Moroccan Lentil Soup -- a #recipe for winter warmth from @LeslieBudewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ:  Friends, here in the Kitchen, we take food seriously. We have fun with food; like our characters, we believe in the power of food to express love and joy, nurture community, and be a force for good. In our books, we share recipes we’ve created ourselves, inherited, or adapted from another source enough that we can legally and morally call it our own. Here on the blog, we may share a recipe from another source—a cookbook, a newspaper, a TV chef—but always with credit where credit is due.

So we want to alert you to an alarming trend, discussed by food blogger Adam Gallagher of Inspired Taste in this piece that aired last month on NPR.  Turns out that if you ask an AI program for a recipe for dinner, what you get might be a compilation—a Frankenstein recipe, as Gallagher calls it—mashed together from recipes the LLM or large language model has scanned and digested. AI slop, the experts call this---and it's not limited to recipes. Too often, Gallagher has found, this slop makes no sense; it doesn't turn out well. That’s a waste of your time, money, and food—and does nothing to put dinner on the table.

It does nothing to ensure good, healthy food, or to preserve the food culture we all love and respect. What can you do? Refer only to reliable sources. To cookbooks created by humans. To magazines and newspapers with dedicated food writers. To reliable bloggers like—well, like us. 

Because at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, the only slop you’ll find is a Sloppy Joe. In fact, we have two recipes for that American classic, this turkey version from Peg Cochran and a ground beef classic from Valerie  Burns. 

Now for today's food fun. 

Last fall, I met my friend, suspense writer Christine Carbo, who lives across the valley, for lunch. It was a chilly day and the Moroccan lentil soup offered as the day’s special sounded like just the right thing to warm me up. 

And it was. The spicery was particularly tasty. Alas, I forgot to ask on my way out if anyone could tell me what spices the kitchen had used. So I had to make it up for myself.

I found a basic recipe online. As I cooked, I tasted, trying to conjure up the flavors that I’d liked so much. I ended up changing the source recipe quite a bit, adding cinnamon and red wine vinegar. Some folks can’t tolerate cilantro, although oddly, coriander seed—the seed from the same plant—doesn’t seem to bother them. Cilantro is key to getting that Moroccan flavor, so if you’re cilantro-averse, well, this may not be the recipe for you! I will, however, allow you to eliminate the chili flakes if you’re concerned that the flavor will be too hot. Using sweet paprika instead of hot or smoked keeps the heat level down as well. 

We served this with toasted naan; pita bread or a crunchy French bread would work nicely, too.

PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe for easy printing. 

Scroll down to the 💕 for the link. 

Moroccan Lentil Soup

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium or 1/2 white large onion, chopped

1 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced

2 tablespoons cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

1 cup dry green lentils

1 cup diced tomatoes (canned tomatoes work well) 

3 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar 

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric 

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes (optional)

1/4 teaspoon Hungarian or sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

salt to taste

fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

In a small stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium. Add the onion, garlic, and 2 tablespoons cilantro. Cook, stirring regularly, until the onions become translucent, 3-4 minutes. Add more oil as the onions cook, if necessary. 

Add the lentils, tomatoes, and broth. Stir well. 

Add the vinegar, cumin, turmeric, black pepper, chili flakes, paprika, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine the spices. Increase heat and bring to a simmer, just below a boil. 

Reduce heat, cover loosely, and simmer 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender. Taste and adjust seasonings. The lentils will absorb quite a bit of liquid; add more broth or water if the soup isn’t soupy enough for you. 

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serve with bread. 

Enjoy!

Makes 4-6 servings. 

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF! 

At Seattle Spice Shop, owner Pepper Reece has whipped up the perfect blend of food, friends, and flavor. But the sweet smell of success can be hazardous . . .  

Spring is in full bloom in Pike Place Market, where Pepper is celebrating lavender’s culinary uses and planning a festival she hopes will become an annual event. When her friend Lavender Liz offers to share tips for promoting the much-loved—and occasionally maligned—herb, Pepper makes a trek to the charming town of Salmon Falls. But someone has badly damaged Liz’s greenhouse, throwing a wrench in the feisty grower’s plans for expansion. Suspicions quickly focus on an employee who’s taken to the hills. 

Then Liz is found dead among her precious plants, stabbed by a pruning knife. In Salmon Falls, there’s one in every pocket. 

