano
• 1 t. cumin
• 1 T chili powder (to taste and depending on how many fresh chilies you put in).

Heat your olive oil over medium-high heat, add your celery, onion and green chilies and saute until translucent.

Add your corn and lentils and saute until the lentils begin to soften (just a few minutes).

Add your tomatoes, spices and water.

Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the lentils are tender and the veggies are cooked through.  The soup will thicken quite a bit, so feel free to add more water if you want it a little "soupier."

Garnish with everything but the kitchen sink!  And then try not to eat the whole pot, this stuff just gets better when it sits in the fridge a bit!

Whole30 Chili Recipes ~ Pork and Beef, for all your meaty needs!

My Grannie's Famous Pork Green Chili

What you'll need:

• 2 lbs. of pork loin or butt cut into cubes
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 T oil of your choice (I used grape seed)
• 1 cup hatch green chilies
• 1 T. minced garlic
• 6 cups stock (or water if you don't have any)
• 2 14 oz. cans of tomatoes
• 1 T chili powder
• salt, pepper and cayenne to taste

Heat your tablespoon of oil over medium heat and brown your pork, add the onions and saute until translucent.  Add all other ingredients, bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low.  Simmer for at least 60 minutes on low (up to 2 hours).  When pork is tender and flavors have melded, it's ready.  It's even better the next day after a night in the fridge!  Or freeze some for a "heck no, I'm not cooking dinner" kind of night.

My own made up Chili Con Carne with Beef Chorizo

What you'll need:

• 1 1/2 lbs. Beef Chorizo 
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 14 oz. can of tomatoes
• 4 cups stock (or water if you don't have any)
• 2 cups cauliflower diced into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cups garnet yam, peeled and diced into bite-sized pieces
• 1 T chili powder
• 1 t cayenne
• 1 t dried basil
• 1 t dried oregano
• avocado and cilantro for garnish

Brown your onion and chorizo over medium heat and then drain (my chorizo was SUPER fatty).  add your other ingredients (other than garnish) and simmer for about an hour.  This was really filling and lasted for a bunch of meals.  It would also freeze nicely.  I wasn't sure about the cauliflower and yam, but it ended up adding bulk and texture to the chili (like beans usually do) and I liked it.

A Whole30 Green Chili Pork Roast

On this Whole30 plan, I've been eating a lot more meat than I normally would.  Typically I don't make a whole roast when there's only me to eat it, but for the next few weeks, I'll have to make an exception. For whatever reason, I've been craving pork, so Sunday I did the traditional roast in the crock pot (well, maybe not that traditional).  This particular roast came from Niman Ranch, the same place that Chipotle sources much of their pork.

  

What you'll need:

• A pork roast (this one is boneless shoulder, but a pork butt or loin would work too) about 2 lbs.
• 1 cup green chilies.  I bought these in the freezer section; here in the southwest, frozen hatch chilies are pretty readily available.  If you can only get canned, use those, but maybe supplement with some fresh jalapeño if you want more heat.
• 2 cups stock, divided (I used my homemade stock, if you're buying it, make sure there's not added sugar/starches/etc.)
• 1 onion, chopped into about thumbnail-sized pieces 
• 1 can of diced tomatoes (again, check the label for added sugar)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp white pepper
• salt and pepper for the roast
• (not pictured) 1 T. of ghee to brown the roast.

 

Dry your roast with paper towels and then salt and pepper it generously before browning. Pre-heat your skillet on the stove to medium-high and add your ghee (ghee has a really high smoke point and is great for things like this).

Brown your roast on all sides.  I even stand mine up on the ends to brown those.  Once the browning is complete, put your roast in the crock pot on top of your diced onion. 

 De-glaze your skillet with 1 cup of stock, leaving all that good brown stuff behind would be a crime!

 

Add your other spices and ingredients to the crock pot, including the second cup of stock. 

 

Set your crock pot for six hours on low and try to stay away while it make your house smell amazing. 

 

 When it's done, it will look a little something like this.  Pull the meat out of the crock pot, cut off the strings if your roast has them.

Shred your meat with a couple of forks (or in my case a knife).  Make sure you use your most embarrassing hot pink plastic plates, if possible.

Add the meat back to the juices (though taste it plain first, it's amazing how the flavors really penetrate the meat.  You can eat the meat in lettuce wraps, which was my choice on night 1.  Then on night 2, I served it like a stew and topped it off with avocado and fresh cilantro. 

Both ways?  Completely delicious!