LARG

So, in my college dining hall we had this one delicious soup on the menu rotation. It was called "lentil and roasted garlic soup," but we referred to it as LARG. I realize "LARG" is not an appetizing name for a soup. LARG also did not have an appetizing appearance. It looked a lot like sewer sludge. However, it was DELICIOUS. One of the very best things on the (admittedly mediocre) dining hall menu rotation.

And then, my junior year I think, they changed food providers and WE LOST LARG. Until now, kind of? My friend Molly found a LARG recipe in a cookbook and she & I both made it and have been discussing how best to recreate the LARG of our college days.

Ingredients

• 1 whole head of garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• a couple of carrots, chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 pound French lentils
• 8 cups vegetable stock or mineral water (I used vegetable Better than Boullion to make the stock)
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic 

Disclosure: I didn't have any rosemary or balsamic vinegar. I'm not fancy, gosh.

Anyway, first heat the oil in a big pot and add the onions, carrots, and celery for a few minutes. Then add the s&p and bay leaves. And the rosemary if you have any. Then add the broth and lentils, bring it to a boil and let it simmer for an hour or until the lentils are tender. (If this happens before your garlic finishes roasting, take it off the heat.)

MEANWHILE roast a head of garlic. I used elephant garlic and it was pretty awesome. I realized I didn't have any foil so I put in in a bread pan and covered it with a cookie sheet and some olive oil. Kind of ghetto, but it worked!

Then, put the roasted garlic in a blender or food processor, maybe with a little water. Once it's blended add it to your soup along with the fresh minced garlic and the vinegar (if you have it) and bring it back up to a boil for a few minutes.

And then it's done, hooray! I made it when my college friend Julia was here and we both agreed it would be more college-authentic if you blended the whole thing to make it more sludgey. However, your mileage may vary, because maybe you don't want your soup to resemble sewer sludge for some reason??

Needs to be sludgier.

My cat Duarte approves. Or at least does not blatantly disapprove.

Crock Pot!

Hey guys, what has two thumbs, speaks limited French, and a used Crock Pot? This moi.

So, what are your favorite (vegetarian) Crock Pot recipes?? TELL ME YOUR SECRETS.

peanut butter swirl brownies

I got it into my head that I really wanted to make peanut butter swirl brownies, but for some reason I either found really elaborate recipes that called for melting down baker's chocolate, or really basic recipes that started with a box of brownie mix. I had neither baker's chocolate nor brownie mix on hand and I didn't want to go out and buy anything since I was confident I already had the makings of peanut butter brownies on hand. I ended up combining this recipe and this recipe and they turned out pretty great, if I do say so myself.

Brownie batter:

• 1/2 cup butter (I used Smart Balance)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder

Peanut butter filling:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (again, I used Smart Balance)
• 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (I used white sugar and it was fine)
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Then, in one bowl, first mix all the wet ingredients for the brownie batter, and then add the dry ingredients. Set them aside and mix up the peanut butter filling. Then grease an 8x8 pan and fill it about halfway with brownie batter. Drop in several spoonfuls of peanut butter filling and swirl it around with a butter knife or something. Don't get TOO swirly or it will just blend together. Then pour the rest of the brownie batter over this, and then the rest of the peanut butter filling in spoonfuls and swirl it again. Bake it for like 20 minutes. Or until they're done.

Swirls!