This is not my holiday. Internally I'm basically an unconverted Grinch, but the folks around me claim they enjoy making a big celebration at this time of year so I keep my thoughts to myself.
I did have a seasonal idea though ...
I'm thinking that I should lay a thick tapering line of hummus down the center of a platter for a trunk, construct branches of the same stuff and foliate it with green zkhuk and tinsel it with red. Slices of carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, and boiled purple potatoes would be the ornaments.
Or ...
I could have another bowl of lentil soup with a chunk of fresh bread.
Dec 24, 2011
Lentil Soup
Friday was a cold and somewhat gloomy day so I made my favorite cold weather food, lentil soup.
Some of the reasons it's my favorite are:
It's easy to make.
It's easy to modify.
It's a good way to use up stock and any scrag ends of veggies.
It tastes good.
It smells good as it cooks.
I could go on and on, but I won't. This is a good recipe to use as an example to show my thoughts process as I cook.
I decide to make lentil soup at about 0900 and spend 5 minutes searching for the lentils. I finally find a bag of them at the bottom of a plastic container filled with other bags of beans (my wife gets confused by unfamiliar beans and hides them away to avoid feeling threatened). I put the bag on the counter and open the fridge to look for vegetables. I have two carrots and the remnants of a bunch of celery. I also have some onions and garlic in the large storage bowl on the counter along with one lonely potato.
Cool! I dice the onion, celery, and potato. I mince the garlic, and grate the carrot. I pour some olive oil into a soup pot (medium-low) and start the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery frying. I wash and dry my hands.
Now I pull down some spice jars. I put a hefty 3-finger pinch of whole cumin into the pot, followed by a 2-finger pinches of whole mustard seed, rosemary, thyme, and sea salt. Two dried chilis are tossed in whole. I have about 3 cups of stock left and I pour it all in followed by the potatoes and, at last, about a half pound of lentils. I wait until it starts to simmer, then turn the heat down until it's just barely on.
I get to work on my writing projects for the day. Every time I go out to the kitchen to make a cup of tea, I stir the soup and add water if it needs it. Once the lentils are nice and soft, I add a cup of chopped tomatoes left over from the Metch failure.
About 1730 my wife decides that she wants to play a couple of games of Mancala. Before we start I toss check the cupboards and find a couple of partial boxes of pasta and toss them into the soup too.
Dinner is at 1830 and is wonderful. A big bowl of soup with plenty of refills available, a couple of slices of toasted whole grain bread with an olive oil based spread.
Now I've made myself hungry again.
Some of the reasons it's my favorite are:
It's easy to make.
It's easy to modify.
It's a good way to use up stock and any scrag ends of veggies.
It tastes good.
It smells good as it cooks.
I could go on and on, but I won't. This is a good recipe to use as an example to show my thoughts process as I cook.
I decide to make lentil soup at about 0900 and spend 5 minutes searching for the lentils. I finally find a bag of them at the bottom of a plastic container filled with other bags of beans (my wife gets confused by unfamiliar beans and hides them away to avoid feeling threatened). I put the bag on the counter and open the fridge to look for vegetables. I have two carrots and the remnants of a bunch of celery. I also have some onions and garlic in the large storage bowl on the counter along with one lonely potato.
Cool! I dice the onion, celery, and potato. I mince the garlic, and grate the carrot. I pour some olive oil into a soup pot (medium-low) and start the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery frying. I wash and dry my hands.
Now I pull down some spice jars. I put a hefty 3-finger pinch of whole cumin into the pot, followed by a 2-finger pinches of whole mustard seed, rosemary, thyme, and sea salt. Two dried chilis are tossed in whole. I have about 3 cups of stock left and I pour it all in followed by the potatoes and, at last, about a half pound of lentils. I wait until it starts to simmer, then turn the heat down until it's just barely on.
I get to work on my writing projects for the day. Every time I go out to the kitchen to make a cup of tea, I stir the soup and add water if it needs it. Once the lentils are nice and soft, I add a cup of chopped tomatoes left over from the Metch failure.
About 1730 my wife decides that she wants to play a couple of games of Mancala. Before we start I toss check the cupboards and find a couple of partial boxes of pasta and toss them into the soup too.
Dinner is at 1830 and is wonderful. A big bowl of soup with plenty of refills available, a couple of slices of toasted whole grain bread with an olive oil based spread.
Now I've made myself hungry again.
Dec 23, 2011
Unmetched
So I tried making Metch for Thursday's dinner. It didn't work well. I think that part of it was just sloppy work on my part and being too lazy to go to the computer and double-check the recipe. It ended up being more Meh than Metch.
I'll turn the leftovers of it into soup and spice it up a bit. (BTW I made a delightful discovery. If you toss the pith and seeds of chilis into your vegetable stock, you end up with a brew that will turn your hair white, melt your earwax and curl your toenails. Good Stuff!!)
Luckily I also had some small potatoes on hand. I cut them in half and quartered a yellow onion, tossed them in tahini and roasted them.
I'll turn the leftovers of it into soup and spice it up a bit. (BTW I made a delightful discovery. If you toss the pith and seeds of chilis into your vegetable stock, you end up with a brew that will turn your hair white, melt your earwax and curl your toenails. Good Stuff!!)
