Lentil Mushroom Stew over Mashed Potatoes

The main course for this vegetarian theme meal at the Caring Place Community Kitchen was a Lentil Mushroom Stew over Mashed Potatoes.

This is a very hearty meal. Minoo also suggested that we baked this into a casserole. Just lay the mashed potatoes at the bottom of a baking dish, topped with the lentil mushroom stew and then with grated cheese. Baked until golden brown. Sounds delicious.
Ingredients
Mashed potatoes ingredients

  • 1 pound yellow or Russet potatoes, peeled and coarsely diced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons vegetable broth or milk

Mushroom Lentil Stew Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped shallot
  • 2 cups cremini (or button) mushrooms, sliced
  • pinch of salt and pepper each
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme (or rosemary) or use dried ones
  • 2/3 cup dry green lentils, rinsed and drained; To improve digestibility, soak the lentils overnight in cool water.
  • 2 to 3 cups vegetable broth
  • Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced, optional
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste, optional


Source: Caring Place Community Kitchen
Serves 4
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Fried Tofu and Egg Stew

Ben loves dishes with sauce.This Fried Tofu and Egg Stew is just one of such dish.

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Plenty of sauce to go with steamed rice.

Ingredients

  • 8 hard boiled eggs
  • 1 package of fried tofu
  • 1/2 pound ground pork
  • 1 tablespoon dark say sauce
  • 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 3 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2 cups water

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P/S: the dark soy sauce was missing from the above photo

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Moroccan Chickpea Stew

I made this Moroccan Chickpea Stew for dinner. I tried to introduce different cuisine at home.

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You can have this Moroccan Chickpea Stew with steamed rice or couscous.

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We had it with some grilled lamb and couscous. Well, my boys love the lamb but not so much of the stew especially Nanzaro, He does not like tomatoes at all. Arkensen is more open minded to try new food.

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 cup diced onion (about 1 medium)
  • 1 cup diced carrot
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, minced
  • 1 1/2 cups cubed peeled potato (about 1 large)
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • salt to taste
  • 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 (15.5-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 (14-ounce) can vegetable broth

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Source: this recipe is adapted from myrecipes.com.

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Vegetarian Bean and Apple Cassoulet

Michelle prepared a Vegetarian Bean and Apple Cassoulet for the main course for the South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club.

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Original cassoulet is loaded with meat. This is a vegetarian version where protein is substituted with white beans. This dish can be made in less than half an hour if you use canned beans, but Michelle prefers the texture of the cooked, dried beans with some planing ahead as the dried beans will cook faster after soaking in boiling water for overnight.

Serve with crostini or slices of baguette alongside.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups dried beans (Zuni or other white beans) or 3 canned white beans, drained
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, peeled and diced
  • 2 carrots peeled and diced
  • 2 celery stalks, diced
  • 2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 apple, peeled and diced
  • 4 sprigs thyme, stripped from stem or 1 teaspoon dried one
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 cup apple cider or unsweetened apple juice
  • optional: cooked bacon (veggie or pork for the carnivores!)

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Source: mintgreenapron.blogspot.com

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Beety Vegetarian Borscht

The South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors met again on Valentine’s Day. Michelle had planned a Valentine’s Day menu with the color red in mind. Unfortunately in the morning of the meeting day, Michelle did not feel well and had to leave the kitchen to Stella to manage. We wished Michelle well.

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We had a group of very capable seniors and everything went well.

The first dish is a Beety Vegetarian Borscht. It is a sweet vegetable stew of beets, cabbage, carrot and tomatoes.

Here are some nutritional information on beets from Livestrong.com:

  • low in calories
  • rich in fiber, containing 3.4g per cup
  • good source of potassium, 518mg per cup, 15% of your daily requirement
  • rich in folate, 136mcg per cup, 34% of your daily requirement
  • contain Vitamin C, B6 and protein
  • contain unique nutrients that may lower cholesterol level

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon canola oil or butter
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 stalks celery, diced
  • 3 carrots, diced
  • 3 medium beets, peeled and diced
  • 1/2 green cabbage, chopped
  • 2 cups canned diced tomatoes
  • 4 cups water or vegetable broth
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1 tablespoon dried dill or 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • ground pepper to taste

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Source: via Michelle Li

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Chickpea Curry (Chana Masala)

For the main course, Minoo prepared a Chickpea Curry for the spice theme. This is also known as Chana Masala in the Indian culinary term.

