Moroccan Red Lentil Soup

A very savory soup that has virtually no fat-I cooked mine in my electric pressure cooker.
It is a very hearty and flavorful soup-sure to satisfy the senses! You can skip using the
orzo to cut down on the carbs. I got this recipe from my friend, Linda who cooks it up
all the time and raves about it. I can see why!
Versions of this lentil soup with tomatoes and chickpeas are served all over
Morocco during the festival of Ramadan and to celebrate special occasions
throughout the year. Serve it with whole grain flatbread to scoop up the juices,
or ladle the soup over brown rice.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Serves: 4 to 6

1 onion, chopped

4 ribs celery, chopped

6 cups vegetable broth (I used chicken broth)

1½ cups chopped tomatoes

1 cup dried red lentils

1 can (15 ounce) chickpeas (or any white bean), drained and rinsed

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon coriander (I didn't have this, so I left it out)

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup orzo

½ cup chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (optional)

Pour ½ cup of water into a large soup pot along with the onion and celery. Cook,

stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the

broth, tomatoes, lentils, chickpeas, bay leaf, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, coriander,

and black pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, then cover and

simmer until the lentils are tender, about 45 minutes.

Stir in the orzo, cilantro, and lemon juice. Cook 10 minutes longer, until the orzo is

al dente. Serve hot

Carmelized Rosemary Red Potatoes

My rendition of caramelized red potatoes

Boil a bunch of red potatoes-be sure to select them to be fairly consistent in size to one another to ensure that they all get done at the same time. They are ready when you can pierce them easily (I use a two pronged fork). Let them cool down and then place them in the refrigerator to get cold. This will help when you go to cut them up into quarters as the starches will have settled down and they won't be sticky to cut.

Have your herbs ready to go. I was lucky enough to get these from my garden: sage, rosemary and parsley. You don't have to have all of these herbs but the one you should have does need to be the rosemary. If you don't have it fresh (although it is easy to grow and grows just about anywhere with much neglect), the dried version is fine.

This is the approximate portions I used in this batch of potatoes. Those are whole pepercorns about to be crushed in my mini mortar/pestle thingie. This little 'gadget' is perfect for crushing seeds and dried herbs. I prefer this over the pepper mill in this case since it gives me the abilbity to give them a very coarse grind. But, use what you have! If all you have is ground pepper in a jar, that will work just fine, really!

Next step is to heat up your skillet pan along with an oil that can take a high temperature such as peanut oil. Allergic to peanuts? Safflower oil is a good choice too. You skillet needs to be big enough to accommodate all the potatoes without them getting crowded or stacked up on each other.  I used the burner on my BBQ grill  when I did this as I didn't want to add extra heat to my kitchen. Besides, it was summer and outdoor cooking goes with summer!

Now's the time to add your salt (to your taste). I only use coarse Hawaiian salt when I cook because I love the flavor that it imparts (Aloha brand is the absolute best) . It doesn't have a sharp,off, taste to it and is 'bright' to the palette with a nice 'finish'. The kind of salt you use does make a difference in the outcome. And, it should be about personal preference.  To help you decide what salts you like, go to a gourmet cook store and ask to sample their salts. You will see what a difference there is and may never go back to those round blue boxes with the girl and the yellow umbrella again!

Be patient and try not to turn the potatoes as they cook. Leave them be so that they can caramelize (nice word for burnt).The goal here is to almost burn them! You are looking for crisp, brown sides to the potatoes. If you are using dried rosemary, go ahead and add that half way through the process. If using the fresh herbs, add those in the last 5 minutes of the process. How long does it take to cook these? As long as it does! Depends on your skillet, how good it is at conducting heat and the BTU's on your burner. I used an 18" Caphalon skillet.

Here is the finished product. I always make a huge batch of these as they keep well in the refrigerator as 'leftovers'. But, with an 18 year old son in the house, they never last more than 24 hours!

These potatoes are a great side dish to dinner, or as a snack, or as  your breakfast 'hash browns'! I'm also thinking that it would make an incredible potatoe salad if I can hang onto them long enough to make a batch. They disappear all too soon.