Unique Lentil Soup?

Oh, the diet of a model.... 

Ok, the combination of ingredients described in the title might already sound a little weird to you. I was skeptical at first because I know usually broccoli is chopped up fine and in a thick, cheesy, creamy soup. But I just went with it because I love broccoli and I wanted some yummy soup for the crowns to soak up juice in.

This is 100% my own recipe and I found it to be sooo yummy and satisfying. This recipe is for one model-sized serving.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup dry lentils
1/2 fresh broccoli crown, cut into bite-sized florets, the stem is usable chopped up
1 teaspoon avocado oil (optional)
1/2 teaspoon ketchup
1/2 teaspoon worcestershire
1/2 teaspoon garlic
 About 1 1/2 cup water, give or take
1 teaspoon better than bouillon beef flavor
salt to taste


Directions:

1. In a saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil with lentils on medium high heat.
2. Let lentils boil while taking quick shower, for 10 minutes or so, until soft, while tea kettle is also warming up for a nice cup of Earl Grey.
3. Drain water using collander, or just pour out as much as possible without loosing lentils
4. Put back on medium high heat, adding broccoli and oil. (I used oil thinking I was going to slightly "fry" up the broccoli and eat it that way, perhaps with some almonds, but it really wanted to be a soup. Not sure what difference the oil will make while cooking, but it will add about 40 calories and a healthy fat.)
5. Stir broccoli about 2 minutes, letting the oil get soaked up, and ponder about nutritional value.
6. Stir in a dash of ketchup, worcestershire, and a small portion of garlic until flavor is even throughout.
7. Taste worcestershire-y broccoli-lentil combo, wondering if it's going to turn out any good.
8. Add enough water for a single serving of soup, not enough to cover tops of broccoli. Too much water and you begin to drown your ingredients and dilute the flavor. I used approximately 1 1/2 cups, give or take.
9. Dissolve enough better than bouillon beef flavor in water to make a nice broth and add salt to taste, stir.
10. Let simmer (actually mine was still at a decent boil, on medium high heat) until broccoli is cooked to your liking. The softer, more cooked the broccoli is, the less nutrients it contains. I left mine a little crunchy, but cooked enough to absorb nice flavor.
11. Enjoy! Yum!

Nutrition:

142 calories
5 grams fat (1 gram saturated, 1 gram polyunsaturated, 4 grams monounsaturated)
234 mg potassium
18 carbs
3 grams sugar
7 grams protein
(Percentages below based on daily intake)
4% vitamin A
60% vitamin C
3% calcium
13% iron

Be Fierce!!

Briauna Mariah (:

Cheap and Healthy Lasagne Rolls

Who said lasagne has to be expensive and hard to make? I love to pull recipes from SkinnyTaste.com because they are all health conscious and there are tons of options, including "Skinny" desserts.

When I find a recipe I would like to try, I hardly ever follow the exact directions, mostly to cut on cost. Living in New York is expensive and you have to cut where ever possible. This is why I cook my own meals. Sometimes they are amazing and sometimes they might have needed a little more guidance. When you cook often enough, you can learn what you can skip out on and substitute ingredients with to make a meal cheaper and to go farther.

This lasagne roll recipe (click here) has been calling my name for a few days so I decided to get the ingredients while grocery shopping. I really like these because they are easy to store and they are perfect little serving sizes.

What was needed

1. Store brand lasagne noodles - $1.99
2. Box of frozen spinach - $1.50
3. Tomato sauce - $1.79
4. Cottage cheese - $2.49
   Total of $7.77

In the kitchen

1. 1 egg
2. Olive oil
3. Tin foil (site suggests wax paper)
4. Garlic
5. Salt
6. Pepper

Essentially, I took the Skinny Taste recipe and made it simpler. I love ricotta cheese, but the price scared me into substituting it with cottage cheese, which many people tend to do.

Make sure to boil your noodles with oil so they won't stick together or get too messy. I was lazy with my sauce, hence the reason why my picture isn't as pretty as it could be. I love garlic, so of course that had to be added into the cheese/spinach mixture.

The recipe isn't too complicated. If you were to make it exactly as it says, it would be ten times more delicious than my lazy rolls, but they were still good! And surprisingly easy.

This is perfect served with some corn or even ground turkey inside the rolls. The options are endless.

Enjoy!

Be Fierce!!

Briauna Mariah (: