Free Mumia Chili

On December 9, 1981, Philadelphia cop Daniel Faulkner was murdered. Charged and convicted for the crime was Mumia Abu-Jamal, an activist and President of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. Dude's innocent, that's my two cents and the consensus among compassionate thinking people worldwide, as far as I can tell. Mumia has written and spoken out throughout the last three decades, and he's one of the most eloquent people I haven't met. I read his book Death Blossoms—recommend it. Anyway, the death penalty was reduced to life without parole three days ago. Cause for celebration; equally cause for reflection and resistance.

Yesterday was also my sister's birthday. Happy one to her, exam notwithstanding.

Made chili at friend A.'s house. Vegan version was good if I do say so myself. A.'s tradition: chili over noodles. It's good, try it!

serves: 2-3

prep. time: approx. 60 min.

INGREDIENTS:

1 big can whole plum tomatoes

1/4 or so of a big can tomato puree

1 can black beans

1 can red kidney beans

1 small onion, diced

several shakes from a package of frozen spinach

noodles

salt

chili powder

cumin

other kind of chili powder

pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Saute the onion in a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat. After onion begins to brown, add beans.

2. Pour in tomato stuffs, season. Reduce heat to medium, stir periodically. Let reduce for many minutes, until desired viscosity.

Recent writing: article for HuffPo on Kepler-22b.

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.