Daal-icious: Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew from EHH

Ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Ha ha . . . *wipes tears of laughter away* Ha . . . *sighs* Ha.

Now that that unavoidable pun is out of the way, let me tell you about daal.

Is your mouth watering? Because my mouth is watering. 

Daal (sometimes spelled dal or dahl) is a thick, spicy lentil stew that's usually served served over rice or another grain. Daals are common to a lot of eastern and middle eastern cuisines, and they come in a lot of different varieties. What they all have in common is that they're delicious and economical and make fantastic leftovers.

Red lentils. 

I love this simple sweet potato version from the Everyday Happy Herbivore cookbook. (Jeez, Lesley, fangirl, much?)  It's pretty straightforward to make--just double the recipe and give yourself 45 minutes for veggie prep, cook time, and the simmer at the end, and you'll have a delicious dinner and lunch for the week!

Chopped acorn squash and sweet potatoes. And my slippers.

Also, I say this in the most flattering way possible, but this daal might as well be made of ground brick because of how wonderfully filling it is! I love having it for lunch because it leaves me stuffed until I walk home at the end of the day, which is a rare and wonderful thing. Either quinoa or brown rice taste great with it, so it's easy to ladle over with whatever grain you have on hand.

Sweet potato and acorn squash daal with none of the trimmings.

This is also a recipe that's very easy to fiddle with in case you want to sneak some supplementary vegetables into it or if you need to trade out one or two of the pantry staples. For example, brown lentils taste even better than the red in this recipe, in my opinion, though they take longer to cook. Kale or chard could take the place of the spinach easily. And I've used half of an acorn squash along with the sweet potatoes, and it tastes even better that way!

Daal with quinoa already mixed in.

Finally, if you've never tried garam masala before, today is the day. It's a blend of spices common in Indian cooking. It's somewhat similar to curry powder but tends to be more aromatic because it includes cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. (Also, the store-bought blends I've tried are less spicy than curries, though that definitely depends on what brand you get.)

You can make your own blend of garam masala to taste, pick it up in the Asian section of your grocery store, or purchase an array of blends at your local Indian market. Trust me: it's absolutely worth the $3 it'll cost you to have it on hand--I use it in just about everything these days!

Daal with brown basmati rice, cilantro, and sriracha!

Note: I saw Mac Demarco in concert last week. He is awesome and crazy and a little creepy and I'm weirdly in love with European Vegas. If you're into nostalgic, grainy indie rock, you should definitely check him out. 

For a Spicy, Lazy Snow Day: Vegetarian Curried Chili with Chickpeas

Happy snow day, everybody!

In case you don’t live in the Midwest, about 10 inches of snow has been dumped in the middle of Kansas. Most schools and businesses were closed around 9:00 p.m. last night, long before the first snowflake had even hit the ground.

Today, I’ve baked a loaf of bread and made granola bars, but if I didn’t have a bunch of leftovers that I needed to eat this week, I’d totally be making this chili instead of blogging right now. It's just perfect for a chilly, blustery day like this!

Now, let me start with a caveat: I don’t really like chili.

Growing up, my parents adored chili. Some winters, they made it twice a week, and we always had leftovers two of the five remaining nights. It was perfectly fine chili—my favorite chili, even, with its rich tomatoes and approachable spices, hearty with kidney beans and ground beef—but by the time I went to college, I couldn’t stand the sight of the stuff. Never again, I thought.

Eventually, after about three years without it, I started to crave chili again during my senior year of college. I played around with a bunch of vegetarian chili recipes, got disappointed, and gave up.

But about a year ago, I stumbled upon Emeril’s spicy delicious magical unicorn of a vegetarian chili; I made a lazy person’s simplified, pantry-friendly version of it and was in love. Here was a chili I could get behind!

But the true origin of this chili came one night when I wanted to make it and discovered that I was short on both black beans and chili powder. After poking through my cabinets, I came up with a solution. Hence my magical curried chili with chickpeas was born!

This is a rock ‘n’ roll vegan chili. It’s hearty and swampy and satisfying and subtly exotic. The curry powder isn't noticeable, but it does add a layer of richness and aroma that's unusual in a chili. But most importantly of all, it doesn’t mess around: it is spicy. And award-winning! (I tied for first place in my office’s chili cook-off this year. I was waaaaaayyyyy too proud of myself!)

