Better Than Chicken Noodle Soup (Tempeh and Lentil Soup)

3 weeks ago I had had the general icky cold since September
2 weeks ago the common cold stepped it up a notch and sent me home for the weekend
1 week ago I had some sort of flu bug
This week? Sore throat.

After living off of these for a bit...

I decided that cough drops, water, and juice weren't going to cut it.  Something else had to be done to get me out of the sickness rut.  I opened up the cupboards and gathered some ingredients and set out to make a healing soup.  A soup that would replace Chicken Noodle Soup.  I always dreaded being sick because well being sick is no fun.  But even worse than being sick was eating disgusting Chicken Noodle Soup.

My goal today was to make a soup that would ease the pain of getting sick, to make a soup that would almost make getting sick something to look forward to.

What started out as just a simple soup turned into a complete delicious healing lunch.  Just like the one's my mom used to make me, but minutes the icky chicken noodle soup (and steaming my face over a pot of boiling water- I always hated that too!).  You know you've really grown up when you have to make your own lunch of healing goodness when you're sick...

The healing lunch not only had the double action of veggie broth goodness from the soup and a vitamin c boost from the grapefruit.

 But I took it a step further with the patented trifecta healing approach, #1. soup, #2. tea, and last but not least #3. citrus.

The tea and the grapefruit are no brainers...but what in the world did I put in this soup to make it SO delicious?

Better Than Chicken Noodle Soup (Tempeh and Lentil Soup)


Ingredients:
4 cups vegetable broth (or use 4 cups water + 4-5 tsp vegetable bullion)
½ cup lentils
2 tbsp olive oil
8 oz. tempeh, cubed (I used wild rice tempeh but plain would work too)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
½ large onion, chopped
2-3 medium carrots, diced
1-2 stalks celery, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 tsp Rosemary
1 tsp oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
Add lentils, bay leaves, rosemary, and oregano to 4 cups broth. Bring to a boil and then let it simmer on high for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile in a skillet heat olive oil then add the onion, garlic and tempeh. Sauté the mixture until the tempeh has browned slightly and the onions are translucent. When the lentils have cooked for 15 minutes or are almost done, add chopped carrots to broth mixture and finish cooking lentils. (I always add the carrots to soup before the rest of the veggies because they take longer to cook) Then add the celery and the sautéed mixture to the broth and stir. Taste, and add spices to adjust.  Cover and let the soup simmer for 5-10 minutes to really bring out the flavors of the spices.  Enjoy! You should be feeling better in no time.

Of course the tea, soup and grapefruit were wonderful.  But they were even better with a hearty slice of whole wheat bread on the side :)

Really it doesn't get much more comforting than lentil and tempeh in vegetable broth.  I've only recently discovered lentils, but now I know I have really been missing out for 20 years.  And tempeh is like tofu's older brother more sophisticated, complex, and delicious!  I don't think I'll be buying much tofu anymore...

This lunch was gone before I knew it.  I probably could have eaten the entire pot of soup I made.  But since I have grown up I controlled myself, put myself down for a nap, and saved the soup for tomorrow.  I'm sure my poor sore and scratchy throat will thank me during tomorrow's leftover lunch when I don't have to eat leftover Devil's Vegetarian Chili ;)

Do you like chicken noodle soup?

Bulk Bin Millet Salad

Today's lunch salad was inspired by my mom's amazing canned jalapenos and all of the bulk bin dried goods I have stockpiled in my cupboards.


I started with 1/2 cup Millet. I've never made it before so the whole toasting part was weird for me, I didn't know you couldn't just boil millet like rice or quinoa. After toasting it I added to 1 cup of boiling water and added in 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 medium onion, paprika, cayenne, cumin, and chili powder to taste.

Since this is my first time cooking millet I decided to look up the health benefits:

-Good source of phosphorus (needed to develop and repair body tissue)
-Good source of magnesium (reduces frequency of migraines, lessens the severity of asthma attacks, promotes heart health, lowers bad cholesterol)
-Good source of manganese (may help reduce risk of type 2 diabetes)
-Helps prevent gall stones (because it is a good source of fiber)
-Protects against breast cancer (fiber from whole grains/fruits has this effect)

Many whole grains have these same amazing cancer/heart/diabetes preventing abilities, so be sure to eat whole grains regularly to stay healthy. As always though be sure to read the ingredients list on products claiming to be made with whole grains to make sure it's not just a Misleading Food Label.


Then I boiled up some kidney beans and 1/2 cup lentils. Do you like my skillet as a lid? Haha this was before my roommate told me where she's been hiding all the lids. (Thanks for putting away all the dishes Ed!)

When all the legumes and grains were done coking I added the kidney beans and lentils to the Millet spice mixture.

Then I got to the good stuff...



A good helping of jalapeno peppers, and some of the juices from the can (about 1/2-1 TBSP) and a couple dashes of Louisiana Hot Sauce. Stirred it all up, tasted, added more spice and dugggg in.


I topped mine with some hummus and a couple more peppers (FYI: I can, and do, eat these canned jalapeno peppers plain so you might not want to add as many as me!)



Bulk Bin Millet Salad

Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup dried Millet
1/2 cup dried Lentils
1/4 cup dried Kidney Beans
1/2 Medium Onion
2 cloves of garlic
~1 TBSP Chili Powder
~1 tsp paprika, cayenne, and cumin
1-3 TBSP Canned Jalapenos
1/2-1 TBSP Canned Jalapeno Juices
Louisiana Hot Sauce to taste (or any other vinegar based hot sauce)

Directions:
Toast millet in olive oil and once toasted transfer to a pot with 1 cup boiling water. Add onion, garlic and spices, and let simmer for about 25 minutes or until all the water has evaporated. While the millet cooks boil lentils and kidney beans in separate pots until soft. Lentils take about 25 minutes and Kidney beans closer to 40-50 minutes. When all the dried goods are done mix together in one bowl with hot sauce, canned jalapenos and canned jalapeno juices. Taste test and adjust to your liking by adding more spices, hot sauce or peppers.


A nice zoomed out picture that proves my life is not a Martha Stewart design catalog...I usually fool you with my close-ups to make it look like my apartment is clean...or that I'm not taking pictures in front of piles of my homework...

Oh and don't think I forgot about egg week...


This morning I met my goal to make THE perfect omelet!

Secrets to the Perfect (looking) Omelet:
-Evenly greased skillet.
-Small skillet so the eggs turn into a solid pancake egg.
-Stiff spatula (plastic ones are too flimsy for flipping, use metal)

This omelet looked and tasted delicious- I forgot how much I like hot sauce on eggs in the morning! I know not many people share this sentiment, but I really have grown up on spicy food.

Random weird fact: my dad and I like jalapeno peppers so much we put them on tuna salad on top of pepper jack cheese and a cracker for a good snack. My mom also taught me from a young age how to cook amazing spicy food. I think I hooked the BF when I cooked him Chicken Fajitas...I'll have to make a veggie version soon!

Do you like spicy food?