Meatless Soups/Stews

Lagniappe: We’re “Bowled” Over

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We tried out a soup recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi last night – which fits right into yesterday’s blog.   Admittedly, it’s not often we’re wild about something that’s vegan, so this is obviously pretty special.  Should I say we were “bowled over” by it? 🙂

And be sure to check out Andy’s own mini Super Bowl game in yesterday’s Andy’s Corner (originally I had the link wrong, so you may have assumed you couldn’t see it).

Have a fun Super Bowl Sunday – even if you’re out riding your bike, as our 83-year-old friend in SF plans to do.   The streets are apparently very quiet then.

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Curried Lentil, Tomato, and Coconut Soup from Ottolenghi – made with Chana Dal instead of red lentils (and cooked way longer because of that)

Curried Lentil, Tomato, and Coconut Soup

This recipe is in Yotam Ottolenghi’s Simple cookbook; we modified the recipe very slightly.  If you use chana dal – which are split chickpeas – you’ll need to cook this considerably longer, but it will be equally delicious.  FYI – the recipe is vegan!

  • 2 T olive oil or sunflower oil or coconut oil
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 c)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled, finely grated
  • 1 T curry powder – or to taste
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 3/4 c red lentils, rinsed and drained (you can substitute chana dal, if you have more time to cook)
  • 1 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 1/2 c finely chopped cilantro
  • Diamond kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
  • 1 13.5-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk, shaken well (reserve about 1/4 c for swirling on the top when you serve, if you want to be fancy)
  • Lime wedges and cilantro leaves for serving
  • Coconut milk – or yogurt if you don’t need vegan – swirled on the top for serving (optional)

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onion and fry, stirring often, until softened and golden brown, 8–10 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, curry powder, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add lentils and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add tomatoes, cilantro, 1 tsp salt and a pinch of pepper, and 2½ cups water. Add coconut milk to saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until lentils are soft but not mushy, 20–25 minutes (note: if you’re using chana dal it may need to cook for as long as an hour…and maybe require a bit more water).

Season soup with more salt and pepper if needed.

Serve the soup with lime wedges and a topping of cilantro leaves.  And we love the addition of a bit of yogurt on top.

Note: the soup can be made up to 3 days ahead.

Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann.

2020 – It’s Music to My Ears

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Carole King’s rendition of Chicken Soup with Rice is a favorite.  Slipping is not a favorite.

As we begin a new decade with new joys and challenges, I find that this little ditty by the Australian artist/cartoonist Michael Leunig speaks to me.  In fact, it inspired me to put together a “2020” playlist!

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We give thanks for singers.
All types of singers.
Popular, concert singers and
tuneless singers in the bath.
Whistlers, hummers and those
who sing while they work.
Singers of lullabies; singers of nonsense
and small scraps of melody.
Singers on branches and rooftops.
Morning yodellers and evening warblers.
Singers in seedy nightclubs, singers in the street;

Singers in cathedrals, school halls, grandstands,
back yards, paddocks, bedrooms, corridors,
stairwells and places of echo and resonance.

We give praise to all those who give some small voice
To the everyday joy of the soul.

Amen

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Andy and I agreed that we’d each make a playlist of 20 songs that we’d enjoy while cooking – or cleaning up after cooking….songs that have something about food in the title or lyrics.  Get it? 20 and 20 for 2020!

You would think this would be a non-confrontational task! 🙂  I started my playlist with my ode to Andy: Sweet Home Cookin’ Man  (listen and watch it here).  I thought “Lord how my baby cooks” was tender and loving, but Andy took exception to the “ain’t got personality” and “ain’t got such good looks” lines.

Well he ain’t got personality
He ain’t got such good looks
When I come home hungry
Lord how my baby cooks
He’s a chef of fine distinction
Always cooks and it’s just right
Whether I come home in the morning baby
Or somewhere late in the night.

That was nothing compared to when I read over Andy’s blog and his playlist and noticed one of his top choices:  My Wife Can’t Cook  from Bill Wyman of Rolling Stones fame (listen and watch it here).

If it wasn’t for the beans that come out the can
A lot of the peas or the beets, the rice and the Spam
The milk and bread at the grocery store
I tell you, I couldn’t eat no more

‘Cause let me tell you, my wife, she can’t cook
If I thought she could read, I would buy her a book
But she knows how to do with the fuss and bother
She don’t even know how to boil hot water

But in the healing spirit of the New Year, we moved on 🙂  Isn’t that what a relationship is all about?

My 20 songs for the 2020 playlist are below.  You can listen to bits of each song right here – or go to Spotify to get the whole thing.  Dance around to it while you’re makin’ that Crawfish Etouffee, sippin’ on a Sazerac, and dreamin’ of going to Mardi Gras!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1FFamk3StFpGkzBr7Tyy3g?si=NqV1ev4zRLqfEsTD2aicBQ

And just to make a point, I would like to remind you of some undeniably great recipes that I’ve fixed for Andy – with canned beans!

