Sweet Potato-Peanut Bisque

My sister came to visit for a quick weekend trip and I told her to find some recipes that use sweet potatoes, because I had a couple of extra large ones that really needed to be dealt with. She emailed me the recipe for this soup and I thought it sounded pretty interesting. When she was here, we decided to make this for lunch on a rainy day.

This soup is pretty easy to make, but as I was throwing it together, I was getting a little worried about the final product. V8, green chiles, sweet potatoes and peanut butter?? I was a tad bit hesitant to try it, but once I did, I realized that it was fabulous. It was spicy, creamy, and had great flavor from the sweet potatoes. As I was eating this, I realized that I no longer despise sweet potatoes. In fact, I can honestly now say that I like them. Thank you Sweet Potato-Peanut Bisque!

Here is the recipe for Sweet Potato-Peanut Bisque
I added chopped peanuts as a garnish

Spinach (Swiss Chard), Pasta, and Pea Soup

Besides eggplant, I've still got swiss chard growing in my garden out back. It just keeps growing back and I am happy about that. I love being able to go out and cut my swiss chard when I need some for a recipe.

I found this soup in a recent issue of Cooking Light and since it was a "superfast" meal, I knew it would be perfect to make on a night when my son has Cub Scouts. I added some green pepper (also from the garden) and used swiss chard instead of spinach. Quick and Easy!


Here is the recipe for Spinach, Pasta, and Pea Soup

Curried Split Pea Soup

I made this Split Pea Hummus a couple of months ago and it really changed the way I felt about split peas. I had another bag in the pantry and decided to try some sort of soup. I found this recipe by Alton Brown and decided it would be a great way to try split pea soup. It is very simple, with only a few ingredients and very delicious. The split peas turn out tasting like lentils, which is a really good thing in my opinion. I'm always very happy when I find out that a food I thought I didn't like is actually delicious.

Here is the recipe for Curried Split Pea Soup from Alton Brown
* I used olive oil instead of butter

Summer Squash and Corn Chowder

I wanted to do something different with the last batch of summer corn that we had a couple of weeks ago and I remembered this chowder recipe from Cooking Light Magazine. I decided to give it a try, even thought I don't really like creamy based soups or chowders- I prefer broth based soups/stews. But, I'm always up for giving things, especially foods, another chance.

I really felt like potatoes might have been a better building block for this chowder, rather than summer squash, because there really wasn't anything to give this chowder a hearty bite. Chowder seems like it should have a hearty component. (Maybe I am wrong?)
We ate this, but it definitely wasn't a favorite. I share it simply because I know that not everyone has the same taste buds as we do, so maybe somebody out there will give it a try and love it. It has lots of really good reviews, so there are lots of people out there who liked it more than we did.

Here is the recipe for Summer Squash and Corn Chowder
* I used cubed pancetta instead of bacon, but I think this was a mistake- I think it changed the way the flavors would have melded together

Lemon Chicken Soup & Pea Pesto Crostini

Every once in a while I will watch a cooking show and one of my children with beg me to make the dishes that are being showcased. Or, one of them will say, "I bet you can't make that!"

I don't remember if this meal fell into either of those categories, but I do remember seeing this meal being made and really wanting to try the cake that went along with it. I didn't end up making the cake (mostly because we don't eat dessert every day, so I don't let myself bake everyday), but the rest of the meal came together quickly. I used some chicken that I had poached myself a few days earlier and also used celery and peas, since I was out of carrots. I used whole wheat thin spaghetti for the noodles and my kids really liked this dinner. Nothing too spectacular, but an easy, quick meal that was simple enough to prepare using things that I had on hand.

Here is the recipe for Lemon Chicken Soup with Spaghetti
* I kinda did my own thing with this recipe just because it was so basic I didn't really feel like I needed directions
* I used celery and peas instead of carrots (simply because I ran out of carrots)
* I used poached chicken that I had cooked myself

Here is the recipe for Pea Pesto Crostini
* I used a little less olive oil than called for

Carrot Soup with Animal Croutons

My husband doesn't really enjoy soup, especially in the summer. I think soup is delicious anytime of year, but I try to stay away from it in the hot summer months. When school starts, for some reason I feel like it should start to cool down outside. But, here in Georgia, it doesn't really work out that way. It is still in the 90's during the day. It's wierd. For me, summer and school don't go together.

