Ham the Chimp's Spaceflight Three Dishes

On January 31, 1961, a chimpanzee named Ham (actually HAM, for Holloman Aerospace Medical Center) became the first higher primate to leave the Earth's atmosphere. I was going to relay some facts from Wikipedia, but it's just all sad. Poor chimpanzees probably often wonder who the hell these big hairless devils are and why they punish you until you perform in rote, mechanical ways. And then why they continue to punish you in increasingly bizarre ways until you die. NASA no longer "employs" chimpanzees, if that's any consolation.

Notice: You shouldn't use more than three or four cloves of garlic for 30 oz. of chick peas when making hummus. I used double that amount here out of spite for my taste buds and my taste buds' children.

serves: 2

prep. time: no more than 25 min.

INGREDIENTS

some rapini, thick parts of the stems discarded

1 clove garlic, minced

3/4 c. red lentils

2 c. water

1 large tomato, sliced

tumeric

cumin

coriander

salt

1 can chick peas

lots o' olive oil

3 cloves garlic

spoonful of tahini

salt

paprika

juice of at least 1/4 lemon

DIRECTIONS

1. Put everything for the lentil soup in a small pot. Simmer or gently boil for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Put everything for the hummus in a food processor and process until smooth.

3. Saute the rapini with garlic for about five minutes.

Nick and Rocco Memorial Fettuccine

I am interrupting normal programming to make you cry. Today, Vegansaurus posted an incredibly sad story about Nick Santino, who committed suicide after being pressured to put down his rescued pit bull, Rocco. I am crying.

serves: 1 (or 2, if you don't have an inexplicably, temporarily massive appetite)

prep. time: approx. 20 min.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 lb. tomato basil fettuccine

1 Field Roast sausage, chopped (chipotle variety, as it turns out my dad bought for my stay, very thoughtfully and tastefully but to the disadvantage of this dish)

1/2 bundle of rapini (aka broccoli rabe), leaves only

1 small yellow onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, sliced

handful pine nuts

2 sprigs fresh dill, chopped

olive oil

salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Boil the pasta for 3 minutes, nevertheless overcooking it.

2. Saute onion in a large pan over medium-high heat. Once translucent, add sausage and dill.

3. After five minutes or so, add pine nuts, garlic, and rapini. Lower heat and cover, until rapini is wilted.

I'm not subtle enough to make good pasta dishes.

German-American Day Decidedly Un-Germanic Food

On October 6, 1683 "German immigrant families [founded] Germantown in the colony of Pennsylvania, marking the first major immigration of German people to America." Presumably because of that fact—never mind, Wikipedia's page for German-American Day states that 13 German families landed on the 6th and only subsequently founded Germantown. In any case, some Germans came this way and here I am. Reagan is responsible for reinstating the holiday on the 300th anniversary of its occasion. It needed to be reinstated because of WWI and subsequent feelings.

Yesterday I marched with Occupy Wall Street. Great to have a popular movement in the streets (or on the sidewalk, when the cops show up), but if we want to show 'em we won't tolerate life in a police state / financial state we're going to have to do more than march, forreal.

A.'s out of town until tomorrow night, so dinner was lonely. I made too much food, but it was good. The rice is yellow due to vegetable broth.

serves: 2-3

prep. time: 45 min.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. short-grain brown rice

1/3 c. French lentils

1/3 c. yellow split peas

1/3 c. green split peas

1 Yukon gold potato, cubed

1 handful baby bella mushrooms, sliced

2 handfuls snap peas, halved (after cutting the ends and unzipping the spine)

1/2 bunch rapini, stems chopped

green onion, cut with scissors if you've got some

sesame oil

Bragg's liquid aminos

tamari soy sauce

balsamic glaze
sriracha

DIRECTIONS:

1. Simmer the rice in equal parts water and vegetable oil.

2. Simmer the potato, lentils, and split peas in water.

3. Prepare the other veggies and steam them.

4. To make dressing, whisk 4 parts sesame oil with 1 part each of the other ingredients.

A twitter-fiction story I wrote in February just got published on Nanoism. Read it here.