*Not Your Mother’s Chili
*MountainWestBob’s Easy Crockpot Chili
*North African Crockpot Lamb Stew
*Quick White Bean Soup
*One Dish Pasta and Beans

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I’m very selective about the brand of beans I buy!

In fact, we celebrated New Year’s Eve with friends, serving them this d-lish Black Bean Chili (which also happens to be vegetarian).  After everyone left, Andy turned up the speakers, clicked on his Jazz for Kitchen Cleanup playlist and welcomed in the New Year.  See today’s Andy’s Corner.

…

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The Lambkins

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A banana slug

Really this blog should be titled “Big Horn Sheep, Lambkins, and Longevity.”  But that seems too convoluted.

Let me start by saying that my family has been associated with two really questionable team mascots.  Our daughter, Sara, is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz.  For those who are out-of-the-UCSC loop, their mascot is the Banana Slug.  And my mother, father, brother, 2 cousins, and I are all graduates of Colorado’s Fort Collins High School.  Our mascot?  The Lambkins.

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Circa 1962

A quick survey of friends’ and family’s team mascots results in feisty mascot names like Bulldogs and Hornets and Seawolves and Dragons.  Even Andy’s team, the Chino H.S. Cowboys, sounds a little tough (see his bittersweet/funny blog in today’s Andy’s Corner).  But Lambkins?  Really?  At least we’re unique in that we’re the only high school in the country with that name.  And at least today’s Lambkin emblem is a little feistier looking than when I was in attendance.

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Circa 2019

Why did they ever get that name?  Well, Fort Collins is the home of Colorado State University, and their mascot is the ram.  Not surprising, since the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep is the state animal of Colorado.  So is a baby ram a lambkin?  That’s what we were taught at school.

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Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

In case you’re a hunter, Bighorn sheep can be hunted in Colorado – but it might take you 20 years in a lottery before you get your chance to bag ONE.  And – vegetarian alert – a Sonoma friend whose son just got his license to shoot one says that their meat is absolutely delicious.

But back to Lambkins.  And longevity.

I recently spent a grand 3 days and 4 nights touring around Brooklyn and the Lower East Side/Nolita/Soho/Tribeca with four of my Class of 1962 Lambkin friends.  Two of us have known each other since we were kindergartners at Dunn Elementary School.  Two more became Besties during a memorable 5th grade year.  And the 5th Bestie started Lincoln Junior High School with us.   We’ve managed to keep in contact for 65+ years and have had previous get-togethers in Glen Ellen and Santa Fe and Cincinnati.  How is that for a friendship’s longevity?

I fixed dinner one night in Brooklyn for my BFFs.  I thought about serving a Colorado dish – but didn’t have any Bighorn sheep meat at my disposal – plus a lamb recipe for the Lambkins just didn’t seem quite right.  I thought about one of my all-time favorites: Longevity Noodles, a recipe from our daughter’s New Yorker friend and cookbook-writer Grace Young.  It’s the recipe we chose to post when we first began this blog some 2 1/2 years ago.  But we were staying in our son’s condo and I was terrified I’d set off their very-sensitive smoke alarm and evacuate the whole building if I tried stir-frying in an extremely hot wok.  So I ended up with my version of a Colorado green chile stew, omitting the pork and adding potatoes.  Even with that, Bestie Janeene stood valiantly on a stool, frantically waving a towel under the smoke alarm, while I roasted the green chiles over a hot flame.  Thanks, J!

So here’s to longevity!  And to BFFs!  And to Bighorn sheep!  And to the Lambkins!  But maybe not so much to Banana Slugs…or are we supposed to be embracing them, as we are bugs, as the next wave of our dining future?  If so, vegetarianism here I come.

Colorado-ish Potato and Green Chile Stew

This is tweeked from a Deborah Madison recipe.  Frankly, I never remember having Green Chilie Stew, growing up in Colorado, but I love the simplicity of this recipe, even if it’s authenticity is dubious.  It’s easily made vegetarian and can be made even more nutritious by throwing in a handful of greens – such as chopped spinach or chard.

  • 4 long green chiles such as Big Jim or Anaheim or poblano chiles, roasted and peeled
  • 3 T vegetable oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 lbs Yukon gold or red potatoes, chopped into 1-inch chunks (no need to peel)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 c chicken broth or water or vegetable broth
  • Sour cream, Mexican crema, or Greek yogurt to finish (don’t omit – it adds so much)
  • Chopped cilantro to finish

Chop the chiles coarsely. Heat the oil in a wide pot; add the onion and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the coriander, cumin, garlic, and potatoes, followed by the chiles, along with 1/2 teaspoon salt and stir. Cook together of a few minutes, then add the water or stock. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer.

Cook and cover until the potatoes are completely softened, about 25 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper. At this point you can mash the potatoes, or at least a few of them to give the dish a creamy sort of background, if desired.

Pour into a bowl; add a dollop of sour cream and the chopped cilantro.

Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann.
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