Besides all that- I saw this cute soup in a magazine I have had for years and decided it would be a fun one to try on a night when my husband wasn't home for dinner. Nothing too complicated at all going on here. My kids helped me make the croutons and were nibbling on them before we sat down to eat. They tasted really good in the soup. This was a yummy tasting soup with lots of flavor. My kids and I loved it. My husband didn't realize that he ate the leftovers because I turned them into pasta sauce. Nothing compares to making 2 dinners out of 1!

Carrot Soup with Animal Croutons adapted from Good Things for Kids from the editors of Martha Stewart Living Magazine

1 Tbls unsalted butter
1 medium leek (white and pale green parts), rinsed well and finely chopped
12 medium carrots (about 2 pounds) peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
6 cups homemade or reduced-sodium chicken broth
ground nutmeg
1/2 loaf rustic bread, cut into 1/2-inch slices (about 5)
2 Tbls olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 cup greek yogurt

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add leek; cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add carrots, broth, and a pinch of nutmeg; bring to a boil over medium high. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover, and simmer until carrots are tender, about 30 minutes. Let cool slightly.

2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cut out bread using small animal shaped cookie cutters; transfer to a baking sheet. Brush both sides of bread with oil. Bake, turning croutons, halfway through, until golden brown, about 9 minutes.

3. Working in batches, transfer carrot-broth mixture to a blender or food processor; puree until very smooth. Return to saucepan; season soup with salt and pepper. Serve in shallow bowls. Spoon greek yogurt over top; swirl into soup. Top with animal croutons.

Spicy Chard Soup

Do you dye eggs for Easter?
We do and this year, we might have gone a little overboard. Lots of lots of hard-boiled eggs.

The good thing is that we love to eat hard-boiled eggs around here. Well, at least the white part of the hard-boiled egg. My kids don't like the yolk and I only like a little bit of the yolk with my white and it has to be cooked perfectly. No green ring around the yolk and no dark yellow, crusty, not cooked all the way yolk. They must be perfectly creamy and dreamy light yellow.
I don't always get them just perfect, the way I want them, but this time I did have some success.

We always make these Egg Salad Sandwich faces with some of the eggs and eat them for snacks, but I wanted to do something else this year. Something new.

When I saw this recipe for Spicy Chard Soup in a recent issue of Food Network Magazine, I thought it would be the perfect way to use some of those extra hard-boiled eggs. I have never seen a hard-boiled egg in soup before, so I was intrigued. Plus, it contains swiss chard- my favorite food.
The soup was easy to make. Not too many ingredients, but yet the results were really fabulous.

What is your favorite way to use hard-boiled eggs?

Here is the recipe for Spicy Chard Soup from Food Network Magazine
* I used less olive oil than called for and didn't drizzle the soup with olive oil at the end
* I didn't have caraway seeds, so I just skipped them
*I didn't have cumin seeds, so I just used ground cumin
* I didn't add the hot sauce to the entire pot of soup. I put the hot sauce on the table and the adults added it to their own bowls. My son even got brave and added a couple drops to his soup.

Light and Creamy Asparagus Soup

Asparagus is a family favorite around here. We love it roasted, blanched, steamed, stir-fried- really, we love it anyway it is prepared.
I saw this soup and thought it would be an interesting way to find out if we like asparagus pureed.

The verdict- we do!

This soup is quick and easy to make and it is very filling. Cannellini beans and a little bit of plain greek yogurt are the secrets to getting that thick and creamy texture without the added fat.

I don't particularly like bacon or cooking it, but I have come to appreciate the crispness and flavor it can add to a dish in small amounts. As the garnish here with the asparagus tips, it is wonderful.

This soup just screams Spring to me. It's beautiful color and light flavor really hit the spot.

Here is the recipe for Light and Creamy Asparagus Soup
* I added the juice of 1 lemon to the soup, since I added some lemon zest
* I didn't add the cayenne to the soup, I sprinkled it on top of the adult portions
* I added a garnish of lemon zest on top

Curried Cauliflower Soup

When we were in Miami, we walked through the Lincoln Road Mall at least once a day. There are so many fun shops, restaurants, art galleries, etc. there.
I had to go in Williams-Sonoma one day, just to look around. Side note- did you know that Williams-Sonoma is now selling grains and lentils and stuff like that? I was so excited when I saw quinoa, red lentils and even black lentils in stock there.
Anyway, I started talking to the woman working there and she told me about this soup. She had made it the day before during a cooking demonstration and also at home, so I took the recipe card and decided to make it when I got home. We kept talking and talking and then I noticed my husband had left his spot outside the store where he was watching people, so I had to run out and try to find him!

