High-veggie, low-glycemic, easy on the meat recipes, anyone?

The story I heard was that the Iman fainted because his bride had used up their entire dowry of olive oil making the dish. Eggplant/aubergine is infamous for this. This is why I will often coat lightly with olive oil and bake prior to using in recipes.

I got pomegranates to go with the figs for the Pork, Mushroom, and Fig dish I am making tonight. And I will cook up a pot of lentils. I had forgotten how much less cooking time they require than other dried legumes. This should have me set for the week.

Speaking of these veggies, I love the canned caponata from Italy, Greece or the Balkans to serve over crackers as an appetizer. Zero work and healthy.

I make a lot of cream soups in the winter: squash, parsnip, tomato. I use chicken stock for the first too and dill to flavor the latter. Also, why I needed curry powder. All are delicious and very easy to make if you have an immersion blender.

I know that roasted veggies were mentioned, but want to point out that BEETS are super-delish, as well as wonderful in salads.

I need to get going while the day is still young. Happy cooking! - Claire

This is really good. Curried Tomato Soup Wth Fragrant Quinoa:

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/curried-tomato-...

Thanks Momine. Family loved it - which is nice because it took awhile to make it! Hubby even took some to work for lunch. It was a bit on the acidic side, I wonder if I needed a bit more olive oil to help with that? I did it over a bit of brown rice (in the hull). It added a nice bite. We eat SO much quinoa - I am looking to add a few more grains in occasionally even though I know the gold standard is quinoa for protein.

Tonight I am making a big tabbouleh, fresh hummus with smoked paprika and stuffed grape leaves. I have some cucumbers and mint I will add to the salad and I will make it with quinoa instead of bulghur - you can't tell a difference. Chopping parsley is maddening to me. Kiddos hate too many stems.

Cool site- rccurtisra! I have 3 bananas going very brown on the counter and the first recipe called for 3 ripe bananas (the pineapple muffins). I will see if I have time to make those today for the kids for breakfast tomorrow!

I always looked baked peppers as a kid, will definitely give this a whirl.

I even tried the mushroom bolognese Momine mentioned her daughter making. I googled a recipe. My kids, who HATE mushrooms, LOVED it in a sauce over brown rice noodles. It's a lot of chopping, but very worth it. I used portobello and morels, which made a really nice thick sauce.

I went to a salad bar a few days ago and made a salad with romaine and the mixed greens, lots of carrots, lots of jicama, sliced almonds, the red and orange bell peppers and a red wine vinaigrette. OMG that was such a delicious combo that I'm going to search for jicama. Then when I was reading up on jicama, one dietician suggested using it as a "cracker" and spread it with hummas so that led me to think of spreading almond butter on it.

The glycemic index is quite complicated and I'm not sure even science has mastered it. Regular potatoes have a lower glycemic index if you eat them cold. White bread changes if you freeze it for a month. I've read that wheat bread really is not much better than white. Raw, cooked one way, cooked another, combined with vinegar, mayonnaise, all changes the glycemic index of a food. And of course these are all eaten in a meal which is really the important glycemic index in the end. I personally believe, after much study, that it is important to reduce your overall carb intake, and I do this by trying to eliminate grains and added sugar, but I realize the conventional recommendation is to eat more whole grains.

I'm still enjoying the ideas on cooking more vegetables deliciously. Momine, I love peppers and I'd stuff them with the ground turkey, zucchini, and cauliflower. I'm going to try that. It also reminded me how I used to like cabbage rolls. Those would be good stuffed with the same mixture and tomato sauce on top!

Momine! What are you having for dinner?

I always seem to think burgers are dried out...the beans in this lentil burger help keep it moist.

1/3 dry red lentils - (cook w 2/3c water)

3c cooked white beans

1/2 red onion chopped

3 cloves garlic minced

1/2 c bread crumbs ( you can get creative to keep it healthier - sprouted/sourdough etc)

1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (adds a wonderful flavor)

1 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp salt or seasoning blend

1T olive oil

Mash together. Form into patties. Chill at least a half an hour.Bake 400 degrees for 30 min, flipping half way through.