Luckily I also had some small potatoes on hand. I cut them in half and quartered a yellow onion, tossed them in tahini and roasted them.
Day 74/240: A continuation from Wednesday
Thursday I was out and about again during the day. There's a game that I wanted to give my wife as a present, but all the stores seem to be sold out. There was one last toy store to check in a nearby town but there was no joy to be found there.
Since I was just a half block from a place that is known locally as a locovore's lunch counter, I went in to see what they had. As usual, all of the vegetarian options included cheese, good local cheese, but dairy nonetheless. One of the few items that did not have any cheese listed was a homemade veggie burger on whole grain bread.
I'm not sure why it occurred to me but, as it was being rung up, I double-checked. "There's no cheese on that," I said. "Oh the cheese is mixed right into the burger," was the answer. I changed my order to a hummus and sprouts sandwich and had them substitute avocado for the Muenster cheese.
When I got home I went on line and ordered the game for my wife direct from the manufacturer. It is back-ordered and won't get here until the middle of January. Poor planning on my part.
Since I was just a half block from a place that is known locally as a locovore's lunch counter, I went in to see what they had. As usual, all of the vegetarian options included cheese, good local cheese, but dairy nonetheless. One of the few items that did not have any cheese listed was a homemade veggie burger on whole grain bread.
I'm not sure why it occurred to me but, as it was being rung up, I double-checked. "There's no cheese on that," I said. "Oh the cheese is mixed right into the burger," was the answer. I changed my order to a hummus and sprouts sandwich and had them substitute avocado for the Muenster cheese.
When I got home I went on line and ordered the game for my wife direct from the manufacturer. It is back-ordered and won't get here until the middle of January. Poor planning on my part.
Day 73/240: A Salad Sandwich
It's very tricky trying to exclude dairy from my diet. Apparently, restaurants assume that vegetarians eat cheese butter and eggs. The frustration of having to parse each menu carefully and query the waitrons about the preparation is probably what makes so many vegans seem intolerant and intolerable.
Usually, it all works out, but sometimes I can't help but think that my choice of diet forces me to be more of a center of attention than I would like.
I had lunch at a not-so-local restaurant on Wednesday and realized that all of the vegetarian sandwiches were topped by cheese. Not a big deal, I just asked for the sandwich I wanted to be made without it. But still ... it bothered me. I guess that there's a chunk of OCD brain matter that gets irritated by niggly things like, if it's a vegetarian sandwich, why don't they make it with just vegetables and let people add the cheese if they want to.
Why am I more bothered by asking people to take food off than I am by asking to add something on?
The sandwich, by the way, was a humungous, and tightly rolled salad wrap with a vinaigrette dressing. I barely finished half of it and took the rest home for dinner.
Usually, it all works out, but sometimes I can't help but think that my choice of diet forces me to be more of a center of attention than I would like.
I had lunch at a not-so-local restaurant on Wednesday and realized that all of the vegetarian sandwiches were topped by cheese. Not a big deal, I just asked for the sandwich I wanted to be made without it. But still ... it bothered me. I guess that there's a chunk of OCD brain matter that gets irritated by niggly things like, if it's a vegetarian sandwich, why don't they make it with just vegetables and let people add the cheese if they want to.
Why am I more bothered by asking people to take food off than I am by asking to add something on?
The sandwich, by the way, was a humungous, and tightly rolled salad wrap with a vinaigrette dressing. I barely finished half of it and took the rest home for dinner.
Day 72/240: Hummus on pita
I still had some nice garlicky hummus left over from Saturday, so I sliced a pita in half, stuffed both sides with the yummy stuff, added some shredded carrots, romaine lettuce, and some chopped olives. Then I topped one pocket with green zkhuk and the other with red in honor of the season. A cup of ginger tea was a fine accompaniment.
Day 71/240: Vegetable rolls again
I meant to take pictures ... I really did. Perhaps it's better that I get some more practice before I do.
I happen to know that I'm getting a tripod as a present, so that will help. The problem is that working with the rice paper is wet work, and I don't want to get the camera all crusty. Perhaps at some point I'll get myself a DSLR that will let me set it for 10 second intervals.
Well enough about that.
This time I added tofu to the spring rolls. I pressed it under a weight to force most of the water out, then sliced it into long skinny pieces and marinated it in teriyaki sauce overnight before baking it until it developed a crispy skin. I rolled it into the spring rolls with some veggies and made a dipping sauce with almond butter, teriyaki sauce, and grated ginger.
I happen to know that I'm getting a tripod as a present, so that will help. The problem is that working with the rice paper is wet work, and I don't want to get the camera all crusty. Perhaps at some point I'll get myself a DSLR that will let me set it for 10 second intervals.
Well enough about that.
This time I added tofu to the spring rolls. I pressed it under a weight to force most of the water out, then sliced it into long skinny pieces and marinated it in teriyaki sauce overnight before baking it until it developed a crispy skin. I rolled it into the spring rolls with some veggies and made a dipping sauce with almond butter, teriyaki sauce, and grated ginger.
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