Lunch « Kirstie In The Kitch

Category Archives: Lunch

Apr 4 2012

Veggie Lentil Soup

by Kirstie

So yesterday some of you may have noticed I failed to blog. I had a bit of an allergy attack and kinda parked myself on the couch, sleeping on and off. Today I’m much better and I’m blogging from my comfy couch singing along with the American Idol contestants, thinking I can sing too (I know I can’t btw).. so I asked my mom if I could be on American Idol and she said “mmhm” how nice of her to believe in me right? Then she goes, “but you’re gunna be voted off right away” LOL! Anyways last night I wasn’t in The Kitch BUT my mama was! She made us sucha good meal last night… like really, really, good! Baked lemongrass halibut with a side of wild rice and sauteed mushrooms with onions and leeks wowwww SO GOOD! Def got my kitch skills from my mama, woo! Oh and she also did a homemade salsa.. LOOK!

This morning I did some running around and once I came home I was really craving a workout so I worked it out and then went on a good long power walk – it’s so sunny today! I am loooving it! While all that was happening I had some yummy lentils soaking in a pot which brings us to today’s post, my fave lentil soup!

What You Need In The Kitch:

2 cups mixed lentils
1/2 – 2 cups coconut milk
1 medium carrot
1 medium cooking onion (yellow)
4 garlic cloves
2 leeks
half a jalapeno
half an orange pepper
1 medium tomato
1/2 – 2 cups kale
1/2 – 2 cups spinach
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

If you are able to, soak the 2 cups of lentils overnight – this helps with digestion. I did a quick soak which is bringing the lentils to a boil for about 2 minutes, remove from heat and then let the lentils soak for an hour. Chop up your veggies while you’re waiting. Add carrots and broccoli to lentils and allow them to cook.

In a separate saucepan saute chopped onions, garlic, orange pepper, tomato, jalapeno and leeks along with your spices – rosemary, basil, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper. Once the veggies are tender add to the soup with the coconut milk as well, cover and let the flavours have a party in the pot! I gave it about 20-30 minutes before I added the kale and spinach to the party covered it up and let it sit for another 10 minutes. Once that’s all done scoop into a bowl and top with nutritional yeast :)

This soup is sooo delicious and full of flavour, I can’t wait to have left overs tomorrow because the flavour will be even BETTER! Foodgasm? Um, yes!

I made apple crisp for dessert tonight as well.. The Kitch was very busy!! That recipe will be up tomorrow.. eeee I cannot wait to share!! It’s sucha treat ;)

Everyone enjoy your Wednesday nights XO

Love From The Kitch,

Kirstie

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Apr 2 2012

Moving Updates & Jicama Salad

by Kirstie

Finally some time to sit back and blog! How are all my lovely friends doing? Hope you all enjoyed your weekends! I arrived back in my hometown on Thursday after what felt like the quickest flight ever. I was greeted in The Kitch with some salmon quiche that my mama had made – so YUM! For those who were wondering, I am not vegan I still eat seafood and occasionally eggs which I guess makes me pesca-ovotarian(?) but I am slowly making the transition to vegan. I expect it to happen within the year, but who knows and besides those are just labels, I like to eat according to what makes my body happy and healthiest. Anyway, since being home I’ve been pretty busy unpacking and organizing all my stuff. I’ve also been keeping active going on nice long power walks and on Friday my dad took me x-country skiing, we killed 7.5 km!

X-Country Ski Trails on a sunny day

Since spring is on it’s way, with summer to follow, I wanted to share a flavourful, refreshing salad with you guys. I recently discovered the vegetable, jicama and fell in love! It has the same texture as a pear and/or apple but a flavour that is hard to explain.. I’m kicking myself for not snapping a pic before tossing it into the salad but it looks like this, thanks google! ..

What You Need In The Kitch:
1/2 a medium red onion, julienned
2 jicamas, peeled and julienned
1 mango, julienned
1/4 cup goji berries
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
1/3 cup parsley, chopped
2 tsp. lime juice
1 tsp. unpasteurized honey
sea salt and black pepper to taste

For those who are like, “what the f is julienned?” julienned is basically cutting the fruit/vegetable in strips. That’s the simplest way I can explain it. Julien your red onion first and place into a strainer over a bowl then place a bowl with a weight (can of soup works well) over the onions and let sit for 10-15 minutes while you julien your jicama and mango. The point of this is to get all of the bitterness out of the onion. Cool trick, huh? Also, let your goji berries sit in a little bit of water to plump and soften. In a separate bowl, mix the lime juice (preferably freshly squeezed), honey, salt and pepper – this is your dressing. Now everything should be ready to toss together! This salad is best when it’s fresh. We had some left over here and I tried to eat it the next day and it just was not as good. So if you’re only making this for two you can definitely cut the measurements in half.

I can’t wait to make this again, I think it would be perfect to bring to a potluck type dinner! It’s so different than your typical salad, very full of flavour! My whole family loved it :) Speaking of family, we all went out for lunch by the ocean on Sunday for a close family friend of ours – it was her birthday! And we love her :D

My lovely family

Our view during lunch on Sunday

It rained today. But I kinda liked it.

Mama P bought me a yummy treat :D

Chocolate lead me to a workout in our "zen room" What are you favourite at home workouts?

