RECIPE: Everything-But-the-Kitchen-Sink Lentil Soup

I'm sure every frugal cook has their own version of "anything goes" soup; this is mine! It's a bit of a joke around our house that when we have this soup for dinner I've managed to make a meal out of stuff most people would have thrown out. Honestly, even though that's sometimes pretty close to the truth, it's still one of the best soups I make. Although it never comes out exactly the same twice, it always makes a tasty and filling meal.

Basic soup:

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 cups water

1 carrot, diced

1 cup frozen peas or green beans

1 cup dried red lentils

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

¾ - 1 cup crushed tomatoes

juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp dried parsley (or ¼ cup fresh minced)

In a large saucepan, saute garlic and onions in oil until tender. Add stock, water, carrots, peas, lentils, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are tender (about 10-15 minutes). Add the crushed tomatoes, lemon juice and parsley and simmer another 10-15 minutes to allow flavours to blend.

Possible additions

I've successfully used all of the following in this soup:

-leftover cooked vegetables (in place of the carrots and peas)

-small amounts of leftover gravies and sauces

-scraps of cheese or the last bit of sour cream from the bottom of the container

-small amounts (less than 1/2 cup) leftover mashed potatoes

-leftover cooked rice or barley (or any cooked grain)

-finely diced leftover meat

Depending on how many additions you use, you may need to add some more water or stock to thin it out a bit.

What's your favourite go-to dish for using up a bunch of leftovers?

I shared this recipe at Full Plate Thursday,  Frugal Food Thursday, Recipe Swap Thursday, Tip Day Thursday, Friday Favorites, Fat Camp Friday, and the GCC Recipe Swap.

RECIPE: Build a Cucumber and Bean Salad

I've seen a lot of cucumber salad recipes flying around the internet lately - must be a sign of spring! Everyone in my family adores cucumbers, and we finally have local, reasonably-priced ones available again (after a loooong winter!), so I figured I'd whip up a cucumber salad of my own. One of the recipes I saw used chickpeas, and since I still have a lot of chickpeas in the freezer from the last time I cooked up a batch from dried, I decided to start with a cucumber and one can's worth of chickpeas and see where I went from there. Since we also had sweet peppers (also for the first time since fall!) I couldn't resist throwing some in for colour and crunch. Before I knew it, I had a gorgeous-looking salad that ended up being a huge hit with my family. This is definitely going to be a spring & summer staple around our house from now on!

To make the salad as pictured:

1 seedless cucumber, sliced and quartered
1/2 a red pepper, chopped
1/2 a yellow pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can, drained and rinsed)
2 green onions, chopped

Dressing:
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

In a medium sized casserole or serving dish, combine the cucumber, peppers, chickpeas and green onions.

In a small bowl, combine the dressing ingredients and stir until well blended. Pour over cucumber mixture, and stir gently until well blended.

That's it! Super easy, but super delicious (and really, isn't that the best kind of recipe?)

You could easily vary the ingredients, using what you have on hand, and come up with a winner every time! I've made this salad twice already, and the second time I tossed in some chives from my garden and some diced-up mozzarella. YUM! Feta would also be fantastic in this salad. When I had it for lunch the next day, I threw in some chopped avocado (no-one else in my family likes avocado, lol!) You could use white beans in place of the chickpeas, and tomatoes in place of (or in addition to) the peppers. For a Southwestern variation, use black beans instead of chickpeas, corn instead of yellow peppers, and lime juice instead of white wine vinegar. And throw in some avocado, too, unless you, too, have a family of avocado haters! You could sprinkle a bit of cumin and chili powder into the dressing as well, to give it a bit of a spicy kick.

There are enough possibilities for this salad to keep me experimenting all summer long. I'd love to hear what variation of this recipe becomes your "family favourite"!

The Value of Cooking Creatively

Cooking from scratch is almost always cheaper than eating out (unless you're cooking lobster and filet mignon at home!) But I think the skill that sets the really frugal cook apart from the rest is knowing how to "cook on the fly" and use what they've got on hand. This skill is the difference between always having to run out for one or two missing ingredients and easily substituting with what you've already got. It's also the difference between using up all those little bits and pieces hanging around in the fridge, or letting them all go to waste. Meredith at Like Merchant Ships recently commented on this when she was faced with astronomically priced celery and a desire to make chicken salad. What to do? Get creative!