Spring has officially arrived here in Georgia- we've got gorgeous weather, lots of pollen and my roses are blooming! Every once in awhile we still have a rainy day and I made this last week on a very rainy day. It was perfect.
Since I added the spices and herbs to the soup it isn't the most pleasant color to look at, but we tried to spiff it up with some of the yogurt and cilantro garnish.
I didn't follow the recipe exactly- I made few changes, like I usually do and they are noted below.

Have you ever been to the Lincoln Road Mall? Do you love Williams-Sonoma?

HERE is the recipe for Curried Cauliflower Soup

* I used less oil to start the soup and the extra veggies used for garnish, probably only 2 Tablespoons all together and used canola oil

* I just added the spices and herbs to the soup, no cheesecloth

* I didn't add as much oil as called for to the yogurt garnish

* I didn't completely puree the soup

Collard Green & Black-eyed Pea Soup

Finally, the weekend is in sight and there might be a moment of relaxation. I can't wait.

At New Years', I cooked up a huge amount of fresh Black-eyed Peas and used some in both these Southern Egg Rolls and this Good Luck Dip. I still had quite a bit of them left, so I froze them in a Ziploc bag and decided to give myself some time to find another way to use them.

Somehow, I came across this soup and it looked really inviting. My kids like collard greens and have told me that they are easier to chew than kale. Collard greens are something that I have learned to like too and so I decided to give this soup a try.

I didn't use the bacon because I didn't have any and don't really like cooking it. The soup did not lack flavor at all. It was delicious. It was one of those nights when my kids just gobbled it down and I couldn't believe my eyes. I was so happy. No bribery had to happen to get them to eat this dinner.

The leftovers have made for a couple of really great lunches for me this week. I love it when that happens.

Recipe for Collard Green & Black-eyed Pea Soup
* I just topped the soup with a little shredded cheese
* I omitted the bacon

Midwinter Minestrone

I can't believe that we are snowed in! I really thought when I moved from Utah back to Georgia we were leaving the snow behind, which was just fine with me.
But, the snow started to fall last night and when we woke up this morning, there was a nice blanket of snow on the ground. Luckily, they had already cancelled school, so we got to sleep in.

I have the perfect thing for a cold, snowy day like today-Rachael Ray's Midwinter Minestrone.

This recipe comes from Rachael Ray's new cookbook, Look + Cook. This cookbook contains more photos than her normal cookbooks and showcases some of the steps of the recipe, so you can look and see if you are proceeding with a certain recipe correctly. This particular recipe is also posted on many of Rachael Ray's websites. And it is one that she has made on at least one of her shows.

This was the first recipe I wanted to try from the book because I absolutely love minestrone and love to try different takes on it. It starts out with some cubed pancetta, which I found out a couple weeks ago really gives soup a great flavor. I used about 1/2 of the pancetta called for in the recipe to start off the soup. I used roasted red peppers instead of sun-dried tomatoes, simply because I had the roasted red peppers in the fridge. I really loved that this soup contains kale, one of my favorite dark greens.

The best thing about minestrone is that it is full of vegetables, but it is also hearty enough to be a complete dinner. We didn't need to have biscuits or breadsticks or anything else with this soup because it contained all the makings of a great dinner in one delicious bowl.


Recipe for Midwinter Minestrone
* I omitted the olive oil since pancetta lends enough oil to start off the soup, in my opinion
* I used jarred roasted red peppers instead of sun-dried tomatoes
* I omitted the mushrooms
* I used only 2 oz of chopped pancetta
* I used whole wheat shell pasta

Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club- New Year, New Food

For this month's Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club, I was given the opportunity to pick the theme. I love trying new foods, so I thought that a great theme for the beginning of a new year would be- New Year, New Food.

Each member of our Supper Club chose a CL recipe that included an ingredient/food that they had never tried before. I was thinking about what food I wanted to try and noticed that there were fresh chestnuts available at my grocery store. I have absolutely no idea what chestnuts are used for and I had never tried them. My only reference for this food was the line "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire", from The Christmas Song.

