Though I’m obviously a big fan of healthy eating, I’m a busy mom like anyone else with little time to prepare food beyond what’s absolutely necessary. I’ve been known many a time simply to heat some Sunshine burgers from the frozen section at the health food store, toss a quick salad and call it a meal. But sometimes I want another option for veggie burgers that’s equally delicious and nutritious, which is why I developed this recipe for black bean burgers.

You need a food processor or small food chopper (I have the latter) to prepare this recipe, and the burgers hold together better when made with homemade black beans and freshly made brown rice (takes under 1 minute to prepare in terms of actual food prep time if you have a rice cooker); however, you will still get delicious, albeit slightly less firm and attractive burgers from canned beans and premade rice. (If using frozen rice, thaw it before mixing in.)

Here’s what you need:

1 lb. dried black beans, cooked or 4 cans unsalted black beans (Eden Organics is preferred)
2 c. cooked brown rice
1 lg. onion, chopped finely
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 oz. raw walnuts, sunflower seeds or pepitas (pumpkin seeds), or a mixture, finely ground in food processor
Brown rice flour, corn meal or whole wheat flour for sprinkling on pan

Optional ingredients:
1/2 bell pepper (more than this makes burgers too soft to hold together well)
1 c. carrots, finely ground in food processor
1 tbsp. chili powder
1-2 tbsp. of low-sodium ketchup or BBQ sauce (in which case don’t use chili powder)
1 clove garlic, minced

Drain beans well, reserving bean liquid. Add beans, 1 cup of rice and 1/2 onion to food processor. If desired, add bell pepper at this time. Process till smooth; if needed, add in 1 tbsp. of bean liquid or water at a time so that mixture is fairly smooth. (It doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth, just mostly so.)

Put bean mixture into large mixing bowl. Add rest of chopped onions, second cup of rice, cumin, ground nuts/seeds (and optional ingredients if desired) and stir until well mixed.

To prepare:

Pan-saute method: Sprinkle a small amount of brown rice flour, corn meal or whole wheat flour on pan; this prevents sticking and should not be skipped. Place tennis-ball sized spoonful of burger on nonstick griddle pan or well-cured skillet and press into burger shape with hands. Sprinkle small amount of flour on top of patty as well. Cook over low-medium heat for approximately 7 minutes; flip burger and heat another 7 minutes. Serve and enjoy. (If burger isn’t done after this initial cooking time, add another 3-4 minutes per side until patties are firm enough to serve, taking care not to burn.)

Oven method: Place parchment paper on baking sheet and sprinkle with a small amount of brown rice flour, corn meal or whole wheat flour on pan; this prevents sticking and should not be skipped. Sprinkle small amount of flour on top of patty as well. Bake at 450 F for 20 minutes; flip patties. Bake for another 20-30 minutes until firm.

Makes approximately 15 burgers (can easily be doubled)

Healthy eating notes:

Serve these burgers with low-sodium ketchup, BBQ sauce or salsa by themselves or in a whole-grain bun. (When buying buns, look for brands at the health food store containing no “mystery” ingredients.)

You may also enjoy these burgers as a delicious healthy taco filling.

You can experiment with spices and flavoring in these burgers. The onion, bell pepper, cumin and chili powder combo is fabulous and highly recommended, and carrots add sweetness and nutrition too!

As always, there is no salt added to this recipe because we get enough sodium from whole foods, but you can add a pinch (if you must). ;)

Copyright 2010 Jennifer McCay

www.LeanGreenMama.com

Texture-wise, they’re a lot more like “regular” (i.e., non-healthy) cookies than any I’ve come across before — a real bonus! You’ll also notice that there’s no added salt, nor any leavening whatsoever; I didn’t realize it was possible to make a cookie without leavening myself, but I’ve made these enough times now to be convinced. :)

I developed this recipe recently because I needed a way to get walnuts into my son, and I recalled that German lebkuchen (gingerbread) often uses nut meals rather than flour as their base. This recipe contains a small amount of whole grain flour, but a large amount of ground walnuts. So they’re healthy and yet fairly high in fat, so budget accordingly if you’re in weight loss mode right now. (The recipe contains approximately 4 oz. of walnuts, so 1/4 of the recipe equals a 1 oz. portion of walnuts. That’s about 3 cookies.)

