Fitness Food and You

Here’s a lovely little dish that you can easily make at home now, as you probably have most of these ingredients!  Personally, I can eat this hot, cold or in between!  It’s a great meal, side dish or, do I dare say, a nutritious breakfast?? Why not??!! Enjoy!

ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 large cloves garlic, lightly crushed with the side of a knife blade and minced

1 large red onion, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 red pepper, stem and seeds removed and small diced

2 (1-pound) cans red kidney beans

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon hot sauce

2 ½ cups chicken stock

1 cup white rice

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves

directions

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Sauté garlic, onion, celery, and pepper until tender. Stir in kidney beans, onion powder, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Reduce heat to low and let mixture simmer slowly while you cook the rice.

Bring the chicken stock to a boil and stir in rice and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Return to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes without removing the lid. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

Fold rice and beans gently together and transfer to a serving dish. Serve garnished with cilantro.

(Adapted from a recipe found on https://www.foodnetwork.com/)

Boy is this delicious!! I read the comments posted about this recipe and many people said that the lentils didn’t cook in 20 minutes. I decided to soak the lentils as I was chopping the squash, onion, garlic and cilantro and that did the trick! This is warm, comfort food packed with nutrition! A good thing for us to be eating now!! 

ingredients

1 tbsp olive or coconut oil

1 white or yellow onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ tsp salt

½ t black pepper, freshly ground

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp turmeric, ground

2 tsp cumin

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1, (28 ounce) can whole or diced tomatoes

2½ cups vegetable or chicken broth, organic low sodium

4 cups Butternut squash, chopped into cubes (*see note below)

1, (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 cup green or red lentils, rinsed

½ lemon, fresh juice of

1/3 cup cilantro, finely chopped

directions

Heat olive oil in large saucepan. Add onion and garlic. Sauté for about 5 minutes or until the onion becomes translucent. Add cinnamon, turmeric, cumin and cayenne pepper to the onion mixture and stir to combine.

Stir in  tomatoes, broth, salt, pepper, and chopped butternut squash. Then add lentils and chickpeas. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer, cover and cook for 20-25 minutes until the lentils and squash are soft. Add lemon and stir. Garish with cilantro and serve.

*NOTE: If you don’t have any butternut squash you can add sweet potato or any potato of your choice!

(adapted from a recipe found on https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/)