I wasn't sure if they were really an actual nut, or just happened to have "nut" at the end of their name. (turns out they are an actual nut)
Then I was browsing around the Trader Joe's that just opened recently in my area and saw a package of chestnuts that were already peeled and cooked. The recipe I picked- Farro Minestrone with Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash and Chestnuts called for bottled chestnuts and I figured this find at TJ's was as close as I was going to get to the product I needed.
I also have never tried Farro, but I couldn't find it anywhere, so I used barley instead.

This minestrone was absolutely amazing. The chestnuts were a great addition to this soup. They have a really interesting flavor and texture that blended in with the other flavors magically.
I know the ingredients sounds kind of strange, but I was blown away by how well all the different ingredients went together. I think the pancetta really added a great deal of flavor to the base of the soup. (Thank you Trader Joe's for carrying chopped pancetta, that is ready to use!).

I didn't want the tomatoes to be cooked, so I just stirred them into our individual bowls, leaving them out of certain family member's, who think that tomatoes are deadly.

I was really impressed with this soup. It was so flavorful, so healthy and so delicious.

Here are the new foods that the other members of our Supper Club tried for the first time this month. Jamie tried a recipe using fontina cheese, Sandi picked a roesti casserole (I've had my eye on that dish for awhile now), Val chose quinoa, and Helene wanted to make a flan for the first time- she was unable to participate this month, but we am still including the link to the recipe she was going to try.

Here is how the menu turned out-

Mary Ann -Farro Minestrone with Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash, and Chestnuts

Jamie - Onion and Fontina Beer Batter Bread

Sandi - Roesti Casserole with Baked Eggs

Val - Quinoa with Roasted Garlic, Tomatoes, and Spinach

Helene - Vanilla Caramel Flan

I hope this has inspired you to try some new ingredients or foods this year. I certainly will be!

Recipe for Farro Minestrone with Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash and Chestnuts
* I used quick cooking barley instead of farro
* I subbed chicken broth for the wine
* I stirred the cherry tomatoes in at the end, after the minestrone was off the heat

Red Lentil and Squash Curry Soup

Red Lentils are a favorite food of mine. A good friend introduced me to them in a delicious soup many years ago. I have been buying them ever since and always love finding new recipes that feature them. They pair beautifully with curry powder.
I love butternut squash too, so I usually find a large one, peel and cut it into cubes and then roast it. I always have enough cooked butternut squash for a couple recipes each week when I do this.
That is what happened with this soup- I already had roasted squash in the fridge, so I just threw it in the soup to warm up, a few minutes before serving.

This was a delicious soup. A lovely combination of squash and lentils.

Recipe for Red Lentil and Squash Curry Soup from Martha Stewart
*I used 1 Tbls of olive oil instead of butter
* I roasted my squash instead of cooking it in the soup and added it a few minutes before serving
* If you don't want to make your own curry powder, you could probably just use normal curry powder and season the soup to your own taste.

FFwD- Curried Spicy Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

This week's selection for French Fridays with Dorie, chosen by Dorie herself, was Spicy Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup.
One thing that I love about Dorie's cookbooks, is that she always includes different options and ideas to add a little flair to the basic recipe. This recipe had the option of making a version with curry powder. I love curry powder and I thought it would give great flavor to this soup.

So, I made the curry version. I couldn't help but add some veggies- mushrooms and spinach. I used rice sticks because that is all I could find. Topped with chopped cucumber, chopped peanuts, basil & mint leaves and lime wedges. I omitted the sugar.

This soup was delicious. The flavors all melded together into something wonderful. The fresh mint and basil leaves were the perfect little compliment.
I was really happy with the results. Dorie does it again! You should really get a copy of this book and try the soup for yourself.

Go check out the other versions of this soup by heading over to French Fridays with Dorie!

Greek Night- 2 dips, soup, salad, appetizer, main dish, drink and dessert

A couple of weeks ago my son studied Ancient Greece at school. He had multiple options for his final project and we decided to have a "Greek Cafe" as part of the experience.

When I was a kid, I used to love to do restaurants to surprise my dad when he would come home from work, so I knew this would be really fun for all of us.
The kids dressed up and placed all the appropriate signs annoucing our cafe. The cutest part was how they thought that someone driving down our street might just be hungry and stop in to join us.
My son made the signs and came up with the name for our cafe. I asked for his input on the menu and spent the afternoon getting all the dishes ready for our Greek Night.

