When I was in Seattle recently I ate at Michael Mina's RN74 and ordered the corn chowder.  It was poured for me tableside and in the bowl was some popcorn as garnish. I found that an interesting and sensible garnish, one I had not thought of doing before.  So I've taken that and twisted it into a Thai version.

For the Srirach popcorn might I suggest that you use coconut oil instead of butter?  This is how I now eat my popcorn because it is a healthier alternative than butter. For this recipe, I actually had about 1/4 of coconut oil left in a jar and so I just nuked the jar in the microwave to melt it to a liquid state and then added the sriracha, closed and shook the jar vigorously to mix the two together, and then used that to drizzle over the popcorn.  This is the first time I've made sriracha popcorn and I am now a fan.  It's important that you are able to vigorously shake the two in a container because trying to whip them together with a whisk was not enough to blend them.  The sriracha stayed in globules when I tried it that way.

As to popcorn, I have given up microwave popcorn and instead have a West Bend electric popcorn popper that I love. It will pop every single kernel and the texture is better than from the microwave.  I highly recommend it.

Rating: 3.5/5

Soup is generally not very photogenic. Especially when it's a bean soup. But looks, luckily, do not reflect on taste. This is a spiced lentil soup. I say spiced because it has spice in it (tumeric), but is not very spicy-hot.

I have adapted this recipe from one I tore out of a magazine. I can't remember which, because I cut it out. Anyway, the recipe called for just taking about a half an hour of time to make whereas I've converted it for the crockpot.

There are many, many types of lentils ranging all the way from yellow to black. Each color will have a different flavor and consistency and therefore, different uses. This recipe calls for red lentils, which are supposed to be good for sauces and soups because they break down with cooking. Green lentils, by comparison, will retain their shape. In my case, I had little bits of this and that. I had about 1/2 cup of green, 1/4 cup of brown, and 1/4 of a different type of red. I had to go and buy some more red, which was a different variety from what I already had. So mine came out to be a mixed lentil soup.

Spiced Lentil Soup

2 c red lentils
1 serrano chili pepper, chopped
1 1 1/2 inch of ginger, grated
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 t tumeric
4 c vegetable broth
2 c water
salt to taste

Put everything but the salt into the crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Season with salt to taste at end.

There are a lot of clam chowder recipes out there. This one is from Rachel Ray. I like it because it is packed full of clams and veggies and the soup is thin. Those thick chowders are ok, but that's a lot of carbs from the thickening agents like flour. In fact, I'm thinking of putting even less of the potatoes in next time. There is a good enough chunk factor from the onions, celery, and clams.

Rachel Ray's Clam Chowder

2 tablespoons butter
2 slices thick cut bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 ribs celery with greens, chopped
4 sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
2 teaspoons hot sauce, eyeball it
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pint half-and-half
2 cups chicken stock, from soup aisle
1 cup hash brown style raw shredded potatoes, from dairy aisle of the market
2 cans whole baby clams and their juice

In a medium pot over medium high heat melt butter. Add bacon and onions, celery and thyme sprigs. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce and cook 5 minutes. Add flour and cook a minute more.

Add half-and-half and stock and bring to a bubble, then stir in potatoes and clams. Bring soup back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, until potatoes are cooked and soup has thickened to coat the back of a spoon.

Remove the thyme sprigs from the soup. The thyme leaves will have fallen off into the soup. Stir and adjust seasonings in your soup. Pour soup into mugs.