Zen Mama

Hearty Lentil Stew There are so many ways to customize this dish--make it vegetarian, add sausages and make it a heartier dish, add more bouillon to make it a thinner soup, or add more lentils and veggies to make it thicker... Any way you spin it, this is a destined to become a favorite, simple one-pot dinner to make, even on a weeknight. Here's a version I've created from a couple of different recipes which always leaves my two sons and my husband licking their plates and asking for more. This recipe serves about 6 people as a dinner serving. Ingredients : 350 grams dried Lentils (can be brown, green or lentilles de Puy) 1 tbsp olive oil 2 yellow or white onions, diced 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 carrots, peeled and diced 1 red bell pepper, cored and diced 850ml/1-1/2 pints of hot chicken broth 400g can of peeled, diced tomatoes 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp of paprika sprig of fresh rosemary (dried is OK too) sprig of fresh thyme  (d...

This time it was my turn to choose a dish, and my co-cooking mamas asked me to find a Moroccan recipe--knowing that my mother-in-law is half Moroccan. Having experienced my mother-in-law's authentic homestyle cooking, it was pretty clear to me what dish I had to choose for this challenge. A Tagine would be too simple... It had to be something we wouldn't cook just any day. So I chose the ultimate special occasion dish: a Moroccan couscous. But I didn't ask for my mother in law's recipe. It's a rule of mine never to compete with her cooking. In French/Moroccan hubby's eyes (or tummy) his mother's couscous is the best -- full stop. And I must say, no restaurants we've tried together have ever served a better couscous than hubby's mummy-- ma belle mère. I cook by starting with a basic recipe, and then adjusting the elements for my preferred taste, texture, appearance and smell. So, I researched many recipes to find one that seemed to resemble the ...