We started with a drink called "The Greek Lantern". I have absolutely no idea if it is really a Greek drink, but it sounded really interesting, combining a large amount of fresh parsley leaves, lime juice, lime zest, club soda, water and ice. It actually was quite refreshing and surprisingly yummy.
Next we had a Roasted Red Pepper with Feta dip and Lemony-Garlic Hummus with homemade pita chips. Both of these were really good, although the red pepper one was deemed "spicy" by my youngest child.

Then we had mini spanakopita, which were really delicious and not as time consuming as I thought they would be.
The soup was everybody's favorite. I have had it at Greek restaurants before and it was very simple to recreate at home. It is called Avgolemono Soup- which just means Egg, Lemon and Rice soup. You have to temper eggs to make it, but boy was it delicious. My kids loved it.
I made a light version of Baklava that I found from Cooking Light. It was also much easier than I thought it was going to be to make. It turned out good, but was quite sweet, so could only be enjoyed in small portions. I actually had some leftover baklava mixed into this lemon ice cream a few days later and that was an amazing dessert.

What Greek menu would be complete without some sort of Greek salad? I actually made 2 versions of this salad since we have two people in our house who don't like tomatoes. The second version I made with chopped red pepper to replace the tomato. These leftovers were delicious on a green salad and also in a pita sandwich.
We had Chicken Souvlaki skewers, which my son loved. The Tzatziki sauce that went along with this was my youngest child's favorite thing. She was eating it plain and dipping all sorts of veggies in it.

Here's a closer look at the Baklava. We had lots of fun on Greek Night!

The Greek Lantern

Ingredients

• 1 cup (packed) Parsley Sprigs
• ½ tsp Lime Zest, grated
• 1 cup Cold Water
• ½ cup Fresh Lime Juice
• ½ cup Sugar
• 1 (10 ounce) bottle Club Soda

Instructions

• Blend all the ingredients, except club soda, in a blender, for about one minute.
• Take a large glass measure and strain the preparation through a fine-mesh sieve.
• Put ice into tall glasses and pour the prepared drink.
• Top with club soda and serve

Lemony-Garlic Hummus

Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen

2 16 oz cans of chickpeas (Bush’s is my canned bean of choice!)
1/2 cup liquid from can of chickpeas
juice and zest from 3 lemons
3 TB tahini
4 cloves garlic, crushed
big pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper
5 TB olive oil

Combine first 6 ingredients into bowl of food processor. Blend for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Slowly stream in olive oil until combined and smooth. Taste for salt and add more if needed. Serve with fresh cut veggies, crackers, chips, pita chips or crostini for a nice appetizer platter.

Note: this recipe makes a large batch. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to a week.

Recipe for Roasted Red Pepper with Feta Dip


Recipe for Greek Salad
* I drastically reduced the amount of olive oil and feta cheese that this recipe called for. I just drizzled the mixture with a little olive oil and then used more lemon juice. I only added a couple of oz of feta cheese.


Recipe for Mini-Spanakopitas
* the egg white/olive oil mixture they said to brush the phyllo dough with, didn't work for me.
I used cooking spray instead.

Recipe for Avgolemono Soupo (Egg, Lemon, and Rice Soup)

Recipe for Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki Sauce
* I used greek yogurt

Recipe for Baklava with Wildflower Honey
* I used orange blossom honey

Lentil Minestrone

I actually made this a couple of months ago, at the beginning of summer because I love minestrone and lentils anytime of year. I knew some people might have a bad reaction about a fall soup being posted in the summer, so I saved it until Sept. came along. My husband once told me- when I served him soup for dinner during summer a couple years ago- that no one wants to eat hot soup after being in the hot sun. (Well, it doesn't really bother me!)

This was just one of the recipes I tried from the newer version of Deborah Madison's wonderful cookbook- Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

We absolutely loved it. I actually doubled it and froze some, so we could have a quick dinner. I end up doing that a lot when I make soups.
I will definitely make it again!

Recipe for Lentil Minestrone
* I used canned vegetable stock
* I used bowtie pasta
* I used spinach for my greens

Lemony Lentil Soup with Greens

When my parents and siblings were here visiting from Utah, we all went to the Georgia Aquarium one day. My sister and her family were also down here, visiting from Washington, D.C., so it was quite a bunch of us checking out all the aquatic life.
It was really fun, but after a long day in Atlanta, we came home and were all a little tired.
I had planned on making this soup when my family was visiting anyway, so this night seemed like the perfect night to make a easy soup that would be ready fairly quickly.

