Love Bites – Part 2, The Recipes

Hopefully, you’re fully recovered from your Valentine celebrations. Personally, I’m still stuffed!
As promised, here are the recipes for Strawberry Soup (a la’ Carnival Cruise Lines), Mock Tropical Chicken Salad (a la’ my mom) and 9-Vegetable Lentil Soup (a la’ me).

Strawberry Soup

• 2 C Frozen Strawberries
  
• 2 C Milk
  
• 1 C Heavy Cream
  
• 2 T Fresh Mint Leaves (finely chopped)
  
• Powdered sugar to taste

Whiz it all in a blender until smooth. If you hold it for any time be sure to give it a stir before serving. Garnish with a sliced strawberry and a sprig of mint leaves.

This next recipe is a vegetarian sandwich filler. I like to use it for special occasions and find it serves best on a croissant or bread that won’t compete with the flavors in the spread. Whenever I serve it it gets rave reviews – even from the non-vegetarians. My own mom is the mastermind behind this one – Yumm!

Mock Tropical Chicken Salad

• 1 Can Fri Chik (vegetable protein meat substitute)
  
• 1 heaping T Mayo
  
• 1 t Sweet Pickle juice
  
• Salt & Pepper to taste
  
• 1 1/2 T Golden Raisins
  
• 2 t Onion grated (you want to taste it, but not see it)
  
• 1/2 C Pecans, roasted & broken up
  
• 1/4 C Dried Mango, chopped (the mayo plumps them up)
  
• a dozen or so Red Grapes cut in half

Squeeze the Fri Chik to remove excess liquid and tear it up with your fingers. Mix in all the ingredients and chill.

Last one today is one of my favorite, healthiest, and most complimented, soups. I call it 9-Vegetable Lentil Soup. Rachael Ray would probably call it a “stoup” because it’s thicker than a typical soup and more like a stew. You could even change it up a bit and add MORE veggies if you wanted.

9-Vegetable Lentil Soup

In a medium saucepan over medium heat:

• 2 C dry Lentils (You can use more if you'd like - they break down and thicken the soup a lot - remember to "up" your water two to one if you increase the lentils.)
  
• 4 C water

Simmer for 25 minutes.
In a large stock-pot, sauté:

• 1 Stick 50/50 Butter
  
• 4 or 5 Cloves Garlic, pressed or minced
  
• 1 med-large Onion chopped
  
• 4 stalks Celery - clean and chopped (1/2 inch slices)
  

Add:

• 2 Boxes of Swanson Organic Vegetable Broth
  
• 1 Can Del Monte Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic & Oregano (no salt added)
  
• 1 12-ounce can V-8 Juice
  
• 1 Can Cream Style Corn
  
• 1 Cup Frozen Corn
  
• 1 Cup Frozen Peas
  
• 1 Cup Frozen Green Beans
  
• 4 large Carrots, peeled and chopped (1 inch pieces)
  
• 4 Potatoes, peeled and chopped (1 1/2 inch cubes)
  
• 1 Heaping T “Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base, Vegetarian” (OR 3 rounded T McKay’s Chicken Style Seasoning.)
  
• 2 t Kosher Salt
  
• 24 “grinds” Black Pepper
  
• ¼ t Celery Seed
  
• ¼ t White Pepper
  
• 1 pinch Sage
  
• ½ t Spike Seasoning, “Original Magic” flavor

Spoon the cooked lentils into your stock-pot draining off most of the water.

Let the soup cook until the vegetables are tender – about 45 minutes.

This trumps a canned soup every time! I’ve even eaten this soup for breakfast – it’s hearty and sticks with you and is really good for you to boot.

You can also throw all of this in a six quart crock-pot in the morning and have it ready for dinner. (you may need to cut back the liquid a little – it will be very full…) Just nuke the butter, onion and celery in the microwave for a few minutes before adding to the pot.

This vegetable soup is a favorite at our house to welcome Sabbath on Friday night, served up with a crusty bread and an easy dessert (think brownies from a mix with a scoop of no-sugar added ice cream) and you’ve got an easy meal with easy clean-up. And nobody will notice that you didn’t serve any meat.

Have a beautifully blessed day!

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