Here’s what you need:

1 c. raw walnuts, ground finely in food processor
1/2 c. brown rice flour or whole wheat flour (oat flour would also work)
3/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. honey (optional)
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 apple, cored and chopped finely
1/4 c. raisins

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Oil a large (13″ x 9″ or larger) cookie sheet. (I skip this step sometimes.) Stir together all ingredients except chopped apple and raisins just until smooth. Fold in apples and raisins.

Drop by heaping tablespoon onto cookie sheet. Mash with fork or spoon to make cookie even. (Same principle as peanut butter cookies — the goal is even thickness across entire cookie.) Bake for 15 minutes or until barely brown and center of cookie is firm. Remove from oven; cook for 5 minutes before removing cookies from baking sheet with sturdy spatula.

Makes approximately 12 cookies (can easily be doubled or tripled)

Healthy eating notes:

Even if you’re tempted, don’t go overboard with the “stuff.” If you add in too many apples or raisins, the cookies will not stick together (but taste delicious nonetheless!). Just eat the remaining half apple or give it to someone in your household. My son happily munches the leftovers every time I make these.

If you happen to have some around, these cookies are to-die-for fabulous when made with homemade applesauce (I make a batch just about every week because my son loves the stuff). Otherwise, I recommend any of the unsweetened organic brands available.

As always, there is no salt added to this recipe because we get enough sodium from whole foods, but you can add a pinch (if you must). ;)

Copyright 2009 Jennifer McCay

www.LeanGreenMama.com

We all ate lots and lots (and lots) of this the moment the dish was done, and leftover they taste even better.

And I’ve got to say — it’s so exciting to see my son gobble up chard and broccoli and cauliflower and ask for more and more and more (which is something along the lines of “cahwie [very, very long pause] fowl”). He really loves most veggies and has all along, but while we’re sorting out what he can’t eat, we’re eating more of what he can eat — meaning most veggies, and he tends to go for the healthier ones at that.

Here’s what you need:

1/2 lb. of baby carrots, chopped into smaller pieces
2 medium zucchini, diced in 1″ pieces
1-2 bunches Swiss chard, rinsed well and cut into thin ribbons
2-3 medium yellow potatoes
1 head of cauliflower, washed and cut into florets1 lb. brussels sprouts
1/3 c. balsamic vinegar
1 medium onion, chopped coarsely (optional — we did not include)
Black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degreees F. Oil a large (13″ x 9″ or larger) glass baking pan. Place all prepared vegetables in a large mixing bowl. Add in balsamic vinegar and 1/3 c. water. Stir well. Place in baking pan and cover with aluminum foil, making sure that foil doesn’t come into contact with the vegetables. (Acid and aluminum aren’t a good mix; the acid breaks down aluminum.) Bake for 45-60 minutes, checking after first 30 minutes and stirring to recoat all vegetables with balsamic mixture. Uncover after first 30 minutes and continue to bake until potatoes are soft.

Serves 2-3

Healthy eating notes:

In case there is not enough balsamic/water mixture to coat all vegetables, simply make another 1/4 c. balsamic and 1/4 c. water mixture. Most of the liquid should cook out, so the recipe is pretty forgiving.

Another delicious addition would be 1 clove of fresh garlic, minced and added to balsamic mixture.

The Swiss chard initially takes up an immense amount of space, but cooks down dramatically. I placed a large amount of Swiss chard that I could not even fit into my largest mixing bowl into the bottom of the baking dish, coated with some of the balsamic mixture and then added all the rest of the vegetables. In the end, the Swiss chard is a subtle, almost flavorless yet very nutritious addition to the vegetables. You could also use fresh spinach or kale if desired, though both would change the personality of the recipe due to their stronger flavors.

Baking vegetables can take longer or shorter amounts of time depending on your oven. If after 30 minutes the dish is nowhere near done, you might want to recover with foil for another 20 minutes or so and then remove foil to allow balsamic mixture to reduce slightly.

As always, there is no salt added to this recipe because we get enough sodium from whole foods, but you can add some salt to taste (if you must). ;)

Copyright 2009 Jennifer McCay

www.LeanGreenMama.com

But even though we’re living under strange conditions right now, that doesn’t mean we’re not eating good food. (Actually, we’ve eaten only foods we enjoy eating for the most part– prepared sometimes far more plainly than usual, but the whole foods themselves are delicious all on their own.)

