Black and Red Lentil Chili & a Few Favs

Time to do some posting! The dreaded bronchitis/laryngitis paid me an annual visit and I'm finally on the downhill side of it. Ugh! It just wipes me out every year; and no matter what preventatives I try it still gets me. Lots of catching up to do now. 

I've been seeing a few recipes lately using black beluga lentils which I have always wanted to try. I can't find them at any of the stores I shop at so I ordered some online. 

I found this chili recipe here at fatfreevegan.com. 

Look how tiny the black lentils are compared to the red. They're so cute! 

The black lentils turn brown after cooking. Lots of spices, and fire-roasted tomatoes in this chili. I added some chopped fresh spinach at the end of cooking just until it wilted. Yummy garnished with some chopped cilantro. I made a pan of Wolffie's 'Buttermilk' Cornbread from La Dolce Vegan to eat with this hearty chili. 

Black Beluga Lentils in a jar! 

Can't wait to try some more recipes using them. 

I made a few easy favorites including:

Vegan "Sausage" Hash from La Dolce Vegan

using Field Roast Breakfast Sausage (which my local Sprouts now carries. Yay!) served with Smoky Collard Greens with Veg Bacon from Betty Goes Vegan. 

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches and Coleslaw from Give Them Something Better. 

And I made this pizza using canned pizza crust, pizza sauce; topped with crumbled veggie meatballs, sauteed zucchini and red onion, and Daiya mozzarella shreds.  

I messed up and didn't pre-cook my crust a little so I never could get the bottom of the pizza totally done. Lesson learned for next time! 

Green & Red Lentil Enchiladas

I have had the ingredients to make these enchiladas for awhile now and I finally felt well enough to try it out. The recipe is from Peas and Thank You and is fairly simple to put together. I have made many enchilada casseroles in my day and that is what I chose to do with this one. Rolling the lentil filling into each individual corn tortilla is time-consuming, messy and not necessary. I just tore the  corn tortillas in pieces and made three layers with the lentil filling and cheese and then topped it with more cheese, the green enchilada sauce and black olives. Sooo much easier and still just as delicious! 

~ Green and Red Lentil Enchilada Casserole ~

I topped the enchiladas with shredded romaine, chopped tomatoes, cilantro, green onions, and some picante sauce. This makes great left-overs; it's a keeper and the hubby agrees. 

Two quick and easy meals when I don't feel like cooking:

Bean Burritos! 

Marc's Magnificent Noodles

from The Garden of Vegan

Lots of yummy soba noodles along with spinach, garlic, miso, flax oil and green onions.

Red Lentil Dal with Red Beans & Greens

Another "greens" recipe from Wild About Greens. This calls for some curry powder or garam masala. I was out of my homemade garam masala so I mixed up some more. It's an easy recipe out of  La Dolce Vegan. 

Six ingredients for the garam masala. 

~coriander, cumin, cardamom, ginger, allspice and pepper~

My favorite vegan naan bread from Sprouts. I like to keep a bag of this in my freezer. 

~ Red Lentil Dal with Red Beans & Greens ~

The red lentils and seasonings get cooked down to a mush for easy dipping. Then you add in some kidney beans and greens; I used spinach and arugula. The recipe calls for 8-10 oz. of greens but after adding about 4-6 oz. I couldn't imagine adding another 4 ounces into the dal. That was a lot of greens! Of course this wasn't spicy enough for me and it seemed kind of bland so I had to add some more salt, cilantro and sriracha sauce. 

Red Lentil Dal

VegCookbookClub November recipes from Forks Over Knives The Cookbook:

 

I love red lentils. So many different ways to use them in recipes. I like the way they cook down and get mushy! I'm not a stickler for no oil cooking so I used a Tbsp. of olive oil to saute' the onions. If you make this recipe definitely add the lemon zest at the end of cooking. It gives it a bright, fresh taste. I hadn't cooked in awhile so I used up all the odds and ends of veggies I had in the fridge. Just got back from the grocery store today and wow!-did I buy alot of veggies and fruit. Now I can get back to cooking again.