In order to be really creative in the kitchen, a cook needs to be experienced enough to know what flavours and textures will work together well, and which will yield a less-than-edible result. Starting out with small substitutions and working towards more major ones will allow you to gradually test the waters and learn as you go without wasting too much food in the process.

Last night I was rooting around in the fridge and realized I still had quite a bit of my CSA veggies left from last week (and it was time to pick up more!) So my goal for dinner was to use up the most-likely-to-spoil-soon candidates and still produce something tasty. I had half a bag of spinach and 1/3 bunch fresh basil, as well as a bit of whipping cream lurking in the back of the fridge about to expire. I also had about half a dozen boneless, skinless chicken drumsticks I had bought on sale that I wanted to use up.

A plan started to develop as I surveyed my ingredients. I recalled a dish I had made several years ago from Anne Lindsay's Lighthearted Everyday Cooking that had similar flavours, but used scallops instead of chicken. Quickly rummaging through my cookbook pile, I located the recipe. Yes, it used spinach. I could sub chicken for scallops. The basil would work well with this combination. The original called for cream cheese and chicken broth, neither of which I had on hand (yes, they're both on my Pantry List, but I'm overdue for a grocery shop!) I combined the whipping cream with a bit of coffee cream, and figured that would be a reasonable substitution taste and texture wise since heavy cream will cling to pasta nicely. I decided to add some garlic (if you haven't noticed yet, I can't really live without it!) and more parmesan cheese than originally called for (only 2 tbsp!)

Here's what I came up with:

[My apologies for the rather ghastly photo - I found out my camera batteries were dead when I went to snap a pic. This was the best I could do with my hubby's cell phone camera!]

Lemony Chicken and Spinach Pasta
This ended up being a phenomenal hit with my husband - he gives it his highest rating! In case you're wondering (since there are 4 of us here) I made spaghetti with plain tomato sauce for my older son who is vegetarian (and doesn't like spinach, lol!)
Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 3 (could easily be doubled)

Ingredients:

1/2 lb spaghetti
2 tbsp olive oil
6 boneless, skinless chicken drumsticks, chopped into approx. 1/2" pieces
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream (if you don't have quite enough, you can add milk to get the right volume)
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
2 cups shredded spinach
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

1. Cook spaghetti in boiling water until al dente, drain.

2. While spaghetti is cooking, saute onions and garlic in olive oil for 1-2 minutes. Add chicken and cook until no trace of pink remains. Add basil and cook 1 minute longer, then add cream, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes until hot and bubbly.

3. Add spinach and Parmesan. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until spinach begins to wilt. Remove from heat.

4. Toss sauce and pasta together and serve immediately.

Learning to Embrace Leftovers

I am always surprised when someone expresses their utter disdain for leftovers. I have been a long-time fan of them, myself, for many reasons. Firstly, I can use them to help put together a meal faster than usual on a night where I don't have much time or energy. In addition, the wise and creative use of leftovers means that nothing is going to waste, keeping my grocery bill down! And I admit I feel more than a little satisfaction in creating something delicious out of items a lot of people might have just tossed in the garbage.

A few evenings ago, my husband was out at dinner time and my motivation for cooking for myself and my two boys was running low (sometimes it's hard to muster up my cooking enthusiasm when I know they'd be just as happy with a peanut butter sandwich!)

I rooted around in the fridge for a couple of minutes, and came up with: 2 baked potatoes (leftover from burger night), half a carton of sour cream, a few strips of bacon and a jar of salsa with a few spoonfuls left at the bottom. I also had some garlic chives poking up in the veggie garden. Inspiration struck and I came up with the following:

Spicy Potato, Bacon, and Onion Hash

2-3 strip of bacon
2 baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small onion, chopped
2 tbsp canola oil
3-4 tbsp salsa
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
sour cream and garlic chives for garnish

In a small frying pan, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove from pan. Saute the potatoes and onion in the oil until onions are tender and potatoes turn golden brown. Add salsa, salt and pepper and mix well. Crumble bacon and add to potato mixture. Cook for a minute or two longer. Spoon out onto serving plates and garnish with sour cream and garlic chives.

To round out our meal, I scrambled up some eggs and toasted the last few slices of homemade bread we had on hand. This turned out to be a deliciously satisfying meal!

I hope I've convinced you that leftovers are a good thing - they can be the springboard to a tasty, something-for-almost-nothing culinary creation.