Curry in a Hurry

February 8, 2012 //
1

Lentils can be quick. Let me prove it to you. I worked from home yesterday and in the time it took me to get ready to go to a noon yoga class I had prepared a dahl with rice.

I’ve written before on dahl but that was a little more labor-intensive and time-consuming than this quickie meal. This meal, while it can be put together in a snap, still has plenty of payoff: filling, satisfying, and spicy, these lentils go great with steaming basmati rice and a side of greens.

I’m not sure how or why, but dahl is one my ultimate comfort foods. Given that I grew up on pb&j and fish sticks, this isn’t necessarily intuitive, but it’s now a given. Once I discovered I could make my own at home, well, the rest is history.

And one of the best parts about this dish was I had everything on hand and did not consult even one recipe. I worked from memory and guessed on the amounts of everything.

If you have garam masala on hand it will make this meal all that faster. If not, you have a couple of options. Either use what you have and make the best of it: turmeric powder and ground cumin will go a long way. If you have coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom seeds, whole black peppercorns, mustard seeds, and the time and patience, I’d recommend quickly toasting these in a small cast-iron skillet, then grinding in a spice or coffee grinder. You can see my recipe here for a homemade curry powder, or garam masala.

Any lentils will really work here, except maybe French green lentils, which I’d use more for salads than dahl. I used the red lentils I always have on hand—the pinch of turmeric is what turns the dish yellow. I threw in half a veggie bouillon cube for flavor, but you definitely don’t need to.

The key to making this dish, and making it seem effortless, is getting everything cooking in the pot, then forgetting about it while you go do something else for a while, like some downward dogs.

Curry in a Hurry

Makes 4 servings

1 tbsp olive oil, butter, or ghee
1 medium onion, diced
2 dried red chiles
1 tbsp garam masala
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 c water
1 c lentils, rinsed and drained
1/2 bouillon cube, optional
salt, to taste

In a large, sturdy pot, heat your oil or butter over a medium flame, then add the diced onion. Cook the onion for about 5-10 minutes; you can leave the lid partially on to speed along the cooking and avoid the onions smoking. Once the onions are translucent or starting to brown, add a dash of salt, 1 or 2 dried red chiles, depending on how much heat you like, the garam masala, and turmeric. Give it all a stir.

Add 1 c of water and the lentils and turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, you can add the bouillon if using, and the remaining 1 c water. Turn the heat down to simmer and cover completely. Let simmer for at least 15 minutes, if that’s all the time you have, a little bit more if you’ve got the time. Turn off the heat, keep the lid on, and let stand for at least 10 more minutes.

Quick tip: I turned off the heat on the lentils after about 15 minutes of cooking, went to my class, and when I came back they were done. (If you like them more creamy, or completely dissolved, let cook for longer.) Same with the rice, I turned off the heat after it cooked for only 15 minutes, and it cooked itself in the steam with the lid on.

Serve the dahl over rice. If it’s spicy you might like a little plain yogurt spooned on top. I also like to eat this with a side of sauteed collard greens or kale.

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Categories Curry, Rice, Savory, Winter

Quinoa: breakfast of champions

February 6, 2012 //
1

I so loved my breakfast this morning I wanted to share. I had pseudocereal. At least, that’s an official unofficial term for the crop-like grain known to us as quinoa (pronounced keen-wa).

I first started eating quinoa back in 2005 when I was a cook at Plantation Farm Camp in Cazadero, California. There we would serve it to the kids for lunch, at room temperature, usually with some chopped nuts and dried cranberries. The grain itself has a hearty, nutty flavor, and takes on whatever tastes you add to it, much like rice.

I picked up some red quinoa at the Park Slope Food Co-op this past Friday after my shift and decided to make it this morning for breaky rather than microwave cold cereal as I reported doing recently. It’s as easy to make as oatmeal. You can basically use a 2:1 ratio of water to quinoa; you bring the water to a boil, with the quinoa already in the pot, reduce heat to simmer, cook for 10-15 minutes on low, low heat, then turn the heat off and let it sit for 5 minutes before fluffing and eating.

