Pomegranate Lentil Soup

Brrrrr! Cold outside = make soup!

Here is a recipe I originally found on theKitchn. It is warm, tasty, full of iron, protein, & fiber. I used spinach instead of chard, only because that's what I had on hand. I didn't put the pretty pomegranate arils on top, either, because I didn't have any. But I think that punch of red would be very pretty on top of the soup. Especially in the heart shaped bowl :)

This recipe contains no gluten, corn, dairy, soy, or nightshades.

Pomegranate Lentil Soup 
Serves 6

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups diced onion
1/2 cup diced carrot
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 1/2 cups brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 1/2 cups finely chopped chard (I used fresh spinach, but any dark leafy green would work)
6 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice* (I've found Costco has the best price on pomegranate juice, but Target is a close second, especially when on sale)
1 large pomegranate, de-seeded (I've noticed in the produce section of some groceries, you can now buy a small container of pomegranate arils already out of the pomegranate)
*If making it from scratch, you will need about 3-4 pomegranates to make 1 1/2 cups of juice.

Method
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and carrot and sauté until onion is translucent.
Add cumin and coriander and sauté for another minute.
Add lentils, chard, water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.
Stir in pomegranate juice and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve, ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

Click here to see nutritional information and health benefits of: Lentils, Pomegranate, more on Pomegranate, Chard, Spinach, and other Green Leafy vegetables

This recipe is linked to Made From Scratch Mondays on Allergies and Celiac- check it out for more gluten free and allergy-friendly recipes.

Sprouted Spicy Lentil Burgers

These burgers are amazing. They are a tad spicy, so adjust to taste.

Sprouted lentil burgers (raw, vegan)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup sprouted lentils
• 1 cup raw pecans
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons sea salt (or himalayan salt)
• Juice of one lime (approximately 2 Tbsp)
• Lime zest

there is a pepper shown in this pic, but I didn't use it and used cayenne instead

Method

Add sprouted lentils to bowl of food processor:

Add pecans:

Pulse to combine:

Add olive oil and water and pulse a little more:

 Add cilantro, garlic, cayenne, sea salt, and lime:

Pulse to combine. Once processed, form mixture into balls:

Smoosh the balls into patties. This is actually much easier to do on the dehydrator tray so you don't have to transfer the patties. So, put your balls on the tray and then smoosh. Your patties will look like this:

Dehydrate at 145 degrees F for one hour. Set a timer! Do not dehydrate longer than one hour at 145 degrees or they will not be raw. After one hour, reduce heat to 115 degrees F. After one hour, flip patties and continue to dehydrate at 115 degrees F for approximately 2 more hours, or until desired texture. (approximately 4 hours total dehydration time) Here is what the burgers look like about halfway through dehydrating:

For a completely raw meal, serve with lettuce wraps. You could also use a gluten free or other type of bun, if you prefer. I like to try to keep my raw meals completely raw, but nothing says you can't mix things up if you want to. But, I would encourage you to experiment with raw meals. You won't believe how great they taste, and how great you'll feel!

Burgers:

p.s. how cool is this little dish???

By the way, that's homemade spicy mustard, made in the VitaMix. I'll post that recipe soon.

Raw vegan coleslaw:

The coleslaw helped cool the spiciness of the spicy burgers and spicy mustard. I wrapped everything in the lettuce wraps (including the coleslaw). It was delicious.

This recipe makes a lot of burgers. They are small, about the size of "sliders" you might get in a restaurant. You want to keep them small, or they will take forever to dehydrate. The raw lentil burgers freeze well- just remember not to "defrost" in the microwave! Then they would no longer be raw. Simply pull the burgers out of the freezer the morning you want them for dinner. I thawed mine in the fridge all day and then let them sit on the counter while I made up the plate with the lettuce and coleslaw. By the time I ate, they were room temperature and perfect. You could also pop them back in the dehydrator if you wanted to warm them up.

Enjoy!

Sprouted lentil and apple salad

I made this salad a few weeks ago. It was another recipe from this awesome raw food (un)cookbook:

The book has since gone back to the library, so I do not have the exact recipe to share with you. BUT- from what I remember- it was a mixture of: sprouted lentils, chopped apple, raisins, cinnamon, dash of himalayan salt (or sea salt), and agave. Just play around with those ingredients and adjust to your liking.

Here are the soaked green lentils (aka French lentils) that morning, as they are beginning to sprout:

And later that afternoon: 

And the next morning (French lentils sprout like crazy!) 

Close up: 

The salad was super-easy. Just toss all ingredients together and serve. I think it might be better with a Granny Smith apple, but I used Galas here and they were yummy.

Close up:

More info on the health benefits of: Lentils, Apples, Cinnamon, and Raisins

Learn more about sprouting lentils here: Sprout People