Red Lentil Sauce- NEW recipe of awesomeness, plus the recipe for a great Vegan Banana Bread

I found a new vegetarian website, the Everyday Vegetarian ( http://www.everyday-vegetarian-recipes.com/index.html) and a great recipe to try!  I really like lentils, they are fast to make and the red ones are so pretty.  They are more orange than red, but you get the drift!

I am always looking for fast recipes to make after school or on the weekends.  I need ideas!!  Anyway, here is a good one. So far I have had it on quinoa and in a wrap.  It was actually listed as a spaghetti sauce, so that is another possibility.  I have some in the freezer, too!  

Almost all of the ingredients I used for this first batch were either organic or from my garden.  Which means they are organic, as well....  

lentils, cinnamon, olive oil, onion, tomatoes, garlic, carrots

Dice the vegetables

saute

Cinnamon is a different flavor profile for garlic

saute the cinnamon and garlic after the vegetables are soft

Add tomatoes and lentils and water or broth

Cook down the sauce

Fresh basil

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Olive oil

1 diced onion

½ cup carrots, diced

2 – 3 garlic cloves

¼ - ½ tsp cinnamon

2 cups diced tomatoes

1 cup red lentils (any color will work)

1 ½ cups vegetable broth or water

3 Tablespoons fresh basil or 1 tsp drybasil

Saute onion and carrots in Olive oil,about 5 min. Add cinnamon and crushed garlic cloves. Stir overmedium heat about 30 seconds, until you can smell the garlic.

Add tomatoes (canned or fresh), lentilsand water or broth. Add dried basil here if using it. Cook overmedium low heat about 15 minutes, or until lentils are done. Addfresh basil just before serving.

OPTIONS AND NOTES:

You can add in any vegetable you like! Either raw, by adding with the onion and carrots, or cooked by addingthem with the tomatoes.

You could use any color lentil or splitpeas that you have.

Maybe a touch of white or red winewould be tasty!

If you don't think you'll like thesomewhat sweet taste of cinnamon, leave it out and add some chilis ororegano or thyme. I sort of love the combo of garlic and cinnamon-it was a pleasant surprise!!

I plan to make this again and freeze itfor quick sauces.

I cooked some quinoa and had a very tasty dinner!

Calorie count for the sauce:
143 for 1/6th of the recipe, with 22 gm of carb, 2.3 fat and 7.2 gm of protein  YUM!

Additionally:
I made a fab Banana Bread that happens to be Vegan.  My sister is coming here for the weekend (wedding weekend, people!!!) and she happens to be unable to have milk products of any sort.  SO, I thought it would be nice to make something she could have.  I found this recipe online, and it is fantastic!  And because there are no eggs, you can have a few fingers full of the batter from the empty bowl and not worry about salmonella!!  :)  WIN!!

I did not have the energy to take pix, tho, so you will have to take my word for it, it is divine.  You would have no idea it is anything but regular banana bread. Yes it does have oil, but not a ton.  And it has almond or soy milk in it- which is why the consistency is so good.

EDIT:

I did take a pix with my phone!!!  Who knew!

 VeganBanana Bread

Ingredients:

2cups all-purpose flour

3/4cups white granulated sugar (I prefer unrefined cane sugar)

1/2cup dark brown sugar, packed

3/4t. baking soda

3/4t. salt

3/4t. cinnamon

1/2cup plain soy milk or almond milk

1t. apple cider vinegar

2cups mashed banana, from about 4 large very ripe bananas

1/4cup canola oil

2T. maple syrup

1t. vanilla extract

Walnuts(optional)

Preparation:

1.Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly oil a 9"x5" loaf pan andset aside.

2.In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugars,baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

3.In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the soy milk and cider vinegarand let stand for 2 minutes. Add the mashed banana, canola oil, maplesyrup, and vanilla extract, whisking until well combined. Add the dryingredients to the wet, mixing until just combined (do not overmix!).Fold in the walnuts if using and pour the batter into the preparedloaf pan. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted intothe center emerges clean. Allow the bread to cool on a wire coolingrack for 20 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at roomtemperature.

Thisrecipe came from about.com/dairyfreecooking

So, this was a pretty productive day- got lots done.....  makes me think I should do a wedding count down post!!  

Hmmmm.....  

Until that time- be a joy giver!