Jeff and I just had a delicious mixed lunch of various yummy things.

Our favorite Pacific brand creamy tomato soup. We go through a carton of this stuff every week!

Some quinoa with chickpeas that I made in the rice cooker. Making it with vegetable broth rather than water makes it so much tastier.

Smashed avocado on toast with seaweed flake. We don’t use iodized salt in our house so I try to sneak seaweed in wherever I can to get in our proper iodine fix.

And some leftovers from last night: honey mustard salmon and sauteed veggies. I sliced up some red bell pepper, shiitakes, carrot, and gai lon broccoli (found this at the market and had to try it, it has a broccoli-like stalk but with leaves rather than florets.) I threw in some leftover brown rice, just a touch of soy sauce, and toasted sesame seeds to finish it off. So fresh!

Jeff made us our third round of tea for today to have with lunch. He likes to use the black tetsubin I got him for Christmas when he needs to make a lot of tea.

Awesome lunch of many of my favorite flavors!

Trying to decide what to do with the rest of our day. The sun is finally shining after nearly a week of rain and/or gloom.

What are your weekend plans?

February 5, 2011 Alayna Discussion 10 comments

Trying to get back on the wagon after too much beer last night.

Lunch today was much healthier, I think…

A big bowl of arugula topped with a red pear, pecans, bleu cheese, pumpkin and kabocha seeds, and black pepper. I coated it with a drizzle of honey and olive oil, perfect!

On the side: tomato soup with a big spoonful of kabocha puree mixed in. Warm and comforting.

I feel good knowing I got my greens in today!

December 9, 2010 Alayna Discussion 3 comments

Split pea soup is one of those divisive foods for many people, you either love it or you think it looks and tastes like baby food.  I happen to love the stuff.  My husband, on the other hand, is totally grossed out by it.

More for me! 😀

I like to make mine extra thick like a spread so that I can eat it on toast like this…

And when I want to eat it as a soup, I just add a little water to my bowl and microwave it, adding more water until it’s the desired consistency.

Two foods for the work of one! Amazing!

Here’s the easy peasy recipe:

• 1/2 lb. dried green split peas (1 and 1/2 cups?)
• 6 cups water or vegetable stock
• 1 cup or so frozen peas
• 1 cup or so frozen carrots
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• half an onion, diced
• 2 tbsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tbsp. paprika

(BTW, I never measure any of that stuff when I make it.  I promise that you can ball-park these quantities and have it still come out excellent; the only thing that can screw it up is way too much salt or way too little liquid.  I’m gonna get you to stop measuring when you cook if it’s the last thing I do!)

All of that gets thrown into the slow-cooker and stirred up.

The split peas will tend to sink to the bottom, that’s ok…

Cover it and turn it on high for 6 hours or low for 8 hours. I like to stir it once or twice throughout just to make sure that everything stays incorporated.

When it’s done it’ll look like this…

If I’m not gonna eat it right away, I take it off the heating base and let it cool with the lid on overnight on the countertop.

Simple tasty lunch!

And I get a whole pot of this all to myself! Mwaahaahaa!

Slow-cooker split pea soup and spread

A versatile split pea soup recipe made with the ease of a slow cooker.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours

Total Time: 6 hours, 10 minutes

Yield: About 6 cups

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. dried green split peas (about 1 and 1/2 cups)
• 6 cups water or vegetable stock
• 1 cup or so frozen peas
• 1 cup or so frozen carrots
• 4 cloves of garlic (minced)
• half an onion (diced)
• 2 tbsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tbsp. paprika

Cooking Directions

1. Put everything in the slow cooker and stir.
2. Cook on high for 6 hours or on low for 8.
3. Serve as a spread on toast or dilute with water to desired consistency for soup.

November 5, 2010 Alayna Discussion, Recipes 3 comments