I found green lentils at Earthfare,
(which is where I get all my bulk items like quinoa, lentils, steel-cut oats, bulgur, millet, couscous, specialty flours, dried fruits, nuts, nut butters and also some of my dairy and produce) so, I decided to use them in this soup since that is what Ellie calls for.

We all thought that green lentils tasted about the same as brown lentils, but they held their shape better, which gave them a little bit better texture.
I didn't have enough chicken broth in my pantry, so we also used about 6 cups of water, but it worked out fine. I also added the zest of an entire lemon since I believe that more zest is always a good thing. We probably used more kale than called for too. We just kept on tearing it up and dumping it in the pot without measuring it.

The fresh lemon juice and lemon zest really brightened up this soup and added a little extra something to it.

This soup was the perfect way to finish a long day. We had Kale Chips and Cheese Toast on the side.

Lemony Lentil Soup with Greens from So Easy by Ellie Krieger
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus more as needed
16 ounces green lentils
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups kale leaves, chopped
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the carrot, celery and garlic and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are softened, about 5 minutes. Add 12 cups of broth, lentils, basil, thyme and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, add the kale (spinach) and cook until lentils are tender, 30 to 35 minutes, adding more broth if necessary. Stir in the lemon juice and zest, and serve.

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

You probably thought I was done with pumpkin. I think this is the last one.

My sister sent me the link to this recipe and told me that she had made it, but that she left out the banana because she didn't know how that would affect the taste. Yes, this soup recipe has you saute chopped banana along with the onion, carrot, and celery when you start out making the soup.
She said she absolutely loved the soup but was curious if the banana made a difference.
I decided to give the soup a try.
I cut the recipe in half and made it with the banana. The only thing I changed was that I started the whole thing out with canola oil instead of butter.
I try to avoid butter in cooking whenever I can and just use canola or olive oil instead.

This soup definitely has some very interesting ingredients. Besides the obvious- pumpkin and spices, there is the banana, coconut milk, condensed milk, chicken broth, curry powder, cinnamon, sage, allspice, nutmeg, coriander, bay leaf, etc. I mean, this soup really has it all.
It is really interesting how all those flavors and spices melded together to make a delicious soup!
This is definitely an adventure in the making and the tasting.

My son was not a fan of this soup. He said it tasted like pumpkin pie with vegetables. I had to laugh at his comment because some of the flavors and spices were there, but I didn't exactly agree with him. I thought it was delicious.


Recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Curried Red Lentil and Swiss Chard Stew with Garbanzo Beans & Seeded Cornmeal Biscuits

I have professed my love for red lentils before. I actually love all types of lentils, but red ones are just so delicious.
One of my good friends, who I was able to reconnect with recently, shared a great recipe with me a number of years ago and I shared it HERE. (along with another great red lentil soup)

Ever since I tried my friends soup years ago, I have been buying red lentils- at the local health food store, in the bulk section) and trying different recipes with them.
I love it when lentils are combined with dark greens and swiss chard is a definite favorite. I always use the stems and ribs of my swiss chard, because they soften up nicely and are yummy.

This Stew contains curry powder and garbanzo beans, so it is super healthy. And so tasty.
Perfect for the cold weather we are having. I know lots of places are colder than here right now, but this morning when I went to exercise it was a whopping 18 degrees! Not fun.

I found the Seeded Cornmeal Biscuits when I was searching on myrecipes.com for a hearty bread item to go along with this stew. They sounded perfect- a combination of whole wheat flour, cornmeal and lots of seeds on top. I have had great success with other biscuits on this site and knew they would be fabulous.
Once again, I like hearthy, healthy tasting breads. Some people in my family do not- mainly my hubby. He prefers Wonder Bread.
But the good news on these biscuits is that they were really popular with my kids. And they tasted good the next day and the next one after that.
I wish I had some of this leftover right now because I would eat it for breakfast.
(The recipe uses plain yogurt as a topping, I used Greek yogurt)

Recipe for Curried Red Lentil and Swiss Chard Stew with Garbanzo Beans

Recipe for Seeded Cornmeal Biscuits