Pepper digs in, untangling the tensions between Liz and a local restaurateur with eyes on a picturesque but neglected farm, a jealous ex-boyfriend determined to profit from Liz’s success, and a local growers’ cooperative. She’s also hot on the scent of a trail of her own, sniffing out the history of her sweet dog, Arf. 

As Pepper’s questions threaten to unearth secrets others desperately want to keep buried, danger creeps closer to her and those she loves. Can Pepper root out the killer, before someone nips her in the bud?

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

ALL GOD'S SPARROWS AND OTHER STORIES: A STAGECOACH MARY FIELDS COLLECTION, now available in in paperback and ebook 

Take a step back in time with All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection of historical short mysteries, featuring the Agatha-Award winning "All God's Sparrows" and other stories imagining the life of real-life historical figure Mary Fields, born into slavery in 1832, during the last thirty years of her life, in Montana. Out September 17, 2024 from Beyond the Page Publishing.  

“Finely researched and richly detailed, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. I loved learning about this fascinating woman . . . and what a character she is! Kudos to Leslie Budewitz for bringing her to life so vividly.” —Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of Crow Mary

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest books are To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop Mystery and All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, in September 2024. Watch for Lavender Lies Bleeding, the 9th Spice Shop Mystery, on July 15, 2025.

A past president of Sisters in Crime and former national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine. 

Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.

A Restaurant Memory, Reimagined at Home—Fennel, Pear, and Strawberry Salad with Gorgonzola by Ang Pompano—Plus a book giveaway!

Ang Pompano: Several years ago, Annette and I were at one of our favorite restaurants in Wooster Square, New Haven’s Little Italy. It’s the kind of place where the pasta is made in-house, the ingredients are chosen with care, and the food respects tradition while quietly kicking things up a notch. That night I had a fantastic fennel salad with pears, gorgonzola, and olive oil, and I’ve never forgotten it.

I thought of that salad this week while reading a WIP by our own Lucy Burdette, in which she quoted a famous chef, who said that no one should try to prepare restaurant food at home.

Lucky for me, ignorance is bliss, because not only did we prepare it, we “improved” it. Or at least doctored it to our taste. After all, isn’t that what cooking is about? Making food that pleases you, not some food critic.

So, we put together the salad as we remembered it. Good, I thought. 

Then Annette had the idea of adding a splash of orange juice, which made all the difference. Better. 

As a big fan of fennel’s licorice flavor, I suggested a drizzle of Sambuca. Great!

That is, it worked for me. Not so much for her. Now when either of us makes the salad, we hold off on the Sambuca until the end and add it if the mood strikes.

Ingredients

1 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
2 pears, cored and sliced
2–3 strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup pecans cut
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon Sambuca (optional, or to taste)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Slice the fennel bulb into thin strips. Core the pear and cut it into bite-sized chunks. Roughly chop the pecans, slice the strawberries, and crumble the Gorgonzola.

• In a large bowl, combine the sliced fennel and pears.In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, orange juice, Dijon mustard, honey, and Sambuca (if using) until well blended.

• Season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste.
• Pour the dressing over the fennel and pears and toss gently to coat.Transfer the salad to a serving platter or bowl.
• Arrange the sliced strawberries, pecans, and crumbled Gorgonzola on top.
• Serve immediately, or chill briefly before serving for a crisper, more refreshing salad.

Wooster Street’s historic Restaurant Row, the culinary heart of New Haven’s Little Italy

So, what about you? Do you agree that we should never prepare restaurant food at home? Or are you like me, trying to duplicate a favorite dish, or maybe even improve it? Let me know in the comments below. And don't forget to leave your email address to be entered in a drawing to win a copy of my book When It's Time for Leaving!

Reminder: Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen will be hosting a panel at Left Coast Crime with Leslie Budewitz (M), Kim Davis, Maddie Day, Leslie Karst, and Ang Pompano. If you’re there, we’d love it if you stopped by to say hi!

Ang Pompano is a mystery author, editor, publisher and blogger. He writes the Blue Palmetto Detective Agency, and the Reluctant Food Columnist series, both published by Level Best Books. In addition to his writing, Ang is a co-founder of Crime Spell Books and serves as co-editor of the Best New England Crime Stories anthology. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Annette, an artist, and their two rescue dogs, Dexter and Alfie.

Just Released!