So, yes, this chili does pass muster, even with omnivores. In the words of my ground beef-loving, chili con carne-venerating father, “I would actually eat this again.” Which, in case you don’t know him, is very high praise.

This chili is a snow day essential, and it’s likely that you have everything you need on hand to make it. Even if you’re missing some of the ingredients, it’s a very flexible recipe: as long as you have the onions, garlic, corn, tomatoes, beans, and chili powder, you’re going to come up with something pretty tasty.

Note: I just saw The Delta Saints at a local venue. Half of the band is from Kansas, and they were shockingly good. If you like really loud blues-influenced Southern rock played by some technically skilled white kids wearing suspenders, definitely check them out. They put on a good show.

Happy snow day, Kansas!

The view from my kitchen window around noon today. What do you think? About 10 inches?

Curried Vegetarian Chili with Chickpeas (Lazy Woman’s Version)

2 TBSP canola or vegetable oil

1 ½ cup chopped sweet yellow onion

1 cup chopped sweet bell pepper (orange and yellow are best, but red works and even green will do in a pinch)

2 TBSP minced garlic (I don’t measure this out, but 4 cloves usually works for me)

2-3 minced Serrano peppers (jalapenos are a fine substitute, but please always watch out for pepper burns when you’re chopping!)

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2 cups of corn kernels (I use frozen sweet corn microwaved to room temperature)

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1 ½ TBSP chili powder

½ TBSP curry powder (replace this with more chili powder, if you don’t have curry on hand)

1 TBSP cumin powder

½ tsp salt (add more later to taste)

¼ scant tsp cayenne powder (if you want a milder chili, go with 1/8 tsp or skip it altogether)

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1 large can diced stewed tomatoes (4 large fresh tomatoes work as well)

1 can tri-blend beans, rinsed and well-drained

½ can black beans, rinsed and well-drained

½ can chickpeas, rinsed and well-drained (feel free to use whatever beans you have on hand—a can of kidney beans and a can of black beans makes for a perfectly delicious substitution!)

1 small can of tomato sauce (optional—I’ve made this without the tomato sauce, and it’s a little less soupy but perfectly tasty)

1 scant cup water

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To taste, salsa for spice and richness, salt, additional oil for richness, and red wine vinegar or lemon juice for acid and tang.

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Optional toppings and accompaniments:

chopped cilantro

sliced avocado

Daiya vegan mozzarella

vegan sour cream or vegan onion raita

vegan cornbread

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium or medium-high heat. Once warm, saute the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and peppers for about 3 minutes.

Add the corn kernels and saute for another 5 or 6 minutes.

Add chili powder, curry powder, cumin, salt, and cayenne to the pot and mix well, sauteing for another 30 seconds to a minute.

Add canned (or fresh) tomatoes, beans, tomato sauce, and water to the pot. Bring back up to a low boil and simmer for 20 minutes. (Or, add these final ingredients, bring to a low boil, and leave on low in your crock pot until needed.)

After 20 minutes of simmering (or hours of crock potting), taste the chili and add the "to taste" ingredients as needed (salsa, salt, oil, and red wine vinegar or lemon juice). Serve with cornbread, a blizzard, and bluesy southern rock. 

Here Comes the Sun: Tunisian Vegetable Stew from the Moosewood Restaurant

"And all was light": That about sums up my feelings about this golden-hued Tunisian Vegetable Stew from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. This was one of the dishes I started making last summer that made me think that going vegan wouldn't be so impossible after all. For all its humble ingredients and simple cooking method, it was revelatory.

One of the first things I discovered about eating vegetarian or vegan is that trying to emulate meat-based dishes will usually leave you disappointed. It's far better to look for new recipes and dishes that you've never tried before, dishes that make vegetables shine on their own instead of warping them into flavors they don't naturally have.

This African-style stew is a perfect example of this. This is what happens when you take fresh, healthy vegetables; cook them properly; and spice the hell out of them: satisfying, flavorful magic.

