Warming Winter Meals: Turkish-Inspired Red Lentil Soup

I've spent the last couple of weeks pretending to be interested in doing a detox cleanse, which is how I came across this 2013 Whole Living Action Plan that claims to be a less drastic approach. Some of the recipes actually look delicious and if I was a more disciplined person, I probably would do this. However, I am not, but I was intrigued by the recipe for Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew enough to almost make it. I say almost because sometime between reading this recipe and going to the grocery store I had one of those moments of pure inspiration that was born out of a craving for Turkish red lentil balls, called Mercimek Koftesi. I decided to use the stew as a base, but change the flavors around to resemble the lentil balls. This also allowed me to use my favorite spice:

Smoked paprika  is pure magic. MAGIC, I tell you.

Ingredients 

• 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbspn ground cumin (I really like cumin, so feel free to adjust this according to your liking)
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 Tbsp curry powder
• 1 Tbspn smoked paprika
• dash of crushed red pepper
• 1 diced large onion
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 minced cloves garlic      
• 1/2 C chopped fresh parsley                                 
• 2 peeled and diced sweet potatoes                               
• 1 1/2 cups rinsed red lentils
• 6 C Vegetable broth

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook paprika, cumin, turmeric, and curry powder until fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add onion with salt, pepper, and red pepper and cook, stirring, until tender, about 6 minutes. Add sweet potatoes and cook until slightly brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring until tender, about 2 minutes
2. Add lentils and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, add parsley, and simmer until lentils are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. I used my hand blender to mix everything together, but that is up to you.
4. Add a generous squeeze of lemon juice and drizzle with olive oil before serving.

Picture sipping this while overlooking the Bosporus--great cure for the winter blues. 

French Yogurt Cake

I know what you're thinking: "Yogurt? Cake? That's gross! I'm not clicking on that link!" But hear me out! I feel like yogurt gets a bad rap in the states and given some of the offerings (I'm looking at you, Dannon) I completely understand. We seem to equate yogurt with 'healthy' food, which we all know = bleh. But, if you've spent any time in Europe or even Whole Foods, you know there's a great big world of yummy yogurt out there! Even still, it can be hard to associate yogurt with anything remotely fun and non-yogurt tasting. 

I myself was guilty of prejudging this recipe when my step grandmother Fran made it during a recent stay at her home. It didn't really help that she then described it as moist, but I wanted to be polite so I tried some. It didn't taste like yogurt at all, just really yummy, moist cake.  She sent me home with the recipe, since I ate the remaining cake, and I finally got around to making it earlier this week. Not only is it delicious, it's also super easy. I've been eating a slice in the morning for breakfast (and maybe another at lunch or dinner) and it goes perfectly with a cup of coffee or tea.

Fran found this recipe in the book Lunch In Paris, which was an adaptation of Clotilde Dusoulier's original recipe--though they both state that this is a very popular cake in France that is usually the first thing children learn to make themselves. This tidbit will also serve to make you feel bad about yourself if you screw it up. Little French children can make this! What the hell is wrong with you? Additionally, Clotilde's has slightly different measurements that I plan on trying out next time I make this cake, which will probably be this weekend since I can't get enough.

I enjoyed the mixture of berries in Fran's cake so much that I stuck with that this time, but this cake is really adaptable to whatever fruit, nuts, or other seasoning you'd like to include. I feel like it would be perfect with some chopped apples, nutmeg, and cinnamon with a little streusel topping.

Gâteau au Yaourt

2 eggs
1 cup whole milk plain unsweetened yogurt (I used 1% here)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
a good pinch of salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Zest of one lemon
1-2 C mix of frozen raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries

Preheat the oven to 350° F, line the bottom of a round 10-inch cake pan with parchment paper and grease the sides. In a large mixing-bowl, gently combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, and blend together -- don't overwork the dough. Stir in lemon zest. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, top with frozen fruit, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Let stand for ten minutes, and transfer onto a rack to cool.

Euro Cuisine 2-Qt. Yog...$50.99 Kohl's