I served the Red Lentil Dal with garlic sauteed spinach, steamed broccoli and Sweet 'N' Sour Red Cabbage from La Dolce Vegan. Everything went together deliciously. I topped my red lentil dal with a little sriracha sauce for a some kick.

Red Lentil Pasta~pg. 137

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Great dinner tonight~loved this recipe and so easy! I substituted the cashews for toasted pine nuts. Yum. I served the sauce over spelt udon noodles. I love soba and udon noodles and I haven't been able to find any vegan noodles in any of the four grocery stores I checked. So I finally got online at https://www.edenfoods.com/ and ordered a sampler pack of different types of udon and soba noodles and one big package of 100% buckwheat soba noodles. I love using those in Sarah's recipe for Seaweed Soup (LDV pg. 104). That's for lunch today using the leftover noodles!

Wendy's Lentil & Brown Rice Casserole~pg. 140

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

 

 

I've made this casserole several times. So easy-just dump everything in the dish and pop it in the oven. It does have to cook for 1 1/2 hours and needs stirring every 30 minutes but I can handle that! Intstead of the can of crushed tomatoes the recipe called for, I used a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes. It gave it an extra smoky flavor. It goes really well with the Sweet 'N' Sour Red Cabbage, steamed summer squash and garlic/nooch bread.

Vegetable Biryani~pg. 150

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Lovely one pot dish! I added 2 cups chopped baby spinach with the peas and used dried mint instead of fresh. This was rather mild for my taste so I added sriracha sauce and a little Bragg's Liquid Aminos to mine. My hubby thought the flavor was just right. I'm running out of recipes to cook out of La Dolce Vegan besides desserts (which I don't need too many of those)! So I'm trying to get organized for the week and make a list of things to cook for supper. Hopefully, I'll succeed and not succumb to a crappy veggie delite sandwich from subway-ugh! If I don't have things planned out in advance I fall right into a funk and take the easy way out. Blame it on the bipolar and OCD! My husband took me grocery shopping yesterday so I can stock up for the week. Whew! By the time I got home and put everything away I took a 3 hour nap-I guess that happens when you had back surgery only a week and a half ago.

Jen's Ginger Butternut Lentil Soup~pg. 113

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

This is similar to a few other soups we've made. I've made this one before and like the flavor of the butternut squash and ginger together. I served it with Sassy Sandwich Bread (pg. 271) and Mushroom Pate'-Veggie Spread for my husband! (pg. 60).

Cauliflower Red Lentil Soup~pg. 107

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Didn't have time to take a fancy picture on this one, I was busy babysitting my grandson! I have made this soup several times. I like the combination of cauliflower, red lentils and the cilantro (of course). I have made a decision to skip a few of the high sugar desserts; all that sugar really messes me up. I'm skipping the Cinnamon Doughnut Holes and Basic Cake Glaze for now. I might be inclined to make it in the future though! I would like to try this challenge again next year using a healthy vegan cookbook. Any ideas?

Coconut Curry Red Lentil Soup~pg. 106

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Okay, next to this recipe I had written "delicious, yummy, excellent, make again!" So now I'm making again!!I think when I originally made this soup it was the first time I had used coconut milk. It adds such a creamy, smooth flavor that I love. I never blend my soup all the way; I like a few chunks of yam and potato. And, of course, my favorite cilantro is in there, too!

Red Lentil Sauce~pg. 182

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I chose to serve my red lentil sauce over soba noodles. I really like the flavor of this sauce; the 1/4 tsp. cinnamon gives it a spicy, sweet flavor. It's so easy to make I'll be using this one alot!

Raunchy Red Lentil Soup~pg 106

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Can you tell I like cilantro?! I have made this soup several times and it's a winner every time. I served this with Faux Parmesan (see post from 9/2) Garlic Sourdough Bread.