Sausage and Lentil Soup with Kale + Parmesan

1 Comment March 23, 2017 thekitchenbeet

I stood at the counter like a pregnant cliché, turquoise apron covering my rapidly growing belly, eating dill pickles from the jar and staring down my menu plan, which informed me dinner tonight was Sausage and Lentil Soup. I typically put the cookbook or source in parenthesis behind the menu item but in this case, nothing. Interesting. Surely I was thinking of something slightly more specific when I put this on the menu weekend last weekend, but my memory is more spotty than usual, so I shrugged and got to work chopping an onion, as nearly all my soups begin here. As I’ve increased my confidence in the kitchen, I’ve often created recipes by googling the main ingredients to quickly crowd-source ideas, then paired with my own knowledge to develop. After all, I’m certainly not the first person to think of putting sausage and lentils together for dinner.

This soup is exceptionally hearty, more like stew really, and the garlic oil and Parmesan take it to the next level. The garlic oil idea comes from Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen, in her infinite wisdom of stepped-up home cooking.

I’m beyond looking forward to spring and the farmer’s market, but I’ll miss the frequency of soups in our dinner rotation. A one-pot meal is an evening gift for busy parents, and this particular soup left us with very little clean up. It’s plenty filling on its own, but I’d recommend siding it with crusty bread and fresh fruit. Also, if this sounds delicious but you’re vegetarian (my husband used to be!), this is still worth making sans sausage.

Mom’s Chicken Noodle Soup and a Baby

1 Comment January 9, 2017 thekitchenbeet

tkb-chicken-noodle-soup

Feeding people I love is one of the defining priorities of my life. This chicken noodle soup is the ultimate comfort food, the soup I imagine will bring my kids back to me after they’ve left for adult life.

Homemade chicken noodle soup is the quintessential choice for food when one is under the weather. In our house, it’s requested far more frequently – for the first snow, Christmas dinner and anytime the kids want the cozy warmth of home.

I endeavor for our home, and particularly the kitchen, to be a place of respite on the tougher days and always a place of nourishing comfort. To that end, this chicken noodle soup will always in be in rotation in my kitchen. And, since I’m putting the recipe it in this space, hopefully my kids will make it for theirs someday, and you will make it for yours.

Speaking of children…I’ve been growing a third kiddo for the last 16 weeks! This will be our last babe, so every moment feels particularly sweet. Surprisingly, this has been my easiest pregnancy so far. I had a fair amount of fatigue in the first trimester, hence the quietness on the blog. But even through that I wasn’t very sick, and this little one seems to love me working out more than anything. I’m hoping he or she is just as easygoing once they’re here!

Brilliant Butternut Squash Soup with Apple-Nut-Chive Relish

1 Comment September 26, 2016 thekitchenbeet

Oh September, how I love you. It’s still bike to the beach weather, but a bowl of steaming soup on the deck afterwards sounds equally amazing. Though I look forward to summer each year, it’s the crisp days of early fall that really have my heart. There are stray leaves in crimson and gold that crunch underfoot when we go for a walk, but not so many yet that weekends are spent raking. As those of you who have been reading Kitchen Beet for awhile know, I’m smitten with soup season, and all food that makes our home smell inviting. I’ve made this soup countless times over the years, tweaking here and there to get to this healthy, delicious version.

Weekly Menu Plan: March 2016

Leave a comment March 31, 2016 thekitchenbeet

I’m barely squeezing this in, since it’s April in less than an hour, but I’m determined to make this into a series! If you read last month’s post, I put together a weekly menu round-up after realizing I actually prefer the structure of assigning a meal to a specific day. My weekly menu plans attempt to include lots of variety, copious amounts of veggies and meat or fish once or twice a week. My goal is always to have my little family of four, with kids aged 11 and 2.5, eating the same thing (in some form).

Below is the exact menu we followed for a week (Saturday – Friday), with notes where I modified a recipe, or deconstructed to better meet the desires of a kiddo. I’ve linked to the cookbook or recipe where I can – several of these recipes are mine, but many come from other wonderful sources! As I mentioned in the last round-up, my menu plans always include a few “other” items intended to help with breakfasts, snacks and packed lunches.

Red Lentil Soup with Sweet Potato, Kale & Herbs

4 Comments February 14, 2016 thekitchenbeet

The Kitchen Beet - Winter Red Lentil soup

For the sake of all parents (and all people with taste buds), you should have this soup recipe. I’m particularly smitten with it because my children will eat it without fuss, and I happen to really enjoy family meals that involve us all sitting around the table, eating. (Such a novel idea!) It comes together easily, is pretty inexpensive to make, and if you do yourself the favor of chopping the leeks, sweet potatoes and kale beforehand, you’ll be impressed with how quickly you get it on the table. Here in Michigan we’re trying to maximize our time outside and enjoy the latest snowfall. I’d be hard-pressed to find something I relish in more than a hearty, veggie-filled bowl of soup after a couple of hours on the cross country trails.