Diet of Death

by Ang Pompano

The first in the Reluctant Food Columnist series.

Buy Link

Betty Ann Green is a beloved culinary icon…who doesn’t exist. She is the brilliant, beautiful illusion created by two unlikely collaborators. Behind the façade is Quincy Lazzaro, a culinarily challenged writer whose witty, sharp prose is the public face of Betty, while those flawless, genius recipes are all thanks to his octogenarian neighbor, Mary Ticarelli.

When the arrogant diet guru, Dr. Alan Tolzer, inventor of the Westport Diet, demands a face-to-face interview, Quincy reluctantly steps in as Betty’s frontman, only for Tolzer to drop dead. The police call it natural causes, but Quincy knows better. He sees it as the investigative break he’s been waiting for.

Now, caught between a crime-solving grandma, a no-nonsense detective girlfriend, and a killer who may be one step ahead, Quincy must unravel the mystery before the killer strikes again.

When It’s Time for Leaving

by Ang Pompano

Buy Link

Al DeLucia walked away from the police—and his past. But when his long-lost father leaves him a detective agency in Savannah, Al finds himself trapped between family secrets and a murder on the agency’s dock. Partnered with Maxine Brophy, a fierce detective who doesn’t trust him, Al is pulled into a deadly search through Savannah and the Okefenokee Swamp—where the truth about the case, and his father, may cost him everything.

Blood Ties and Deadly Lies

by Ang Pompano

Buy Link

Al DeLucia returns to Sachem Creek expecting a kayak race and a chance to confront his childhood bully, Abe Cromwell. Instead, he finds a dead lawyer, a web of deceit, and Abe claiming they’re brothers by DNA. Reluctantly joined by Maxine Brophy, his formidable partner and girlfriend, Al dives into a murder investigation that exposes land swindles, hidden maps, and buried family secrets. In a town where the past won’t stay buried, Al must face truths that could upend everything.

Snakeberry: Best New England Crime Stories 2025

Edited by

Christine Bagley, Susan Oleksiw, Ang Pompano, and Leslie Wheeler

BUY LINK

Every year the anthology brings welcome surprises and satisfactions, and this year is no different, featuring stories by 21 of New England’s best crime writers.

Includes “Minnie the Air Raid Warden” by Ang Pompano.

Apple Oat Quick Bread from Guest Author Tanya Huff

Vicki here and I’m delighted to have the chance to introduce you to a good friend of mine, Tanya Huff. 

Tanya has had a long career as a hugely successful science fiction writer. Her newest book, Direct Descendant is a fabulous and very clever blend of fantasy and cozy.  Think small town, good friends, a bakery. And monsters.  Here’s Tanya to explain

---

Cassidy “Cassie” Prewitt is a partner in RISE AND SHINE, the bakery in the small town of Lake Argent slightly south and west of Timmons, Ontario. She’s also a DIRECT DESCENDANT and the Voice of the Dark, but honestly, the dark forces barely interfere with her baking. After a night spent with a new love, Cassie rises early and bakes an apple oatmeal quick bread for them to share at breakfast.

Apple Oat Quick Bread

This is recipe is originally from The Gardening Foodie and about half the time comes out more like an English pudding than bread—which mostly means you need to use a fork instead of fingers.  I like it because it’s not too sweet although I have made a few small tweaks.

Ingredients:

3 large eggs

¼ cup (60 ml) vegetable oil (original recipe suggested olive oil, seriously don’t: if it’s expensive olive oil it’s a waste in baking and if it’s cheap olive oil you might as well use vegetable oil)

1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract

¼ cup (60 ml) maple syrup or honey or brown sugar (I’ve only ever made it with maple syrup)

1 cup (100g) rolled oats (not instant oats, you’ll just get mush)

1 cup (100g) flour (I usually use all purpose because that’s what I have, but whole wheat works fine. I made it once with spelt flour and while tasty, definitely more pudding than bread)

1 tablespoon (15ml) ground cinnamon (original was 1 tsp and that’s not nearly enough)

2 level tsp (10ml) baking powder (I know, seems like a lot but it’s the only leavening you have)

½ teaspoon salt

2 medium apples, peeled and chopped (Medium is not a quantitative measurement. Two medium spys aren’t the same size as two medium macs. I aim for between 1 ½ cups to 1 ¾ -- 1 cup isn’t enough and 2 is a bit too much. That said, any apples except delicious will work. Please don’t bake with delicious apples.)

