Saturday, December 4, 2010

What's Cookin'

        What a lazy Saturday I've had.  Somedays you just want to curl up and stay inside.  Today was one of those days except we started out with ice skating at 9:00, had a brunch date with some distant cousins in town and had to do a little Christmas shopping for school families.  I did get to spend the afternoon home and somehow I lost my bag with my book in it for the entire afternoon so I didn't exit to my room to read like I often do on a lazy Saturday.  I ended up knitting (and napping) to some sappy tv Christmas movie my daughter was half watching as she played around the family room.  While I'm sad about not reading-I'm reading Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay-it was nice just to hang loose.  The book is very good but not an easy read so taking a break was okay except I have a sappy Christmas book to read for book club Monday night.-gotta get going on that one also and I'm having trouble mixing the two.

This is what I'm making right now to feed my family tomorrow.  Lazy but prepared is my motto.

Morroccan-Style Lentil and Chickpea Soup

1 T. olive oil
1 med. sized yellow onion, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
3 small garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp. peeled and minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 cup dried lentils, picked over and rinsed
One 14.5-oz can plum tomatoes, drained and chopped (I just used diced)
1 1/2 cups slow-cooked or one 15.5-oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
6 cups vegetable stock
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 to 2 tsp. harissa sauce, to taste, plus more to serve
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion, carrot, and garlic, cover, and cook until slightly softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the ginger, tumeric, cinnamon, cumin, and cardamom, stirring to coat the vegetables.

2. Transfer the onion mixture to a 4- to 6- quart slow cooker, add the lentils, tomatoes, chickpeas and stock, cover and cook on low for 6 hours. 

3. About 10 minutes before serving add the lemon juice and harissa and season with salt and pepper.  A small bowl of harissa may be placed on the table for those who want to add more.  (I'm not adding the harissa-a spicy chili mixture as it will make it too spicy for my children) if you want the harissa sauce recipe leave me a comment and I will get it to you.

This serves 6 and I'm hoping for leftovers so I can take it for lunch a few days this week. 
Rewritten from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker .
This is part of Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads.
Happy Cooking and Reading!

3 comments:

Beth F said...

Now that's my kind of soup -- I love legumes and dried peas/beans. And the spices sound perfect. Bake a hearty bread to go with and you have a great meal!

I was knitting a bit yesterday too while listening to an audiobook.

Kathy said...

This looks yummy. Maybe I'll put on my menu plan this week.

bermudaonion said...

Sounds like a great way to spend the day and a wonderful meal in this cold weather!