Today, in hopes of developing a delicious recipe that we could all enjoy, I came up with a new soup that’s so simple as to seem too basic. And yet the final result was utterly delicious, so I’m happy to share it with you.

Here’s what you need:

3 medium onions, chopped finely
1 c. dried red lentils, rinsed well (other lentils would also work)
1 28-oz. Pomi tomatoes (or other no-salt-added canned tomatoes)
1.5 tsp. dried basil

Saute chopped onions in a large soup pot in a teaspoon of olive oil (or as much water as needed) until onions are translucent and very tender (almost to the point of caramelization). Add in lentils, tomatoes and basil. Stir well, add 3 cups of water and bring to a boil, stirring often. Once boiling, cover and allow soup to simmer on low until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally. If soup is bland (depends on the onions), add in a teaspoon of a no-salt-seasoning such as Vogue VegeBase, VegiZest or vegetable bouillion (maybe 1/4 of a cube) at a time, stirring well.

Soup is fully cooked when lentils are soft.

Serves 2-3

Healthy eating notes:

This recipe could easily be doubled, tripled, etc.

Red lentils look most attractive and will cook up the fastest in this recipe; however, regular lentils will work fine.

I strongly prefer buying Pomi brand tomatoes, which have no salt or other additives whatsoever and are packaged in an aseptic (Tetrapak) container rather than cans. To my knowledge, there is no brand of canned tomatoes on the market that is guaranteed to be BPA-free, whereas aseptic packaging is safe and BPA-free.

You could easily add 1/4 lb. of chopped spinach to this recipe right as you mix the other ingredients together, and it would be delicious and add extra nutrition.

If you add spinach, I recommend organic spinach for this recipe because non-organic greens contain very high amounts of pesticides. I usually buy Whole Foods’ organic chopped spinach, which works well and is chopped quite finely, which is great for a thick soup like this.

Another delicious addition would be 1 clove of fresh garlic, minced and added in when the onions are almost done. Heat 1 minute before adding remaining ingredients.

Likewise, a tablespoon of cooked brown rice per bowl would be a lovely complement to the flavors of the soup and could be added in when serving.

As always, there is no salt added to this recipe because we get enough sodium from whole foods, but you can add some salt to taste (if you must). ;)

Copyright 2009 Jennifer McCay

www.LeanGreenMama.com

This split pea soup is a life-saver for me because it requires almost no chopping, cooks up in under an hour and tastes delicious. It’s my son’s favorite soup; like hummus, he’ll eat it pretty much any time it’s served, without question. It’s also my favorite “comfort” soup — mild, reminiscent of mashed potatoes (someone recently described it to me as “fluffy,” much like mashed potatoes, in fact) but packed with much more nutritional punch. (If you follow this blog, you’ll know I don’t believe in “comfort food” the way it’s often used in our society because emotional eating is an unhealthy relationship with food. What I mean here is that the soup is mild and yet very flavorful, good early in the morning if you’re not a breakfast person or equally delicious later in the day.)

If I do say so myself, this soup is great on its own, with a salad or your favorite veggie burger. I make it in a double batch at least twice a month, and more often when time is particularly tight. It typically keeps for up to 5 days in the fridge.

Here’s what you need:

2 large or 3 medium onions, chopped finely
1 lb. of dried green split peas, sorted and rinsed well
4 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
2.5 no-salt added vegetable bouillon cubes and 5 cups water OR 5 cups of low-sodium vegetable broth
1 1-lb. bag of frozen chopped spinach (or 1 lb. of fresh spinach, chopped), organic if possible
juice of 1 lemon
1-2 tbsp. Vogue Vegebase, Dr. Fuhrman’s VegiZest or similar no-salt-added vegetable-based flavoring if desired

Saute chopped onions in a large soup pot in a teaspoon of olive oil (or as much water as needed) until onions are translucent and very tender (almost to the point of caramelization). Add in minced garlic and heat for 1 minute. Add in dried split peas, bouillon cubes/water or vegetable broth, and spinach. Stir well and bring to a boil, stirring often. Once boiling, cover and allow soup to simmer on low until split peas are tender, stirring occasionally. If soup is bland (depends on the broth or bouillon cubes), add in VegeBase or VegiZest a tablespoon at a time, stirring well.

