John Dewey Curry Chili

John Dewey died June 1, 1952. Haven't read much of his work, but now that I've looked around for things to post, at some point I'd like to read Art as Experience. There's a nice summary of it over at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

I made this dinner for me and my parents last night. And this post ends a months-long hiatus throughout which I'm sure you were forlorn at the loss of new historically and gastronomically educational postings. I'm going to post tonight dinner, too, so I'll keep this one snappy.

makes approx. 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 c. short grain brown rice (you'll need more than this, probably)

1/2 c. red lentils

1 15-oz. can red kidney beans

1 small eggplant, peeled and cubed

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 large red onion, diced

1 16-oz. can diced tomatoes

1 c. cashews

3 c. water

3 cloves garlic

1 jalapeño, diced

2 spoonfuls chili paste with garlic

curry powder

juice of 1/2 lemon

DIRECTIONS

1. Soak cashews in 1 c. water overnight.

2. Simmer rice 45 min.

3. In a large pot, sauté onion in oil for a few minutes over medium-high heat. Add eggplant and sweet potato.

4. In a blender, pureé cashews with water, garlic, and lemon juice.

5. Add 2 c. water, diced tomatoes, chili paste, and curry powder to pot. Cover and simmer for 15 min.

6. Add cashew pureé, jalapeño, and red lentils. After 10 min., add kidney beans. After another 5 min., cut heat.

If you run out of rice it might be nice to have this with some pita bread and an arugula/spinach mix.