As soon as I put this soup together on the stove the aroma immediately brought me back to Egypt. During my trip I had become quite familiar of the scent of cumin, coriander, and lentils mingling together, since lentil soup was served at almost every lunch and dinner. Far from being monotonous, I enjoyed my new relationship with lentils, a legume I routinely overlook in my own cooking.
Lentils have a very long history in Egypt; they are depicted in hieroglyphics and have been found in archeological remains dating way back to 6000 B.C.E. Obviously, the Egyptians have been on to something. Lentils are a quick-cooking, high-protein vegetable that can stand on their own or be integrated into salads and soups. High in fiber, lentils help control insulin and blood sugar, and they also contain anti-cancer properties.
With all of these nutritional highlights in mind, I am planning on integrating more lentils into my diet, and this soup was a delicious start. [click to continue…]
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Before I stepped foot in the San Francisco Baking Institute (SFBI), I had never really baked a loaf of bread in my life. Well, to be honest, I did make a loaf of Irish Soda Bread with my mom for a school project in the second grade. But I really don’t remember too much from that experience, so I am not going to count it. So why did I sign up for two weeks of intensive bread training? Basically, because I needed to conquer my fear of mixing doughs and placing them in the oven. [click to continue…]
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Farro and I first met while I was working at Oliveto and it was love at first bite. Initially I was attracted to its rich, nutty flavor, but our relationship quickly became serious as I began to realize that farro not only tasted good but made me feelgood as well. Since farro and I first met in a bar (and I am sure many of you know how those relationships work out), I decided it was time to do a little background check. I needed to make sure that farro was not too good to be true. [click to continue…]
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When I was growing up I wouldn’t have thought twice about a morning bagel, but in this post-Atkins, carb-phobic world I think we’re all a little squeamish about the role of grains in our diet.
One thing that cannot be denied is that grains have been a foundation of the human diet for over 10,000 years and many historians link the rise of civilization to the domestication of wild grasses into agricultural products. Basically, once grains were purposely planted into plots of land the hunter-gatherers were forced to stick around while they grew; the hunter-gatherers then became farmers and eventually towns, cities, and traffic jams developed. [click to continue…]
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