½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans (original said ¼ cup…why even bother…)

Instructions

Grease and line a loaf pan with parchment paper (the maple syrup makes things sticky).

Preheat oven to 355F or 180C

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, extract, and syrup. (I’d suggest you whisk the eggs separately first for more lift, then add the rest and whisk together.)

In another bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nuts

Add the dry ingredients to the wet.

Mix with a fork to combine then add the apple and mix to include. Don’t overmix—it’ll mush the apple.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. If in doubt, over rather than underbake.

Leave to cool for ten minutes before removing from pan and then wait another 15 before slicing.

 

Tanya Huff spent three years as a cook in the Canadian Naval Reserve where she made a lot of pie but no quick bread. She has degree in Radio and Television Arts from what is now Toronto Metropolitan University which she used briefly during BLOOD TIES, the television series based on her Vicki Nelson books. DIRECT DESCENDANT, a contemporary fantasy/cozy horror (depending on whether you’re talking to me or marketing) is her 34^th novel for DAW Books, Inc.  

She’s on fb and Bluesky as Tanya Huff  https://www.facebook.com/tanya.huff.5/   

@tanyahuff.bsky.social

 

 Tanya would love to give a hardcover copy of Deadly Descendent to a reader. To enter the giveaway, let us know: Do you like a touch of fantasy in your cozies, or a touch of cozy in your fantasy?  Contest closes Wednesday February 18. US and Canada entries. 

Depths of Sin Hot Chocolate #recipe from Molly MacRae

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Happy Valentine’s day! My recipe today is for hot chocolate so rich, so thick, and so luscious that when you put your empty mug down you’ll know you probably shouldn’t live on it alone. Although, if you’re a chocolate lover, you might want to try. The banana in the recipe is a bit of a surprise, but it works beautifully and lets you feel somewhat virtuous. I’m tempted to add a glug of coffee to a mug, sometime. Or maybe whisky?

The original recipe calls for a mix of semisweet and bittersweet chocolate. I used what I had on hand—Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate chips. The recipe also claims to serve 7. That’s an oddly specific number. There were 4 of us in the house, on the bitterly cold day I whisked up a batch, so that’s how many mugs I took from the cupboard. There were no complaints.   

Depths of Sin Hot Chocolate

Serves 4 to 7

Ingredients

1 cup milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 soft banana

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 ounces chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate chips)

1/2 cup marshmallow spread

 

Directions

In a blender, combine the milk, heavy cream, banana, cinnamon, and salt. Purée until very smooth and thick. Pour the milk mixture into a small saucepan.

Over medium heat, whisking constantly, warm the milk mixture until it barely comes to a simmer. Add the chocolate and the marshmallow spread. Whisk until completely melted and smooth.

Ladle the hot chocolate into cups or mugs. Optional: top with a dollop of whipped cream. Serve and swoon.

💗  click here for a free, printable pdf of this recipe  💗

 

 

Now available for pre-order – All Shell Breaks Loose

book 3 in the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries!

 

On North Carolina’s Ocracoke Island, Maureen Nash sells exquisite seashells to locals and tourists—with Bonny the shop cat and the ghost of a Welsh pirate for company. And when needed, she steps in to help the police solve a murder . . .

Dr. Irving Allred is boasting around town that he’s about to get his hands on an authentic haunted sword. But minutes after Maureen hears the story, a woman walks into the Moon Shell, sword in hand. She found it while walking her bulldog on the beach—and its blade is stained with what looks like blood. Looks like it’s time to call the sheriff’s department.

Allred is furious that his prize is now in police custody—and even more agitated that an unknown buyer was trying to outbid him. He’s convinced the sword will lead him straight to the ghosts he’s been hunting. He’s not the only one on the Outer Banks who’s been searching for spirits, though. An odd visitor also showed up at Maureen’s shop claiming the ability to sense them . . . though somehow she didn’t seem to notice Maureen’s spectral friend hanging about.

When a man who’d been camping nearby is found cut down along the shore, Maureen starts providing some unofficial assistance to Captain Rob Tate by digging into the island’s maritime history. But it’s not the only mystery she’s facing—because the shop’s resident ghost is seeing ghosts himself . . .

 

Happy reading!

 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Instagram or Bluesky.