Plantain-Flounder Lasagna

Most people who've known me a while know that I've made some odd dishes. But today's takes the cake.

It will forever forward be known as Plantain-Flounder Lasagna.

Moosewood Cookbooks are usually great, but there are a few recipes in there that make me go WTF?! And that, blog friends, is an intuition that I should stick with. I can't even get my Caribbean friends to try it.

Chicken Couscous

Chicken Couscous from The South Beach Diet Quick & Easy Cookbook, p. 192

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 inch cubes (I use far less chicken and often have pre-cooked it whole in order to avoid handling raw poultry)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (the key to the yumminess of this - but no more than this)
• 1 cup broth
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat couscous
• 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken until no longer pink inside and lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Remove chicken from pan with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Reduce heat to medium and add onion, cumin, and cinnamon to the same pan; cook until onions are softened and lightly browned, about three minutes. Add broth and bring to a simmer. Stir in couscous, chickpeas, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 1 minute. Return chicken to saucepan, combine with couscous, season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.

Turkish Spinach and Lentil Soup

I'm going to start posting the things I'm cooking. Since I can now label posts and (they say) sort that way, then I can easily find the recipes later.

Turkish Spinach and Lentil Soup - from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant, p. 71
*extremely yummilicious.

1 cup dried lentils
5 c. vegetable stock/water
1 teaspoon salt

1/4 c. olive oil
2 c. chopped onions
3 pressed garlic cloves
1/4 t. cayenne
2 bay leaves
1/2 c. raw bulghur
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley (I use dried)
2 c. chopped tomatoes (a can of diced)
1/4 c. tomato paste (I think I used whole small can)
pinch of dried rosemary (I used more)
salt & pepper

2 cups stemmed, cleaned, and coarsely chopped fresh spinach (today I'm using some that I froze a few months ago - time to clear out the freezer)
chopped fresh parsley

Rinse lentils. Bring them to boil in stock. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 40 minutes.

Heat olive oil in heavy soup pot. Saute the onions until translucent. Add garlic, cayenne, bay leaves, and raw bulghur. Stir on medium heat until onion and bulghur are lightly browned.

Mix in parsley and tomatoes for a bit, then stir in tomato paste.

Pour lentils and liquid into the soup pot wiht the onions and bulghur. Simmer 15 minutes. Add rosemary, salt, pepper to taste. If lentils & bulghur have absorbed too much liquid, add more stock, water, or tomato juice. Remove bay leaves.

Just before serving, stire in spinach and let it wilt in the hot soup. Garnish with more fresh parsley and serve with crusty bread.