Lentil Soup with Lemon and Garlic

3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
1-2 carrots, sliced
4 garlic cloves, chopped (or use crushed garlic paste)
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 cup lentils, rinsed
4 cups vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
2 lemons
1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper (or more)
ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the celery, carrots, potato, and half the garlic. Cook for a few minutes until beginning to soften.

2. Add the lentils and stock to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Add the bay leaves, remaining garlic, and half the lemons (or just the juice) to the pan and cook the soup for another 10 minutes until the lentils and vegetables are tender. Remove the bay leaves. Squeeze the juice from the remaining lemons, then stir into the soup.

4. Pour the soup into a food processor, or use an immersion blender until smooth. stir in the cayenne pepper and season to taste.

Chicken Saag (Meredith)

1 cup fresh spinach (nope I used frozen)
1 piece fresh ginger root, grated (from jar)
2 crushed garlic cloves (used more than called for)
1 fresh green chili, roughly chopped (used the can from big lots)
1 cup water
1 tbsp oil
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp black peppercorns
1 onion, finely chopped
4 tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped (used canned)
2 tsp curry powder (used more)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder (used more)
3 tbsp plain low fat yogurt (used greek)
8 chicken thighs, skinned (used breasts instead)

1. Cook wet spinach leaves, without extra water, in a tightly covered pan for 5 minutes. Put the cooked spinach, ginger, garlic, and chili with a 1/4 cup of the water into a food processor and blend into a course puree. (I also threw in a pickled jalapeno. Probably not necessary...) Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a large, heavy pan, add the bay leaves and black peppercorns and fry for 2 minutes. Stir the onion and fry for a further 6-8 minutes or until the onion has browned.

3. Add the tomatoes and simmer for about 5 minutes.

4. Stir in the curry powder, salt, and chili powder. Cook for 2 minutes over medium heat, stirring once or twice. Stir in the spinach puree and the remaining measured water, then simmer for 5 minutes. Add the yogurt, 1 tbsp at a time and simmer for 5 minutes more.

5. Add the chicken thighs and stir to coat them in the sauce. Cover and cook for 25-30 minutes until the chicken is tender.