Thursday, November 11, 2010

Red-Bean, Lentil, and Spinach Soup


No those aren't Red beans, lentils or spinach... in fact it's not even my picture.  I stole it from another blog a hundred years ago because I love it so much... and if I had any exposure at all I probably shouldn't even post it as I can't credit it, but I want to say it was from Gluten Free Girl (now... and The Chef), but I can't be positive so sorry, sorry, whosever photo this is.  I just wish that my photo for this dish was that gorgeous... no my photo looks like this...


There is no amount of help or editing that can fix that photo.  I attempted to cut the worse out of it... but don't let it scare you... maybe another photo stolen from the original blog would be good... or you could just go to Anja's Food 4 Thought and search for this recipe.  She actually set up her shot instead of taking a photo at her desk fresh from the microwave while searching Forensic Journals.  I think my photo reflects my mood quite well in a tortured artist kind of way... Okay I'm not an artistic but I am tortured... Why do you ask?  OHHHHH let me tell you why.

I am tortured (and I'm sure some people out there can relate) because there are a few things people do not like to hear.... women people in particular.  The two big ones are 1) you're old and 2) you're fat.  And my OB who so lovingly told me not too many months ago... "If you're planning on more children Eileen, you had better get moving.  Reproduction is a young person's game."  Told me yesterday "You need to slow down your weight gain."  Why do I keep this woman around?

I must say I was a little taken aback.  I have felt pretty good about my weight this pregnancy, and not 5 minutes before was told by a nurse that I was fine when I cringed at the scale.  I don't care if I'm pregnant or not there is nothing that makes me feel good about seeing a scale creep up.

After the inital freak out I realized that I am totally okay with how much weight I have gained with my pregnancy.  It's not excessive and I'm still within the normal guidelines.  In fact I still have 10 pounds to go before I hit how much I gained with my daughter and my son, and I happen to have 10 weeks left so I am thinking that I will probably gain the same for this pregnancy as I did for the last two. 


Also, I should not be angry at someone for pointing out what I had already known.  It wasn't my pregnancy weight that was a problem it was my PRE-pregnancy weight.  Even though I lost all pregnancy weight after both of my children I wasn't where I wanted to be before I got pregnant.  In fact I have already been basking in delusions of getting up to nurse a new baby and doing a hand off to the husband for a 5:45am hot yoga class.  Insane visions of early evening runs with a double stroller and double babies (my son will always be a baby to me) to get rid of the extra wedded bliss that has collected on my already curvy frame.  Even when in my best shape, I'm still very.... well shapely.

So after a little denial, followed by some soul/stomach searching I realized man I'm being lazy.  It's no secret that I have been feeling lazy.  I work full-time, go to school full-time, have two kids, and another on the way, a cat, a house, etc., etc., but to BE lazy well that's another thing all together.


There have been far too many bagels to cross my palate over the last seven and a half months.  The once, once-a-week treat, has become a daily stop because I am apparently too lazy to pour a bowl of cereal or heat up the oatmeal like I did before I was pregnant.  And since when did I decide it was okay to drink soda every day?  I never used to drink soda.

And then in the midst of the denial of how healthy I have been eating little thought bubbles of fried potstickers, take out pizzas and occasional Blizzards (a never when not pregnant), settled in and made me realize.... in the weight gain range I wanted to be in or not I am feeding this poor baby a lot of junk food. 

When I was first pregnant the thought of grease made me ill and I was bound to fresh veggies, fruit, rice, and lean proteins.  Which was great because I didn't need to think about eating healthy, it was all I could eat.  Some how that has slipped and must be rectified.  Step one: Bagel ban for the next few weeks.  I will be making  the best granola ever to eat with my low-fat Greek yogurt and berries. 

And for lunch to kill not one or two but THREE birds with one stone.  I  made Red-bean, lentil, and spinach soup last night.  This will help with healthier lunches, budgeting objectives, and last but certainly not least project DO NOT FREEZE to death while waddling your pregnant butt through the soup place line during the winter months. 

The only thing missing are the scones.  I've told you about the scones.  To round out soup as a meal you really need some kind of bread product.  So I am making scones tonight.... I figure since there was only 1 tablespoon of oil in the entire vat of soup the two can fight it out on the way to my stomach!  Maybe I can appease the guilt and calorie counting doctor by making mini-scones (update I did make some mini scones... of course I ate two so it was futile).


Red Bean and Spinach Soup
adapted ever so slightly from Anja's Food 4 Thought Blog
Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups cooked red kidney beans (I used a whole smallish sized can because I was in a hurry)
1/2 cup red lentils (I used a little more than 1/2 cup and split it between red lentils and brown lentils)
4 cups vegetable stock
1 lemon, juice of
1 teaspoon dried mint (I left this out)
2 cups fresh spinach, finely chopped (I used frozen, and used 2 cups while it was still frozen.  I would cut   
it back to 1 cup next time)

Method

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onions, garlic and spices until onions are soft. Stir in the beans, lentils, lemon juice, mint and vegetable stock. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until lentils are tender, because I added the brown lentils they were not even close to tender at 20 mins.  If you choose to add extra lentils soak them for a few hours first at least.  I had to add extra water as well as it simmered so long I kept evaporating out my liquid.  Apparently although small those suckers are solid and need the soak.  Stir occasionally. Stir in spinach and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Ready to serve.

PS... click here for the scones.  Soooooo yummy.  I could only wish they were my recipe.  Of course no one cares whose they are while eating.  I used a biscuit cutter because they look cute as rounds instead of triangles but do whatever floats your boat.

No comments:

Post a Comment