Lentil Croquettes

I wish I could say that I have been eating perfectly, but the truth is I am adapting to this way of eating a little at a time. I am really enjoying it though and already feel better. It's neat to come across a favorite recipe that is already in line with what the book is wanting me to do. One of those recipes is for Lentil Croquettes. I love this recipe and I thought I would share it here with all of you! I have these in my freezer at all times for a quick and healthy go-to meal. Here it is:

1 cup split red lentils, washed really well
1 green bell pepper, washed, seeded and chopped finely
1/2 red onion, chopped finely
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin powder
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons peanuts, toasted without salt and coarsley chopped
2 1/2 cups water

1 egg, beaten
salt
pepper

3 tablespoons chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour
1 teaspoon turmeric
4 tablespoons olive oil

1. Place the first 10 ingredients in a large pan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer slowly, about 30 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed. (I put the heat down to about 3 and stirred about every 7 min. or so. If you turn the heat down lower and don't stir, this could cook for well over an hour.)
3. Note that the above steps can also be done in a pressure cooker if you have one-it's much faster.
4. Remove the mixture from heat and cool slightly.
5. Now beat in the egg and season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Let the mixture cool completely. (I find that the mixture holds its shape better if it has been refrigerated for a couple of hours.)
7. Scoop out 1/4 cup of the mixture and place on parchment paper. At this point you may freeze the mixture and then once it's frozen you can place the croquettes in freezer bags for future use. Or, you can actually cook them on the parchment paper at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Or, you can go ahead and pan fry them.
8. If pan frying now, combine the flour and turmeric in a small plate.
9. Place the croquettes in the flour mixture (they may be a little difficult to work with) and coat well.
10. Heat the oil in a skillet and cook the croquettes in batches, turned once until crisp and brown on both sides.
11. Serve immediately with chutney, rice and a crisp salad.
12. Note- It is very important for the liquid to be fully absorbed in the lentil mixture so that it can bind well with the help of the egg.
13. This recipe makes 10-12 croquettes using the 1/4 cup measuring cup.

NOTE: If you like things spicy add 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder to the lentil mixture before you cook it and then add 1 teaspoon chili powder to the flour mixture. If you like even more spice, try a tomato chutney along with the croquettes. It is so very good, but a little too spicy for me. If you don't care a whole lot about what flour you use then you may use all purpose flour in place of the chickpea flour. The chickpea flour is flour friendly for people that need to eat gluten free, but it also has more protein and is better for you than the all purpose flour. Play around with this recipe and the different chutney's out there and have fun. Most of all enjoy!! Lentils are so good for you!

Peanut Butter Candy

There aren't many recipes in the book, but on page 170 there is a recipe for "Peanut Butter Candy". I was skeptical as I am with most "sweets" in health food books, but thought I'd give it a try. I am really glad that I did. This is really good and filling. I had two of these little squares mid-morning and I had to force myself to eat some lunch around 1:00 and I didn't even eat it all, just wasn't hungry. This is a filling treat. (The plate above is a saucer for a coffee cup if that helps you with the size of the candy.)

1 cup natural peanut butter (I like Skippy's Natural creamy peanut butter, because it you don't have to stir it and it doesn't have to be refrigerated.)

1/2 cup honey (may use 1/4 cup)

1/2 cup nonfat dry milk

3 Tablespoons toasted wheat germ (For those that can not have gluten you may omit the wheat germ.)

Mix ingredients. Press into butter dish (I used an 8X8 pan.), chill and cut into cubes. This mixture can be rolled, chilled and sliced.

*I think this would be really good with crispy brown rice cereal.

Butter Made Over

In Deuteronomy 32:14 it mentions God giving us "butter of kine" (cows).

As I stated in an earlier post, butter is much, much better for you than margarine! On page 129 in the book there are reports from studies that heart patients who ate margarine had twice as many heart attacks as those who ate butter. There is another report than when chickens were fed butter they had better bone formation and better insulin receptors than those that were fed vegetable oils. I can't find it at the moment, but there are also studies out there that show margarine has been linked to cancer and butter has actually been found to shrink cancer.

I am definitely not saying go out and start chewing on a stick of butter, not at all! I do, however, want to help you not be afraid of it after all of the bad media it has had over the years. Again, using it in moderation is fine. If you use lots of butter and/or margarine in your cooking try and switch to olive oil when you can, but I have another alternative for you. If you will take 1 stick (1/2 cup) of softened (not melted) butter and mix it with 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil you will have a very healthy alternative. It takes a lot of mixing with a whisk, fork or spoon, but the butter solids will eventually blend in with the oil making a great spread. Once mixed you can place in a covered container in the refrigerator and good news, it's spreadable! You will have the healthy principles from both the butter and the olive oil. Give it a shot!

Seasoned Salt Made Over

Is the item above, or one similar, a staple in your house? Is it sitting in your cupboard or on your kitchen table? If you like to cook and use recipes from our parent's generation there are many that call for seasoned salt. I actually love seasoned salt and what it does for different things in terms of flavor. Lots of restaurants use it on their steaks, potatoes, etc. Seasoned salt really is so bad for you because many brands use MSG, artificial ingredients to prevent caking in the jar, sugar and other ingredients that you may not realize that you are pouring onto your foods. I came across a recipe to make your own seasoned salt, a healthier version, but there are many make your own recipes out there so I encourage you to look around until you find something that fits your tastes.

Many, if not all, spices now come in Organic varieties, so try and look for those and sea salt is better than table salt. When I put mine together I did use organic ingredients and I used sea salt as the salt base. If you aren't sure about celery salt all that is is ground celery seed mixed with salt. Celery salt is yummy. I have a friend that puts it on her pizza after it finishes baking as well as many other things. As with normal salt, this is fine to cook with as long as it's done in moderation.

Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 Tablespoons of Sea Salt

1 Tablespoon Sweet Paprika

1 Teaspoon Celery Salt

1/4 Teaspoon each of freshly ground black pepper, turmeric, onion powder, garlic powder, and cornstarch.

Mix it all up and put it into an airtight container until ready to use.