Lentil Soup With Lemon Yogurt Cream

As long as I can remember I have been a fan of lentil soup.

When I was younger I would heat up a can of Progresso, cook pasta shells in it, and then proceed to dump at least a quarter-bottle of grated Parmesan into the mix. This is not an exaggeration. You know how the bottle has two settings? One of them is the sensible trio of holes that will simply dust your food with a socially acceptable amount of cheese, the other is one gaping hole that is intended for quick and sudden evacuation for large amounts of cheese. I used the gaping hole side. This dish is what my Italian father dubbed “Pasta Fazool.” It was simple and tasty and I am sure that our Great Italian Grandmother is rolling over in her grave somewhere at the thought of us using canned soup and buckets of pre-grated Parm.

For a long time this satisfied me. Opening up cans, dumping the contents, saturating the finished product with buckets of gritty cheese. This got me through most of college… along with a suspicious amount of turkey sandwiches and vodka. Then, one year I got bit by the soup bug. I am sure this was during the first year that I started teaching. I was constantly sick. I started making soup from scratch and it was a revelation. I experimented with everything from chicken noodle, beef stew, chicken and rice, spicy sausage soup with spinach and of course lentil. […]

Skinny Shepherd’s Pie | Gluten Free

Yesterday I couldn’t get it together.

I tried to come to this space and write for you, but my brain seemed to still be on a three day weekend.

Weren’t those three days nice?  My weekend included some of the following events:

Thai food with one of my main gals. I commented on how much Pad Thai was in front of me and proceeded to eat everything but two bites. I boxed it up as if to say “See? I totally knew that would be too much.” We both knew I could have finished it. I was trying to be a lady.

I managed to watch three Disney oldies. The Rescuers, The Rescuers Down Under and The Aristocats. I have a serious soft spot for talking animals of any kind. I had to talk myself down off the ledge from actually watching Santa Buddies. If you haven’t seen the cover, it’s a bunch of golden retriever puppies wearing santa hats.  Some might think this is off-putting. I’m not one of these people. Don’t judge me. We can’t all be perfect. (If we are being honest, I think the creepiest thing in that picture is the glazed over Santa. What is he going to do with all those puppies?) […]