arise legumbre king arise!

I like to eat meat as much as the next bear does but I grew up eating veggies and the Indian bear staple was dal which is a lentil soup. I purchased a bag of Hurst's Hambeens 15 bean soup when we were at Jungle Jim's and I finally decided now was the time to get back into the soup business. The soup comes with a seasoning packet for what they describe as a cajun soup with sausage.


15 bean soup package

I wanted more specifics on what was in the seasoning package but couldn't figure it out so I decided to freestyle in true CK manner using the yellow dal my moms and grandma used to always make as inspiration. I began by throwing away the seasoning packet and soaking the beans for 8 hours.


beans hanging out in the water

I then threw them in a pot with 4 cups of water and 4 cups of trader joes chicken stock and let them come up to a boil. Time to prep the seasoning: I juiced 1.5 lemons. Diced up 1 onion and some cooked chicken breast. Smashed and chopped up 3 cloves of garlic and it was off to the frying pan.


As the beans were boiling for about 30 minutes I cooked down the onions, garlic, and chicken and then added the seasoning to the soup and let it continue to boil. I added various other seasonings including turmeric, some bay leaves, a little bit of kosher salt, some red pepper, a dash of garam masala and let it all simmer. I then let the soup cool down and refrigerated it over night so all the spices could blend.


Betty and I have been eating the soup all week and both of us have been really enjoying it. I cooked the soup Sunday and have lunch for the week. That's 10 meals between Betty and me -- come on now you can't beat that! It might be time to declare myself lentil king or better yet legumbre king! :)

kickin' it in the kitchen with 2 flip chicken...

I made some 2 flip chicken last night. For those not familiar with what I'm talking about -- I'm talking about grilling chicken on the stove but only using 1 flip to cook each side. 1 + 1 =2 flips -- not too complicated right. I usually do 5-6 minutes per side and the marinade and seasoning varies. Last night I needed to get rid of some lemons so I marinated the chicken in lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, and dijon mustard, and a little bit of this and that seasoning. For the sides I tried the Aunt Nellies Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage from Jungle Jims, a homemade goat cheese, tomato, pepper salad, and some browned potatoes with grilled onions.


2 flip chicken, sweet and sour cabbage, tomato, goatcheese, and pepper salad, and browned potatoes

The dijon mustard gave the chicken a mellow-winey-taste that complemented the cabbage and everything really tasted yummy together.

The only low part of the meal was the void of cooking for one since Betty was off to Chicago -- but all in all a good meal.

taco taco man...

After an exciting day at Ikea and Jungle Jims -- Betty and I returned to my sister's house for some tasty ground turkey tacos.

Betty made yummy guacamole to accompany the tacos with fresh tomatoes, guacamole, jalapenos, and limes from Jungle Jims.


ground turkey tacos, guac, mixed greens, sour cream, monterrey jack, don pablos hot salsa, and el yucateco