Food and Books I love
Lentil Soup–cheap and easy to make!
I adapted this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis’ show on Food Network called "Everyday Italian". My secret trick to make it more delicious is to add bacon. First, chop of bacon bits and cook those, then add everything else. Also, a little fresh rosemary adds a nice, woodsy touch.
Check it out! It’s delicious:
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 pound lentils (approximately 1 1/4 cups)
11 cups low-salt chicken broth
4 to 6 fresh thyme sprigs
2/3 cup dried elbow pasta
1 cup shredded Parmesan
Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper and saute until all the vegetables are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices. Simmer until the juices evaporate a little and the tomatoes break down, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add the lentils and mix to coat. Add the broth and stir. Add the thyme sprigs. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and simmer over low heat until the lentils are almost tender, about 30 minutes.
Stir in the pasta. Simmer until the pasta is tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with the Parmesan, drizzle with olive oil, and serve.
I just finished this book by Malcolm Gladwell. Blink is one of those books that I didn’t want to end. It’s a compelling look at the way we think and process information on a subconscious level. I would highly recommend it!
I just started this book. I saw the movie a few months ago and was extremely disappointed. They tried to take a non-fiction book written in a sort of documentary style and make it into a fictional story detailing how several, diverse lives were affected and intertwined by the fast food industry. The book, however, explains how "Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That’s a lengthy list of charges, but Eric Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning. Along the way, he shatters myths and unearths a trove of fascinating, unsettling truths–from the unholy alliance between fast food and Hollywood to the seismic changes the industry has wrought in food production and popular culture."
The New Yorker reports, "This year, Americans will spend more money on fast food than on higher education…Schlosser shows how the fast food industry conquered both appetite and landscape."
Check it out!