When soup is fully cooked, remove from heat and add in lemon juice. Stir well and serve.

Healthy eating notes:

I recommend organic spinach for this recipe because non-organic greens contain very high amounts of pesticides. I usually buy Whole Foods’ organic chopped spinach, which works well and is chopped quite finely, which is great for a thick soup like this.

As always, there is no salt added to this recipe because we get enough sodium from whole foods, but you can add some salt to taste (if you must). ;)

Copyright 2009 Jennifer McCay

www.LeanGreenMama.com

This recipe is remarkably simple, authentic and yet is far healthier than even the stuff you get at the health food store. (I know that may sound strange because the hummus at the store is considered far healthier than many, many other foods, but I’ll explain …)

For starters, unlike the storebought stuff, it uses unhulled raw sesame seeds, which happen to be high in calcium, iron, fiber, thiamin and phosphorus — and they’re delicious to boot. You can also use commercially prepared tahini instead of seeds (particularly if you don’t have a high-powered blender like my beloved Vita-Mix), but if so, I still recommend the raw tahini (usually found in the refrigerator section at most health food stores) made from unhulled sesame seeds, which probably costs at least 3 times as much, but has so much more nutrition in it than the plain tahini made with hulled seeds.

Secondly, it doesn’t contain any added salt or oil, neither of which is necessary in a healthy diet. (Whole foods contain exactly the right amount of sodium without adding extra. And oils like olive oil are not nearly as nutritious as whole foods like the sesame seeds, which of course contain healthy fats naturally.)

My favorite thing about this recipe, as is the case for most recipes I prepare all the time, is its simplicity. I can whip this up in less than 5 minutes, start to finish, including cleaning out my blender.

Here’s what you need:

1 can no-salt-added garbanzo beans (I recommend Eden Organics brand), drained and liquid reserved, or approximately half a pound of homemade garbanzos

juice of 1 lemon

1-2 cloves fresh garlic (or roasted if you prefer)

1/4 cup raw unhulled sesame seeds

Place all ingredients in blender canister or food processor. Add in 1/4 of the reserved bean liquid. Blend and add more liquid if desired or necessary to achieve desired consistency. (I usually end up adding approximately half the liquid from a can of Eden Organics beans.) Tastes great immediately, or hummus will store for 2-3 days in a tightly closed container.

Healthy eating notes:

The beauty of a recipe this simple is that it lends itself to variation (though I’ll admit I make this the same way all the time because I’m always under the gun to give my hungry kiddo something healthy to eat!). You could easily add in roasted garlic instead of fresh, roasted bell peppers, 1/4 cup of steamed veggies or even a few olives if you don’t mind the salt.

Hummus is great plain, on whole wheat pitas or whole grain bread on its own or topped with lettuce, tomato and sprouts, as a dip for chopped veggies, and I personally like it on salad as well, slightly thinner than usual so that it can serve as a sort of salad dressing.

Copyright 2009 Jennifer McCay

www.LeanGreenMama.com

When I first began eating more healthfully, I simply used balsamic vinegar or orange juice as a salad dressing, but that got old pretty quickly. I then discovered a super-healthy recipe for a Ranch- or Caesar-like dressing (many, many thanks, Teresa!) that is flavorful, garlicky (in my book, this is always a good thing, though certainly you can minimize the quantity if you wish) and creamy like a traditional Ranch. Unfortunately it had a serious flaw. Or rather, I had a serious dilemma that required me to have to rethink the recipe entirely. I have mentioned this previously, but in addition to my commitment to healthy eating, my household also faces a few food sensitivities and allergies. And the original recipe called for soymilk as the liquid base, which is a no-no if I plan to share my salad with my husband.

It took a bit of experimenting, but I ultimately came up with an alternative that’s actually simpler to make than the original (which wasn’t at all tough to begin with!), and you can add in spices to taste or simply make it as is. The best part is that it takes less than 5 minutes to prepare, start to finish, and all you need is a blender!

This recipe in particular is very versatile and can be used as salad dressing, dressing for potato salad, as well as a sauce to pour over steamed or raw veggies.

