Making An Effort Monday

In an effort to make more of the things I love -- good food, pretty things, and organized spaces -- I bring you Making An Effort Monday!

So, this week?  This week, my friends, was strikes and gutters.  It started out in a highly tragic manner when I tried this recipe that I got from Martha Stewart's website many moons ago:

Tex-Mex Chicken and Beans

INGREDIENTS
1 cup dried pinto beans
1 jar (11 oz.) salsa (1 1/2 cups)
2 tablespoons chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed) chopped
optional:  sour cream and fresh cilantro for serving


DIRECTIONS
1.  In slow cooker, stir together beans, salsa, chiles, flour, and 1 cup water.  Season chicken with salt and pepper and arrange on top of bean mixture.  Scatter onion and bell pepper on top of chicken.
2.  Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours.
3.  Remove chicken, shred into large pieces, and return to stew.


Through NO FAULT OF MY OWN (maybe) this was horrible, horrible, terrible, waste of time, money, and energy.  Like, I ended up running to Wendy's at 8 PM to buy me and the hubs some spicy chicken sandwiches.  That bad.  But let's move on, because lord knows *I* have (*sobs*).


So, to restore my honor, I tried another new recipe tonight, once again from my Cooking with FRIENDS cookbook.

Spicy Moroccan Lentil Soup

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 cups lentils
1 1/2 cups canned whole tomatoes, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
4 medium scallions white and light green parts sliced thin (I skipped these because YUCK.)
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley (alas, I had to use dried)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves (same thing here)
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon paprika
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste
5 cups cold water
Parley or cilantro leave for garnish


DIRECTIONS:
1.  Rinse and sort lentils then place them in a large soup pot.  Add all remaining ingredients (except garnish).  

That's a lot of spices

2.  Turn to medium heat and bring to boil.  Lower heat and simmer gently until the soup thickens and the flavors blend, or about one hour.
3.  Remove one cup of soup from pot and puree in a food processor or blender.  Return to pot.  Adjust seasonings if necessary.

Success!  Honor restored!  If people still said "Boo-yah," I'd be saying boo-yah right about now.

Happy Monday!