I give the cookies 5 stars because I can tell they're wonderful exactly the way the recipe written, BUT with a tweak or two they became the best cookie I've ever made: When I read the recipe for some reason I thought "orange"!! So I added a whole finely grated orange zest and 1 TBSP. concentrated orange juice instead of the water to the wet ingredients. I also made sure to use dark or "full flavored" molasses (not blackstrap). I put the dough in the refrig. before rolling it into balls (1 oz. 'cause I'm weird that way) and dredging in coarse sugar. Then baked at 350 for 12 to 14 min. (not 8 to 10). I like to get a slightly crunchy edge to the cookies, with the nice soft middle. WONDERFUL!! Best the day they are baked 'cause the edge gets soft the next day. But just try to keep any of them around til the next day!! Impossible. Try these! Easy too.

Reviewed On: Oct. 24, 2010

Well, made the way the recipe calls for is good. BUT, the second time I made it I made a few changes which made it better: 1. DO NOT ADD SALT BEFORE THE LENTILS ARE COOKED - it toughens them, and do not overcook them. 25 min. is the max. 2. Be sure and chop the spinach so you can get it on your spoon without it dangling off. 3. Double the amount of broth to make it "soup" and maybe use just chix. broth as no water is needed. 4. Lots more Kielbasa in bigish chunks, not chopped. They are the best part. 5. Saute onions and some garlic on low heat for a while, then add sausage and veggies (in chunks again) and saute, then add everything else (including raw rice) and simmer 25 min. 6. I did use other's suggestions re adding a good amount of cumin, leeks and celery. Quartered mushrooms added at the end with the spinach. Oh, and it needs salt! 7. Finally, I took half of the soup, minus the sausage, and pureed it well in the blender and added it back to the pot to make it kinda thicker, like regular lentil or split pea soup, but because I only pureed half the soup in the blender then added it back to the "thinner" soup, it still stayed "soupy" unstead of "stewy". Yum. French bread and a fresh salad. . .

Reviewed On: Sep. 22, 2010

Made them last night. I really, truly wanted to follow the recipe exactly, but it was Italian night, sooo - I used a jar (gasp!!) of good-quality spaghetti sauce instead of the soup, and threw in about 1 1/2 tsp. of mixed Italian seasoning. After sauteing the meatballs I put them into the simmering sauce and finished them there. Turned out great, and a bit spicy, too. Oh, no need to use "instant" rice - there is enough cooking and simmering time to cook regular long grain rice all the way. In fact, I think instant rice might become soggy with this long-ish cooking time. Meatballs were a bit soft and kinda fell apart in cooking. I don't know how to fix this

Reviewed On: Aug. 26, 2010