Here’s what you need:

1 cup of raw cashews
1 cup of water
3 tbsp. no-salt-added Dijon mustard (found at health food stores)
1 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper or to taste (I use 8-10 twists of my pepper mill)
1-2 cloves of fresh garlic
3 tbsp. lemon juice

To prepare the dressing, simply place all ingredients in a blender canister. (A high-powered blender like the Vita-Mix is not required, but will result in a creamier dressing than a standard blender.) Blend until smooth. Serve immediately or store until needed. Add in more water a teaspoon at a time if dressing is too thick.)

To add more Ranch-style flavor, after blending pour dressing into storage container of choice. Stir in 1/4 tsp. dried dill and 1/4 tsp. onion powder and mix well. Allow flavors to meld for at least 30 minutes before serving for best results.

Healthy eating notes:

This recipe constitutes 4 oz. of cashews, so 1/4 of this recipe equals 1 oz. of healthy fat.

If the raw garlic is too strong for your liking, try roasting the garlic before blending. Simply place in aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees until tender. Cool and blend into recipe. (I never do this, but it would make the dressing more mellow.)

As always, there is no salt added to this recipe because we get enough sodium from whole foods, but you can add some salt to taste (if you must). ;)

Copyright 2009 Jennifer McCay

www.LeanGreenMama.com

But this week I decided to get adventurous. Why not have the oats some new way? And yes, I know that if eating oats in a new way is my definition of adventurous, I need to get a life. (My life is full of other adventures far more exciting than food, I assure you!) :)

The recipe below is simple, healthy and can easily be doubled, tripled, etc. as long as you have a pot big enough to fit in all the ingredients with a little room to stir. Here’s the basic ratio:

1 cup rolled or steel-cut oats*

2 cups water (or for slightly sweeter oats, you can use half apple juice and half water)

1 tsp. cinnamon

1-2 cups blueberries (frozen is fine and requires less work!)

1/2 tsp. alcohol-free vanilla flavoring

Put water, oats and cinnamon in small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring often with a wooden spoon. Once oats begin to boil, turn down to very low setting and allow to simmer, stirring often to make sure oats don’t stick on the bottom. (On a gas stove, use your smallest burner for the simmering stage no matter how big a pot of oats you make and you’ll cut down on the sticking problem considerably.) When oats reach desired consistency — approximately 12 minutes of cooking time — remove from the burner. Add in blueberries and vanilla. Stir well. If using frozen blueberries, you may want to heat for another minute on stove or in microwave.

If oats are too thick after you’ve added the blueberries (which contain a lot of liquid), simply add in water 1/8 to 1/4 cup at a time until desired texture is reached. (I personally prefer slightly thinner oats and make mine with about 2.5 cups liquid for every 1 cup of oats.)

* Note that steel-cut oats take a good bit longer to cook — up to half an hour. You can either put the oats on to soak the night before (simply put oats and water in the pot you will cook them in in the morning, cover and refrigerate), use your crockpot (which I haven’t done before, but have been told that a fuzzy logic style crockpot handles this easily without burning the oats) so that you wake up to freshly cooked oats or just start the batch of oats when you first get up and stir occasionally while you get ready for your day.

Healthy eating notes:

If you follow Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat to Live dietary recommendations and are trying to lose weight, approximately 1 cup of this recipe before blueberries are added is considered your serving of starch for the day. If you want a larger portion without increasing your amount of starch, simply increase the ratio of blueberries to oats, add in a little more vanilla if desired and enjoy.

Wheat-free/gluten-free diets: The regular oats you buy at the grocery store are often highly contaminated with wheat and other glutinous grains, unfortunately. I personally cannot tolerate any gluten in my diet, but I do not have celiac disease, so I buy special oats that are both grown far away from other glutinous grains and then are processed (to the small extent rolled and steel-cut oats are processed) in special plants where there is zero risk for cross-contamination. Some celiacs can handle these oats, and others can’t. The tastiest GF oats I’ve found are the rolled oats from GlutenFreeOats.com, but you may find the Bob’s Red Mill GF oats more easily at your local health food store or grocery.

Copyright 2009 Jennifer McCay

www.LeanGreenMama.com

I’ll admit it. I’m something of a pancake junkie.

When I was a kid, my favorite breakfast was my mom’s homemade pancakes, which she stirred up on many a weekend morning. In my teens, I took that recipe and tweaked it, adding enough butter and sugar to a single recipe of pancakes to harden the arteries of a horse instantaneously. (As a professional baker, butter was my number one ally.) That recipe kept me and my family pretty unhealthy and overweight for years and years. (They did taste good at the time, but man, were they bad for us.)

