Lentil Stew

The last post I did was for a bean stew... since then there have been 12 atmospheric rivers dumping a record amount of rain in California.  So I am still making bean stews!  This is an update of a winter squash and bean stew that I do with lentils.  Lentils have all the wonderful protein packed benefits of beans, but they cook much faster: 20 - 30 minutes.  Plus they grow with much less irrigation than other crops like wheat and corn. I'm sure we will sometime soon find that important again. And while I love winter squash in stews, they are gone from the markets, but this works well with pretty much any vegetables you have around.  I added mushrooms and cabbage to this soup along with extra carrots. Plus as always a bunch of greens - in this case I used collard greens which I love in soups.  

 

Rosemary and Bay from the front yard

Don't hesitate to add plenty of red pepper, or some hot sauce at the end. Yesterday's batch was a bit under seasoned - I added a nice spoonful of salsa which gave it a nice kick.  

Here's what went into yesterday's batch: 

Chop and saute: 

Cook .. Just 30 minutes!

Add greens (chop first): 

And its done!

 The recipe: 

Vegetable and Lentil Stew with Sausage

This can be a clean the crisper drawer kind of soup, with any kind a vegetable

 

1-2 tablespoons olive oil 

1-2 slices of bacon (optional, good if you don’t use sausage)

2-3 links of pre-cooked chicken sausage (or use pork sausage – sauté instead of bacon)

1 large onion, chopped

1 to 4 carrots, sliced 

1 or 2 celery stalks, sliced (optional)

2 cloves of garlic

Red pepper flakes to taste

Rosemary (1-2 teaspoons fresh), bay leaves (2-3), and/or Italian Seasoning

More veggies as desired: mushrooms, cubed butternut squash or sweet potato, green beans, tomatoes

6 cups of liquid - 1 quart chicken broth plus 2 cups water (or all water or all broth)

1 pound of green lentils, rinsed 

 

1 bunch of greens (kale, mustard, chard), stalks removed, chopped (or baby spinach)

 

Herbs, lemon juice, salt, pepper, hot sauce to taste.

 

In a large pot, heat the oil.  Sauté the bacon if using.  Add onion, sausage, celery, garlic, chili (plus any veggies that would benefit from sautéing like mushrooms), plus salt to taste (I start with a ½ teaspoon).  When onions are translucent (5 minutes or so), add carrots and other vegetables, rinsed lentils, broth / water and bring to a simmer.  Cook for 25 or 30 minutes, until lentils are tender (don’t cook to the point of falling apart).  Add more water if desired. Add chopped greens.  Kale or mustard greens need to cook 5 to 10 minutes; baby spinach is done as soon as you have stirred it in. Taste – add salt, maybe a squirt of lemon juice, herbs, some pepper, maybe some hot sauce as desired. 

Quarantine Eating

So what have you been cooking for the pandemic?  It's clear that I gravitate to the kitchen and cooking for stress relief, but not sure that's it a net benefit considering how stressful grocery shopping has been.  Seeing empty shelves is kind of scary (on top of the risk of being out in public).  Plus we have been getting a good portion of our food delivered, mostly though Amazon Fresh, which is frustrating trying to find things in stock and getting delivery slots. But I have filled my freezer with plenty of soups and stews "just in case" and doing a better job that normal at using up all of the things in the corner of the pantry and bottom of the freezer. 

I am grateful for so many things ... so far my friends and family are all healthy, we have a nice house, live someplace where we can get out for walks and runs, great neighbors, technology that lets us get together virtually.    Now if it would just stop raining!

Some of what I have been cooking ... some new recipes and some old: 

 A new recipe, Pasta with Chickpeas  from Melissa Clark at the NYT cooking.

This one is destined to become a favorite.  I pretty much followed the recipe, although I only had a half bunch of parsley.  I did use fresh cooked chickpeas ... my neighbor had a couple of pounds in the back of her pantry that were "at least" a couple of years old and was unsure how to cook, so I volunteered to cook in my pressure cooker...  I soaked them for 12 hours and cooked for 12 minutes in the pressure cooker and they were great. I'm grateful for great neighbors! Of course I haven't seen dry chickpeas in the stores, but the local store here is starting to get canned ones again.

I also found a tart crust recipe I like. What's great about this is that you can just bake off one small tart and save the dough for later. I have not tried the filling in this recipe, the filling was a freezer discovery, some lemon curd that I made year, topped with some Greek yogurt and chocolate chips. I sometimes make things and put them into the freezer for a rainy day.  We had over 3 1/2 inches of rain last week, so that counts as a rainy day! 

I have been getting what are essentially CSA boxes from my favorite farmer at the Farmers market.. including lots of beets.   

My try at Pickled Beets was successful.
There have been lots of meals with green incorporated in them...

