Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup

For my bridesmaid luncheon at Miss Rosemarie's Tea Room we had delicious food and one of my favorite was the "Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup". Jeannie, one of my mom's friend who was there loved the recipe so much that she looked up the recipe online and found something close to the recipe. It was delicious, we made it tonight.

Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup:

Inspired by Jeannie and Miss Rosemarie's Tea Room

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

1 pound grass fed ground beef

2 cups chopped organic bell peppers (red, green, yellow)

1 cup chopped yellow onion

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 can organic less-sodium beef broth (I like the Pacific Brand)

1 can organic less-sodium diced tomatoes, undrained (I like Muir-Glen Brand)

1 can organic less-sodium tomato soup, undiluted

hot cooked brown or basmatti rice (optional)

Heat a small Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add small amount of olive oil. Add beef, cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain fat. Add chopped peppers and onions, and cook 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in black pepper, broth, tomatoes and tomato soup.

Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook 45 minutes.

If desired, spoon 1/4 cup of hot rice into bowl and then top with one cup of soup.

Lentil Soup

By no means will we become vegetarians, we enjoy meat too much. However, I am trying to cook us more "veggie" meals. Basically, attempting to have a few meals every week that is vegetarian. Usually our meals consist of a meat protein, side (rice, pasta, or some starch), and always a veggie or two. I love to make broccoli, zucchini saute, asparagus, etc. So, in light of my new veggie meal goal, I made lentil soup. This recipe was a combination of two recipes that I had good reviews for. One was from Angel at Pilates on Highland who follows a raw food diet and another from this food blog.

So, with this being said, here is my variation. We both took it to work today and were satisfied afterwards. The toppings are optional, but HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Pros of this soup: high fiber, lots of those good vitamins/minerals, great tasting, high protein

Lentil Soup:

2 tablespoons olive oil

5-8 organic carrots, chopped

5 stalks organic celery, chopped

1 organic zucchini, sliced

1/2 med organic onion (prefer the sweet instead of the white), chopped

2 shallots, chopped

6 cups of organic vegetable stock (or more if you like more liquid soup)

1 1/2 cup organic red lentils (dry) - picked over and rinsed

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp curry (or to taste)

Toppings:

Slivered Almonds - toasted

Feta crumbles

black oil cured olives-roughly chopped (I only had green olives and they were still delicious!)

1 bunch of cilantro (opt) - I did not add this but it was an option so I included it, I don't love cilantro unless it is with mexican food!

Heat large soup pot with olive oil, add the carrots, zucchini, celery, onions, shallots, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the onions are slightly caramelized and the veggies are getting tender (NOT MUSHY!). Stir occasionally.

Then pour in the broth, bring to a boil, then stir in the lentils. Simmer the soup for about 30-45 minutes (by this time the lentils are soft - kind of forming a thick slop if you will). If you like your soup thinner, add more vegetable stock at this time if it is not to your consistency liking. Notice that I did not add any salt, that is because I don't care for salty stuff but also used a normal vegetable stock instead of low sodium, so add salt to your liking.

Soup is now ready, serve in a bowl and top with almonds, feta, olives, and cilantro if you would like. I HIGHLY recommend if you had to choose one of these, pick the feta!

Makes 4-6 servings.

Food Incorporated

We watched the movie Food Inc. twice now. It is an amazing documentary that makes you think about where your food comes from. The way our food industry has changed in such a short period of time to include large amount of corn (Gov't subsidized), soy beans (genetically modified) and instead of farming animals we are now "factoring" them really makes you take a step back. I don't think that it is a coincidence that in the time that our food industry has changed, so has our expanding waist lines... This movie brings a whole new light to the saying "you are what you eat".

Here is a link to their web page... Food Inc.

And here is a way to "take part" in what you eat

I am going to post a link of an article that my massage therapist/ my pilates client wrote regarding Food Inc. She gives an excellent summary of the movie. She writes for the Examiner and has several other articles there that are worth taking time to read.

I cannot recommend this movie more to you to watch and share with all of your friends. I also bought the companion book so as I read through the essays I will update you more on my findings. Go out, buy Organic, and buy Local. Think about what you are eating while eating your next meal!

Welcome to the Pearce's Kitchen

Ryan and I just got back from our honeymoon and are so excited about our lives here in Alabama. I had a wedding blog and a pilates blog but I have always been obsessed with food/nutrition/health blogs. So here it is..... a combination of all things related to food and health. As a dietitian and a pilates instructor I love food and love exercising, so why not write about all of it in one place? I have a passion for organic, sustainability, and supporting local farmers. I hope that through my discussions you can understand the importance of where your food comes from.

Blog Goals: I am sure that these will change as I go but here is what I am thinking for now

1. Delicious whole food

2. Tips on health

3. Recipe reviews

4. Facts on organic/local grown food