Okay friends that is all for today.. Some of those pictures are off of my instragram, feel free to follow: kirstibella. I love instagram, so much fun! Oh and have you joined me on Facebook yet? I post my eats daily on there, twitter, and instagram.. Lets connect! Enjoy the rest of your Mondays ;)

Love From The Kitch,

Kirstie

I almost forgot it was Music Monday – I have been loving the boy bands lately.. especially this song by The Wanted

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Mar 15 2012

Quinoa-Stuffed Red Pepper

by Kirstie

Hello lovelies! Did you enjoy yesterday’s post on healthy snacks you can bring on the go with you? I hope I threw out some new ideas for you! After eating a ton of dairy yesterday AND sugar, I did not have the greatest sleep. My stomach was upset and I could not calm down enough to fall asleep, I even woke up this morning feeling not so hot! I got up and made The Hulk and felt so much better after. For lunch today I made Quinoa-Stuffed Red Pepper and I wanted to share with you all! This is pretty easy to make although not fast if you choose to bake it in the oven it takes about an hour. Sometimes when I make this I like to just leave the pepper raw for extra crunch. It’s up to you! I only made one but with the amount of quinoa I cooked up you could easily stuff 3-4 medium sized peppers. I’m going to just eat the rest of the quinoa mixture on it’s own for dinner, possibly with some roasted yams – so yummy!

What You Will Need In The Kitch:

1 Small Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
2 Small Carrots (chopped)
Spinach
Kale
1 cup uncooked quinoa (makes about 2 cups when cooked)
1 tsp cumin
Couple dashes of cinnamon
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Red Pepper (cored and seeded)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat either coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil over medium high heat. I used Nutiva’s coconut oil that I talked about in the quinoa pancake post. I will also be talking about it on tomorrow’s blog post for Feature Friday! After oiling up the pan, throw in your chopped onion and garlic and let simmer until the onion is transparent. Add the chopped carrots and let cook until softened. Then add your spinach and kale and cook until they are just wilted. Next, add in the cumin, cinnamon and cooked quinoa. Toss the mixture around a bit :) Now you can add your salt and pepper to taste.. It should look a little something like this.

Quinoa Filling

Set aside the filling to cool until it’s just warm. If you are making more than one stuffed pepper, divide the quinoa evenly among the peppers. Top the pepper with it’s top and cover snugly with foil. You are now ready to place on a greased baking sheet! Baking should take about an hour but make sure to check halfway through. Peppers should be tender and juicy when done. You should be able to hear it sizzlin!

The final product - ready to eat!

And there you have it, dinner OR lunch is served in The Kitch! Hope you guys enjoyed this post, I know my stomach and taste buds definitely did! Let me know if you give it a try or have any questions. Enjoy the rest of your Thursday night and I will see you back here in The Kitch tomorrow for a special coconut oil feature.

Love From The Kitch,

Kirstie

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Mar 12 2012

Black Rice Yam Bowl & Music Monday

by Kirstie

Hey guys, happy Monday! Hope everyone has kicked their week into a positive direction despite this wind fit Mother Nature is throwing here in Vancouver. I want to start off by thanking everyone who has supported the opening of The Kitch on Twitter & Facebook. I’m doing this for all of you in hopes that you will be able to take away from my posts and spread the love! So again, thank you all so much. This blog would be nada without all of you.

Today I am bringing you a flavourful black rice yam bowl that is perfect for lunch or even dinner! Okay, I won’t lie.. Sometimes I even eat this for breaky if I have some left over in the fridge and don’t feel like making anything in the morning. It’s so quick and easy to warm up!

Ingredients You Will Need In The Kitch:

1 medium sized yam
Organic Forbidden Black Rice – found in the bulk section at Whole Foods and Planet Organic
Kale
Spinach
2-4 garlic cloves
Half a yellow onion or red onion

Cubed Garnet Yam

I chopped up a garnet yam for this one. Did you know there are over 200 kinds of yams!? I definitely didn’t. The other day I tried Japanese Yams (recommended by my best friend on our Whole Foods shopping trip together) for the first time and they were delicious, look for a separate post on that as well! For all the vegetarians out there who are concerned about their protein intake, look to the yummy yam! Yams are a wonderful source of protein. Not only are they your pal when it comes to protein they are also high in vitamins A & C! And if that isn’t enough for you, yams are also a great source of thiamine. Thiamine (Vitamin B1) helps to maintain a normal metabolism and burn carbs! Who doesn’t wanna burn those carbs, right? I could go on and on about the positives of yams and if you are interested in learning more about the benefits of this tasty root veggie check out WHFoods.

Hope you enjoyed that quick little info sesh! Let’s get back to the recipe though. SO! I chopped up the yam and threw them in a pot with a little bit of water to steam on medium-low heat for about 5 mins or until soft. NOTE: I did not peel the yam because I wanted to treat my body to all the wonderful nutrients possible! I also steamed some spinach and kale. Kale is a HUGE favourite here in The Kitch and yes it will have its very own “Friday Feature” post in the future. On another element I had a pan of garlic and yellow onions sautéing in coconut oil – yum! I also sprinkled sea salt, pepper, and some dried herbs on the garlic and onions for extra flavour and kick! I premade the rice which takes about 15 minutes or so to cook. Just boil 2 cups of water and then add in 1 cup of rice, lower heat to simmer. Wait until all water is absorbed and voila!

"Forbidden" Black Rice

Top the rice with your steamed veggies and sautéed garlic and onions and you are ready to go my friend! Sometimes I even top this delicious bowl with cilantro but I unfortunately didn’t have any on hand. Is anyone else in love with the smell of cilantro by the way? Or is it just me?

The yummy bowl goodness!

I hope this bowl left you smiling and inspired to make your own! There’s a lot to look forward to in The Kitch this week. Make sure you “like” my page on Facebook for quick updates!

We must not forget today’s Quote In The Kitch! From our good friend Gandhi,
“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”

It’s also Music Monday here in The Kitch, I love to bump tunes while I cook so here’s a special track for you that just got dropped earlier today by some of my fave Vancity artists. @SpotAndEss & @TheRealEmmalyn.