Then I started eating more healthfully and decided to branch out into pancakes that were at least a little less harmful to the health. It took some searching, but eventually I found a recipe that sounded acceptable and contained oats to add more fiber and flavor. But that recipe still had copious amounts of butter and buttermilk, which I stopped eating by choice to improve my health, so I tweaked it a little and used whole grain flour instead of white flour for the batter.

And then I learned that I’d also need to give up wheat if I wanted to breathe without assistance (which seemed like a pretty good reason — it turns out that wheat was my major asthma trigger), which meant even more tweaking. I probably also did a lot of complaining, but after much ado I finally came up with a version of pancakes that’s about as healthy as you can make them without, well, just eating them as oats.

For those of you reading this recipe who follow Dr. Fuhrman’s dietary recommendations (get more info on Dr. Fuhrman), this isn’t 100% in line with his guidelines, but it’s pretty close. First, pancakes get a little browned, meaning that acrylamides form when the pancakes are baked. Secondly, without a small amount of added fat, the pancakes don’t actually form a decent crust, which is pretty much what allows pancakes to be pancakes and not liquid mush. Of course, fats are necessary in a healthy diet, but until very recently, I hadn’t found a whole food fat source that worked. I am thrilled to share that I just discovered that almond butter can be used instead of oil in this recipe! I also use apple juice and a very small amount of honey to sweeten the recipe, though the honey is optional.

I like serving these for special occasions and anytime there’s a crowd around that isn’t quite as health-minded as my household is. I top them with a simple apple-cinnamon compote (recipe follows) or a big bowl of sliced strawberries, blueberries and bananas, and thus far I’ve had no complaints. :) If you’re so inclined, a little maple syrup would be good as well.

For the pancakes, here’s what you need:

- 2 c. rolled oats
- 1.5 c. apple juice (fresh or the high-quality, non-translucent storebought kind is best)
- 1 tsp. alcohol-free vanilla
- 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 egg (or 1 tbsp. ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp. water)
- 1.5 tsp. vegetable oil or 2 tbsp. raw almond butter (creamy)
- 2 tsp. honey (optional)
- 1/3 c. whole wheat flour or 1/2 c. oat flour (can be made by blending 1/2 c. rolled oats in Vita-Mix — you can also add in 1 tsp. xanthan gum if desired to add a little stickiness to the oat flour-based recipe)
- 1 tsp. baking powder (optional when you cook with oat flour — I don’t use this myself anymore because it just adds unneeded sodium)
- Water as needed to thin batter, one tablespoon at a time

Either the night before or 1-1/2 hours prior to making pancakes, put oats and apple juice in large bowl. Cover and refrigerate.

Remove bowl from fridge and add in all additional ingredients as listed above. If you use flaxseed and water instead of egg, allow flax/water mixture to gel up a bit for 5 minutes before adding to mixture. Stir well (if using whole wheat flour, be careful not to overmix). Add in just enough water so that batter is still somewhat thick, but can be flattened/smoothed with a spoon without much effort. (Every batch seems to be different, depending on how long the oats have soaked.)

Heat griddle or griddle pan to medium-low heat; pan is ready when drops of water sizzle and evaporate on pan in a few seconds. These pancakes are thicker than others due to the oats, so use a lower temperature than you usually would and cook pancakes slightly longer.

When griddle is ready, drop pancake batter by tablespoon onto the pan, smoothing each pancake out before adding the next pancake’s batter. Pancakes should be the size of a homemade oatmeal cookie.

Flip pancakes carefully once bubbles begin to form and then pop; cook until done on both sides. Make sure not to overcook, and adjust temperature of burner/griddle if need be between batches. Place cooked pancakes on a plate and cover with foil or a clean dishcloth to keep warm until serving.

Serves 2-3

For the apple compote, here’s what you need: (I put this on about 5 minutes before I begin cooking the pancakes)

- 2 apples, chopped
- 1/4 c. raisins
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 c. apple juice  (fresh or the high-quality, non-translucent storebought kind is best)

Place all ingredients in small saucepan and stir well. Cook over medium heat until apples are slightly tender (or until desired tenderness) and liquid has cooked down. Serve with oatmeal pancakes.