Like Curried Lentils (this is with beet greens). I was able to get lentils last week at the local store, and this recipe will work with green lentils too, its just not as pretty. And Spinach Swiss Chard Crusted Quiche with Fennel and Sausage.  In a stroke of genius, I oven roasted the fennel, onion, and sausage in the filling on a sheet pan (at the same time as cooking the crust) .. one less skillet to wash and less total time.  

And we have not had to sacrifice our lunch salads..   And in case you think every meal is all healthy and green like this, the salad is incorporating some left-over take-out fried chicken from a local restaurant (doing our part to support local business...).

There are also lots of meals with wheat and cheese ... 

Like pizza (I have been experimenting with a no-knead crust) and Macaroni and Cheese.


Also in the comfort food category was Meatloaf.    And the mini-loaf I froze came out great.  I thawed in a bowl of cold water (took about an hour), then it needed to bake for about 45 minutes. 

Plus some simple dinners, like a loaded baked sweet potato and the quesadillas  pictured with the beets. 

And the normal...Foil Grilled Fish, (using up some fish a neighbor gave us last fall)  Stir fry,  and "Whatever" Pasta. 

  
I've also been experimenting with no-knead bread ... but that's another post.   Stay well, and let me know how you are doing!

Planning. Kind of.

It’s the beginning of the year, full of all sorts of resolutions to lose weight and eat better. And plenty of advice.  One common theme is planning your meals, which generally start “once a week, make a plan, shop with a list, blah, blah, blah.”  This worked great for my family when I was a kid.  We lived 30 miles from a real grocery store.  There were no farmers markets. Our weekly schedule was pretty routine (not to say I had a boring childhood).   Also when I was a kid, we didn’t have 20 or 30 places between work or school (or sports) begging you with big neon lights to stop and get something tasty to eat.  No McDonalds. No Olive Garden. No Starbucks. 

But this doesn’t work for me now: shopping at the local at the farmers market (plus 2 or 3 other stores to get what I want) plus travel schedules that aren’t predictable. A big lunch out and you’re not hungry or you swam 2500 meters and you’re starving. Not to mention an aversion to actually sitting down and making a plan!   

But that doesn’t mean you give into the neon lights.  You can eat better and cheaper at home AND tailor it to what is happening that day.  It takes a little work, yes, but possible.  Here is what works for me: 

1. Plan to not plan: Keep a reasonably stocked pantry. This does not mean be prepared for the big one.  It means keeping some dry grains and pasta on hand. Onions and garlic.  Eggs.  Meat products in the freezer (small portions, vacuum packed).  A few cans of beans and tuna. Some bread or tortillas. A chunk of cheese or two.   From this (and a few fresh vegetables) there are an infinite number of possibilities. 

2. Plan your day:   I don’t try to envision Thursday’s dinner on Sunday, but to try to think of dinner by lunch time on Thursday. Plan parts of the day: When I worked in an office, I took my lunch (and this was resulted in the first 5 pounds I lost). It means knowing some 5 minute options when you get home hungry at 7pm. On Saturday, don’t leave the house at 11am to run 3 hours of errands without eating lunch first.   

3. Keep everyone involved.  There are 3 parts to meals at home: shopping, cooking, cleaning.   Share the tasks. If at lunch you decide roast chicken would be great for dinner, also decide who it’s most convenient for to stop at the market and pick one up. (As a side note, I have learned large pieces of meat languish in my freezer, as I seem incapable of remembering 2 days ahead to let thaw).  I’m convinced the toughest part of “cooking for one” isn’t cooking.  It’s having to shop plus clean in addition to cooking. 

4. Get a routine.  I like to make pizza, and it’s a great way to use up bits and pieces of cheese, or an odd vegetable.   But I need to get blob (my starter) out first thing in the morning.  So we are in the habit of having pizza on Friday.  Back in my Intel days, we used to have fish or steaks on Fridays… It was the one day I didn’t have meetings with Asia (at 5pm), so I would stop at AJ’s (local upscale grocery) and buy something that looked good to throw on the grill, plus maybe a vegetable if I didn’t have anything left from the previous weekend.  Yeah, and a bottle of wine. 

5. Plan for leftovers. One trick to getting meals on the table quickly it to start with food that was already cooked.  Grilled chicken and leftover rice (plus cheese and a tomato or cabbage and hot sauce) can become a burrito.  Flake leftover fish, add some chopped onions, celery, dill add a bit of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice for a sandwich.  Use leftover pasta to make a frittata.  It can mean popping what you had a night or two ago into the microwave.  Learn what you like leftover, learn what you can freeze.  And learn what you don’t:   I can’t explain why, but we don’t like leftover stir fry.  I won’t reheat fish.  Steamed or sautéed broccoli gets nasty.   Soup and stews are about the best thing to reheat. Many are even better the next day.  Here is one of my recent favorites… it reheats well, and it freezes well (I put one serving in a 1 quart Ziploc baggie, press out the air and freeze.  To cook, I thaw a bit under hot water – at least enough to break it up, even better to leave in hot water for 10 minutes or so until thawed, put in the serving bowl and nuke until hot). 