This recipe requires some chopping and some waiting as each round of ingredients softens, but, really, as far as soups go, this one is incredibly low maintenance and pretty quick to knock off. (I won't repost the recipe here because I follow the recipe linked above very closely, with the exception of leaving out the currants.)

What makes this stew "Tunisian"? Well, I'm obviously no expert on African cooking, but all of the spices (cayenne, turmeric, and coriander) are common to Indian cooking, except for the cinnamon. I know, I know, it sounds crazy--cinnamon in a savory dish?--but it adds a subtle, sweet, exotic fragrance to the otherwise spicy, tomato-rich sauce that makes it addictive. You can't help but want to eat more, and more, and more of the stuff.

Until, of course, it fills you up. Which it does admirably, especially at only . . . (wait for it) . . . 150 calories per cup serving. That's right, folks, you can easily go in for seconds on this one. I tend to make it on Sundays and eat it all week at work for lunch. I've tried it with rice and pita bread, but so far I like it best with a hunk of cornbread. (The dairy-free variety, of course!)

Also, can I just say that cabbage is a shockingly underrated vegetable. It plays so nicely with spicy flavors, and it's filling and nutritious, and coleslaw exists, and . . . Wait, I'll stop there.  It definitely deserves an ingredient profile of its own!

The Crabby Vegan: Lazy Pepper Pasta

Okay, so the very first week of this vegan thing, I had more late nights at work than usual. I came home each night tired and, in the great tradition of my father’s family, hangry as all get out.

Cheese used to be a great crutch on nights like these because cheese when added to anything at all is pretty damn tasty: tortilla chips, pitas, pasta, crackers, salads, whatever—it was an easy, thoughtless way to dispatch with dinner.

But that night, I wasn't about to give up so easily. I threw together what had to be the crabbiest, snarliest dinner of my life. I called it “Lazy” in the title above, but let’s be honest, folks: in my mind, it was definitely Bitchy Pepper Pasta.

The beauty of BPP (or LPP, if you’d prefer) is that it takes about ten minutes to throw together and it's likely that you have everything you need in your kitchen already. Pasta? Check. Olive oil or spray oil? Check. Garlic? Check. Scraps of veggies, preferably bell peppers and onions, lurking at the bottom of your crisper? Check.

Here’s the “recipe” written in the spirit in which it was created:

Get your salted pasta water boiling. While you’re waiting on that, splash your olive oil (or lightly spray your Pam) in a pan. Mince up your garlic and slice your veggies. (How thin? What, do I look like your mother? Follow your heart, hon.)

Whenever your water starts to boil, add your pasta of choice (I like whole grain because it's heartier and more filling), and set your oiled pan on medium high heat. If some of your veggies are of a tough variety, saute them first and add your other stuff later. Or, if you’re in the throes of an epic hangry, just dump everything in the oil and let it take care of itself. Don’t forget to sprinkle the veggies with salt to taste.

Saute until the minced garlic is a little brown or until the veggies are slightly soft but still firm or until you’re sick of sauteing and you need a break to pour yourself a glass of wine.

Your pasta should be about done at this point. Strain the cooked pasta and throw it in your veggie pan if there’s room. (If not, finish off your veggies and then dump everything in big bowl and stir. Whatever's clever.) If you used any greens like spinach, add them last and let them wilt a bit. (Spinach doesn't add much flavor to dishes when shredded finely, but it does add iron and makes it look kind of fancy like, you know, you put some thought into it or something.)

If you want a Greek flavored dish, add lots of pepper and a splash of red wine vinegar and maybe some kalamata olives and stir until everything’s warm. If you don’t have any of that crap on hand, sprinkle some red pepper flakes on it and move on with your life; nothing’s perfect, so this doesn't have to be, either.

Dump the whole thing in a bowl. Take a picture of it for your blog and lament how blurry the picture is. Reevaluate your life choices and wonder if veganism and/or blogging is for you.

Take three bites along with another sip of your wine. Sigh deeply as your stomach gets the message that it is indeed finally being fed and that you’re not going to waste away in The Great Famine. Decide that maybe everything is going to be alright after all.

Proceed to nomz. 

Pusheen knows what's up.