Winter
Roasted Eggplant and Lentil Soup
Yeah, so remember how I said all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch with a blanket? Apparently it’s not because it’s fall… it’s because I’m sick! Ugh. I have a terrible cold – the worst one I’ve had in years. Three of the last four meals I’ve eaten have been soup. Luckily, I have a big pot of this roasted eggplant and lentil soup in the fridge, so all I have to do is heat it up (which is about all I have the energy for right now).
This soup is just want I need though. It’s rich, earthy, and slightly spicy, with a subtle Middle Eastern flavor from roasted eggplant, tomatoes, and ras el hanout. A dollop of coconut yogurt finishes it off and balances out the spiciness.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
I feel like I’ve been posting an overabundance of desserts lately – that was definitely due to a very poorly planned editorial calendar for this month. I have a few more sweets planned for next week but I have some great savory recipes planned for early October. (And I promise, what I have in store for next week is definitely worth it!)
But for today, let’s eat soup. I took a quick facebook poll to see what people wanted me to post next and soup won by a landslide. I love that you all love soup as much as I do! This chicken tortilla soup is one of my new favorites. It’s rich, spicy, and super satisfying.
Veal + Lentil Bolognese
Do you have a few hours with nowhere to go? Grab your biggest pot and make this Bolognese – you’ll be glad you did!
I wish I had a story to tell you about this recipe, but I really don’t. I made it last Saturday, which was rainy and cold. We stayed in and let it simmer all afternoon while we did work around the house – Bolognese is simple to make, but it needs to cook for a few hours in order to thicken up and let the flavors develop. It smelled absolutely amazing while it cooked; we kept wandering into the kitchen to check up on it. It felt like an eternity had passed by the time we sat down to eat, but it was well worth it.
Braised Eggplant with Ground Lamb
I’m so excited to finally share this braised eggplant with ground lamb with you all – I made it almost a whole month ago and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since!
The recipe came out of a craving for eggplant… for days, all I wanted was eggplant that was cooked until it was so tender that it collapsed in on itself. I had no idea what I wanted the rest of the meal to be, but once I got the image of that eggplant in my head I just couldn’t shake it. The end result – tender, braised eggplant and tomatoes cooked with richly spiced lamb and topped with cool yogurt sauce and tangy cucumbers – ended up being perfect and is one of my favorite meals of 2012.