Vegetable Bean Stew (with or without Sausage)

Make it soup by using more water or broth. 

1 lb beans (any kind).  Or lentils.

1-2 tablespoons olive oil.  

1-2 slices of bacon (optional, good if you don’t use sausage)

1 large onion, chopped

1 or 2 carrots, sliced (optional)

1 or 2 celery stalks, sliced.  If you have them. 

2 cloves of garlic

Pinch of red pepper flakes.  Or Chipotle flakes. Or more. Or Fresh chiles.

1 quart chicken broth (optional)

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cubed

1 package of cooked chicken sausage, sliced (optional)

1 bunch of greens (kale, mustard, chard), stalks removed, chopped (or baby spinach)

Herbs, lemon juice, salt, pepper, hot sauce to taste.

Rinse the beans in a colander, then put into a large pot and cover (by a couple of inches) with water.  They should soak at least 6 hours, but not more than 10 or so.  If you need to soak faster, bring the water to a boil then turn off the heat and let sit for an hour.  Drain and rinse the beans. Note: lentils don’t need to be soaked. 

In the same large pot, heat the oil.  Sauté the bacon if using.  Add onion, carrots, celery, garlic, chili.  When onions are translucent (5 minutes or so), add beans, broth, and another cup or 2 of water.  Or just use all water (5-6 cups).  Beans should be covered by a ½ inch or so.   Cook for 1 – 1 1/2 hours, or until just barely cooked (they should still have a little bite, but not crunch).  Lentils only need 20-30  minutes.  Add the squash and sausage. Add more water if it’s too thick.  If you don’t use sausage, add a good ½ teaspoon of salt.  Cook for another 20 minutes or so until the squash is done.   Add chopped greens.  Kale or mustard greens need to cook 5 to 10 minutes; baby spinach is done as soon as you have stirred it in.    Taste – add salt, maybe a squirt of lemon juice, herbs, some pepper, maybe some hot sauce as desired.    Sometimes I will serve with a dollop of yogurt (especially if meat-less), or some cheese.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri … and lentil recipe

The only criteria for my next book is that it will have nothing to do with New York.  The Namesake is this month’s book club book, it’s a story about a family starting as young adults in Calcutta, migrating to the US, having children, and ultimately about the son (who goes to New York).   As several at book group pointed out, we seem to be on a roll of immigrant stories.   The story told in The Namesake is very believable, in part because it seems very ordinary, compared to last month’s book, Middlesex which was quite extraordinary (and much less believable). It does get a bit slow in the  middle, but it’s an enjoyable read.  The writing is quite nice, exploring relationships and inner struggles.

And no matter how good (or not) the book is, book group is always a fun.   Often, when the book has a reference to food, we try to tie that into the get together.  This month, Vy had good intentions of getting some Indian food, but things didn't work exactly as planned, so I volunteered to bring one of my favorite Indian dishes (which was not a big sacrifice because its easy to make). This is good as part of an Indian meal, but is also great on its own as a simple dinner or as a side with some grilled meat.  I brought a double batch (minus a bowl for Roy) to the party, but I cut back on the chilies since the ones I had were pretty hot and I didn't know how spice tolerant everyone was.

Lentils with Spinach and Ginger (Dal)
I like to use “grown up” spinach for this dish, it seems a bit sturdier and more flavorful than baby spinach, but its necessary to really do a good cleaning job.  But its really ok to use any greens, so I use what ever is good at the farmers market, and you can’t beat bags of baby spinach for convenience.   Adjust the hot peppers to taste.

1 cup lentils, washed and drained
2 ½ cups water
1 tablespoon vegetable (or olive) oil
1 - 2 fresh, hot green chilies, finely diced (or less to taste)
1 teaspoon finely grated ginger
8-10 ozs baby spinach, or 1 bunch regular spinach, chopped
½ cup chopped cilantro
½ to 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Put lentils and water into pot. Bring to a boil, turn to low and simmer for about 45 minutes.
When the lentils are done, start the spinach.  Put another pot on stove and heat over medium. Add oil, put in the chilies and ginger.  Stir and cook for about 10 seconds, add spinach and cilantro.  Stir and cook until the spinach has wilted.  Add the cooked lentils and salt.  Cover and cook at a gentle simmer for another 15 minutes.  Add black pepper and lemon juice, check taste and add more salt if needed.