Healthy eating notes:

Notice that I do not add any salt to this (or any other) recipe; we get plenty of sodium from the whole foods we eat, though you can salt to taste if you wish. In this recipe, 1/4 tsp. salt would be all you need. As someone who almost never eats any added salt whatsoever, I also don’t add baking powder, which also adds in quite a bit of sodium to the recipe, but I make the version out of oats. However, it is necessary to add baking powder if you make this with whole wheat flour.

Gluten-free: I use gluten-free rolled oats from GlutenFreeOats.com; Bob’s Red Mill also has gluten-free oats, which can be found in many health food stores and better grocery stores such as Whole Foods.

Copyright 2009 Jennifer McCay

www.LeanGreenMama.com

This lentil soup is my favorite of them all, and it has become my ally for weeks when I’m really pushed for time to prep food. Lentils cook up so quickly, after all. And you can add plenty of greens such as kale or spinach to greatly increase the nutrient content! I make a double batch of this recipe twice a month, and everyone in the house loves it.

Here’s what you need:

- 4 medium or 3 large onions, chopped finely
- 3/4 c. celery, diced (including leaves if desired)
- 2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and minced
- 2 bay leaves (can be omitted without hurting the soup)
- 1/2 to 3/4 lb. chopped baby spinach or kale (see below)
- 1-1/2 tsp. dried rubbed sage
- 1-1/2 tsp. dried thyme
- 1/2 lb. carrots, sliced/diced or food processed
- 2 c. assorted lentils (see below), picked over and rinsed
- 8 c. low-sodium veggie broth (or 8 c. water and 3 no-sodium-added vegetable broth cubes)

In a large pot, saute chopped onions and celery in water or 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil over medium-low heat for 7-8 minutes till soft. Reduce heat to low and cook until onions and celery are completely translucent and tender. Add in garlic and spices; cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often.

Add in all remaining ingredients. Stir well.

Add in beans and cook for 20 minutes (or longer — the longer the better the flavors meld). Add up to another 1/2 cup water if needed.

Healthy eating notes:

Carrots: An easy shortcut is to buy prewashed baby carrots. Whole Foods has organic baby carrots that are great, and I always have a couple pounds of them in my fridge for soup making and adding to salads, dipping in hummus, you name it. I personally tend to just throw the baby carrots into my little food chopper and then add them to the soup, though on occasion I take the time to chop them into pretty little carrot slices for aesthetic reasons. The soup gets done more quickly the smaller the carrots.

On lentils: Lentils come in various shapes and sizes. I tend to make this in one of a couple ways. Either I use 1/3 regular green lentils, 1/3 French or beluga lentils and 1/3 red lentils (which are actually orange and dissolve into the soup, making its base creamier), or for simplicity’s sake I do a 75-25 mix of regular green lentils and the little red lentils. If you can only find regular green lentils, so be it; if you want the soup to be creamier, remove a couple cups of it at the end and blend till smooth, then add back to the pot and stir well. The red lentils simply remove the need for this step.

When you make any recipe containing dried legumes, it’s always a good idea to sort them in a large bowl before rinsing them off to remove any debris.

Greens: I am always looking for ways to cut corners on food prep, and prepping greens in particular is something I don’t enjoy. I find organic chopped spinach at Whole Foods that works well as is in this recipe; just pour in the amount you wish to include.

If you choose to use kale, which is more nutrient-dense than spinach and equally, if not more, delicious in this recipe, you can simply remove the kale leaves from the stalk and blend the raw kale with some of the broth or water prior to cooking. Simply put the leaves and some water in your blender canister, cover and blend till the kale is in tiny pieces. I use the large canister of my Vita-Mix to do this all the time.

Bear in mind that when you blend greens with water (I’ve done kale and spinach lately for different recipes), it makes the soup base very, very, very bright green (and sometimes a wee bit foamy) initially, and then turns a dull green once it’s fully cooked, which might not thrill everyone. I tend to use chopped greens for company :) and save the blended stuff for my household’s use. The blended greens are actually better for you because you get more of the phytonutrients (plant nutrients) that way, but I know not everyone is quite as greens-oriented as we are.

Notice that I do not add any salt to this (or any other) recipe; we get plenty of sodium from the whole foods we eat, though you can salt to taste if you wish.

Copyright 2009 Jennifer McCay

www.LeanGreenMama.com