Breakfast can get so redundant and boring I’m trying to spice things up a little. I’m usually quite hungry when I wake up so like to eat something that’s gonna fill me up and tide me over til lunch. Whole grains are our best friend in the morning, and quinoa is no exception. It’s packed with protein, manganese, magnesium, folate, and phosphorus.

You can add anything at all to it that you’d like: dried fruit (during or after cooking), chopped nuts, sea salt, butter, soy sauce, olive oil, milk. I bet some bonito flakes with a little soy sauce would be delicious. Or for something a little sweeter, maple syrup and almond milk. Go crazy. Have fun. This is breakfast after all.

Side note: What’s funny about all this is just this weekend I was telling a friend I’d never start photographing something so banal as my breakfast and start posting it on my blog. But breakfast just got too good. Happy Monday!

Monday Morning Quinoa

Serves 2

1/2 c quinoa
1 c water
2 tbsp chopped apricots (or other dried fruit)
1 tbsp flax oil (or olive oil)
sea salt

Combine the quinoa, water, and dried fruit in a medium-sized pot with a tight-fitting lid. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer, leaving the lid on. Go take a shower while it cooks for 10-15 minutes. Turn the heat off and let sit for 5-10 minutes with the lid on while you get dressed, then fluff with a fork before serving. Drizzle the oil and add a pinch of sea salt.

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Categories Breakfast, Co-op, Grains, Winter

Greens, Meet Soup

January 31, 2012 //
3

It’s official, I’m in a soup phase. What can I say, it’s that time of year when the thought of eating anything cold sends shivers down my spine, even though, yes, this is the mildest winter in a while. Even so, a couple months back I started warming up my cereal before eating it (cold milk? no thank you!) and cut back on green smoothies.

So how to still get all the greens I want, with all the warmth I crave? Green soups.

Lucky for me, Anna Thomas paved the way for green soups with her 2009 cookbook, Love Soup. She seems to be considered the godmother of green soups so I dutifully read up on her methods and set out to create my own.

The basic method is you get yourself two big bunches of your favorite greens—chard, spinach, kale, collards, watercress—slowly caramelize two big onions, then add 1/4 c uncooked rice, vegetable stock, the greens, and voila. You finish it off with a bit of acidity (lemon juice, vinegar), pinch of cayenne, salt, and pepper, and puree it all in a blender or with an immersion blender. The rice, especially arborio, adds creaminess and body to the soup (so it’s not thin or watery), without using cream. Serve drizzled with your favorite olive oil and perhaps some crusty bread.

I had two bunches of green kale so that’s what I made this version with, although I’d love to try with chard and collard greens. I made my own vegetable stock on the adjacent burner, although you could use store-bought or veggie bouillon if you’re short on time.

Green Soup – Beginner’s Basic

Serves 8

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions, diced
splash white wine, optional, for deglazing
1/4 rice, arborio works best
3 c water
2 big bunches of greens, washed and chopped coarsely
4 c vegetable broth
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt
pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar, such as red wine or rice wine

1. Heat the olive oil in a stock pot or dutch oven on low heat then add the onions. Continue to cook over very low heat, with a lid mostly covering the pot to keep in the moisture, 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the onions start to stick or turn dark brown add a splash of white wine to deglaze the pot. Meanwhile, if you’re making your own veggie stock, get this going in another pot on the stove. I use 4 c water and add any veggies I have around such as carrots, onions, celery, a bay leaf or two, black peppercorns, etc., bring to a boil, then let simmer for 45 minutes.

2. Once the onions are deeply caramelized, add the water to the pot, and the rice, and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the chopped greens. If you’re using spinach, add the sturdier greens first (like kale or chard), and the spinach 5 minutes later since it wilts quickly. Add the veggie broth and cayenne, and bring to a simmer, cooking for another 5 minutes. Don’t overcook, otherwise the greens become dull and lose all their wonderful color. Turn off the heat, season with salt and pepper, and add your acid (lemon juice or vinegar).

3. You can puree the soup using an immersion blender all at once in the stock pot, or in batches in a stand-up blender. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. I like some crostini on the side with a creamy cheese or slather of butter.

Look at the color of these caramelized onions!

And here’s the soup, with Ninja blender in the background, which recently cost me half a fingernail while washing the blade.

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Categories Green Smoothies, Kale, Rice, Savory, Soup, Winter
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