Last night's dinner- Lentil Soup and wheat rolls

Every now and then it is nice to go back to the basics and jazz them up a bit. Since my husband is sodium sensitive bread is hard to come by when it isnt brimming with salt and perservatives.

So, I made wheat rolls:

4 tsps active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/4- 1/3 cup honey (to taste. You could also use molasses),
1/3 -1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, melted

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DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
Mix sugar, salt, 1/4 cup melted butter, egg, and whole wheat flour into yeast mixture. Stir in all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn dough out onto a well floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place dough in bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough, cover, and let rise in warm place until doubled again, about 30 minutes.

Pinch out 3 inch pieces of dough and shape by hand into globes. You can do this by creating a circle with your thumb and index finger and gently squeezing the dough through it, while pressing up on the bottom with your opposite index finger to fold the dough in. Place on dark nonstick cookie sheet or silpat 2 inches apart Brush tops with melted butter or olive oil, a beaten egg or spray with butter flavored cooking spray (make sure the spray doesnt contain silicone)depending on the texture you like. You can also sprikle with fresh herbs if desired. Let rise uncovered in a warm place 40 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.


And Lentil Soup:

1 medium red pepper (diced)
1 large onion (diced)
2 stalks of celery (split down the center and then chopped into 1/2 inch sized peices, or per preference)
2 medium carrots (chopped)
1 can low sodium organic whole tomatoes (I like Bioitalia)
5 cups vegetable stock, chicken stock or water with a cube of boullion
5 cloves garlic (minced)
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp oregano (fresh is best, but dried works fine too)
1/3 c lentils
Cayenne pepper sauce


In a large soup pot add EVOO and heat to medium high. Add garlic, onions, carrots, celery and oregano and saute until onions soften and start to become translucent. Stir frequently. Add whole tomatoes crushing each by hand slowly, red peppers, liquid (stock,water,boullion), bay leaves, lentils and oregano and reduce the heat to low, simmer for 45 minutes. Check consistancy after 30 minutes and adjust liquid per preference. If too watery, leave top off during last 15 minutes of cooking and increase temp to medium. If too thick, add additional stock or water.

Serve with cayenne pepper sauce which adds saltiness, a slight fresh acid tinge and some heat. We use a low sodium one made by Half moon Bay trading co. The pepper sauce is important, dont leave it out.. even if its only a few drops.

I really need to get a 3 ring binder, my file folder is getting pretty unwieldy