I love cool evenings, it's official.

I was a lazy ol' lard most of the day, but in my defense, I've been exhausted since last Thursday or before. lol Evenings are usually when my magic comes in to play anyway.

I made a tasty lentil soup(based on the lentil soup recipe from The Moosewood Cookbook) and a chocolate cobbler tonight!

Lentil soup:

2 cups dry lentils (rinse 'em if they look dirty, after all, they are a ground-dwelling legume)
6ish cups water
2-3 mid-sized tomatoes (I'll tell ya what they're doing in a sec)
2 carrots, sliced or diced, your call
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 biggish yellow onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced with seeds and membranes cut out
6-8 cloves of minced garlic
spices of your choosing (I used 1 teaspoon basil, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon oregano, a buttload of black pepper, salt and cayenne)


Put your water on to boil in a reasonably big pot. While you wait, rinse and core your tomatoes, then when the water is boiling, put the whole tomatoes into the water for about 15-20 seconds. The skin will split a little and the flesh will soften a smidge. Take 'em out of the water, peel the skin off, and then squeeze the excess juice and the seeds out. Dice up the emptied, softened tomatoes and set them aside.

Put your lentils and about 2 tsp salt into your water you used on the tomatoes. Let it get back up to a boil, then turn it down to a low simmer and cover is partially, let it cook for about 30 minutes.

Now, you have plenty of time to prep the other veggies! Get everything rinsed, diced and ready! Once the 30 minutes of solitude for the lentils is up, put your veggies and garlic (BUT NOT THE TOMATOES!!!) in the pot, along with most of your spices. Don't go crazy on the salt just yet, I added most of mine right before serving. I also adjusted the spice level before serving. Let all the veggie/spice/lentil goodness simmer for 20-30 minutes, partially covered. When that time is up, PUT IN THE TOMATOES! Let it cook for 5 more minutes, then adjust flavor levels as you see fit. Guess what? You just made a vegetarian soup!!! I served mine up with a corn muffin and topped with a spoonful of plain yogurt. Mmm-hmm!

Chocolate Cobbler(aka Hot Fudge Pudding Cake):

1-1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk (I used soymilk, it tasted just fine)
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1-1/4 cups hot water
Whipped cream

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine 3/4 cup granulated sugar, flour, 1/4 cup cocoa, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk, butter and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

Pour batter into ungreased 9-inch square baking pan. Stir together remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar and remaining 1/4 cup cocoa. Sprinkle mixture evenly over batter. Pour hot water over top, and DO NOT STIR IT. DON'T EVEN CONSIDER IT!!!

Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until center is almost set (not jiggly). Remove from oven. Let stand 15 minutes. Serve it up, being sure to get both the crusty top and the saucy underbelly in there. Garnish with whipped cream and enjoy it with some friends!

I'm glad dinner was so healthy, because dessert was ultra-decadent. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM all-around. :D

Enjoy the cool week, and eat well!!!

<3Jen