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This vegetarian curry is loaded with spices like garam masala, cumin and coriander. Minoo served this Chickpea Curry with brown rice.

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon garam Masala
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
  • 1 1/2 inches piece of fresh ginger
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped coursely
  • 2 potatoes, cut into 1/2″ cubes
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 20 oz canned chickpeas
  • green chilies, finely chopped  (to taste)
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • fresh cilantro for garnishing

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Source: via Minoo

Yield 5 servings.

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Chicken Chili

For the main course, Minoo shared a Chicken Chili recipe at the South Arm Community Kitchen. Minoo served the Chicken Chili with steamed basmati rice. You can find the recipe on how to cook basmati rice here except that Minoo did not flavoured it with saffron  this time.

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The Chicken Chili is very saucy and tomato’ish. The sauce is good with the steamed rice.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups chopped yellow onions
  • 1/8 cup good olive oil, plus extra for chicken
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and large-diced
  • 2 yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded, and large-diced
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, or to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt, plus more for chicken
  • 2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled plum tomatoes in puree, undrained
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh basil leaves or 1 tablespoon dried ones
  • 4 split chicken breasts, bone in, skin on
  • freshly ground black pepper

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This recipe used skin on and bone in chicken breast which is cheaper. The chicken breast is cooked with the skin on and bone in for more flavour. The skin and bones can be easily removed after cooking.

Source: unknown

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Spiced Squash and Corn Chili

The second dish prepared by the seniors at the South Arm Cooking Club for seniors is a vegetarian chili dish. This is a healthy and hearty dish for the cold winter.

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The Spiced Squash and Corn Chili has a little kick in it and it utilizes butternut squash which is in season. The addition of walnuts adds a little crunch to the chili.

Butternut squash is a good source of fiber, vitamin A, C and E, manganese, magnesium and potassium.

Ingredients

  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 onions, finely chopped
  • 1 small butternut squash, about 4 cups
  • 2 can diced tomatoes
  • 1 can tomato sauce
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder or according to taste
  • 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper or according to taste
  • 1 tablespoon coriander and ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon and allspice
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon chili flakes or according to taste
  • 2 tablespoons smoked paprika or according to taste
  • 3 bell peppers, mix colors, chopped
  • 1 can corn nibblets
  • 2 cans black beans
  • 1 cup walnuts (optional)

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Source: unknown

Serves 8 to 12

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Chicken Ratatouille

Ratatouille is a traditional French Provencal stewed vegetable dish. Ratatouille is usually served as a side dish. The key ingredient in Ratatlouille is tomatoes accompanying by garlic, onions, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, carrot and a mix of green herbs like herbes de Provence which is typically a combination of savory, fennel, basil, and thyme.

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Jorge served this Chicken Ratatouille with Jalapeno Chili Corn Bread which I will blog next.

Ingredients

  • 2 onions, quartered
  • 2 zucchini, cut into cubes
  • 1 eggplant, cut into cubes
  • 2 red or yellow bell peppers, halved, seeded, and thickly sliced
  • 3 tomatoes, peeled, quartered and seeded
  • 12 chicken drumsticks or thighs
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 cup butter, divided
  • 10 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

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Source: Jorge Viduenez

Prep time: 30 minutes;  Cook time: 1 hour and 10 minutes;  Serves 12

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African Curried Coconut Stew with Chickpeas

Helena and June made this African Curried Coconut Stew with Chickpeas in the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors.

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This African Curried Coconut Stew with Chickpeas is wonderful. The peanut butter adds an interesting flavour to this hearty stew.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 jalapeno chili, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 tablespoons peanut butter
  • 1 teaspoon mild curry powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 1 medium can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 medium can diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup light coconut milk
  • 3/4 cup cooked white or brown rice
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
  • salt to taste

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Source: adapted from Donna Klein’s Tropical Vegan Kitchen

Prep time: 20 minutes;  Cook time: 25 minutes;  Serves 4.

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