Gogol's Dead Soul Dinner

Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls is great. Dead Nikolai Gogol is neither great nor not-great. What's really not-great is how he died. Check out what Wikipedia says:

His health was undermined by exaggerated ascetic practices and he fell into a state of deep depression. On the night of 24 February 1852 [according to the Julian calendar; this post is in accordance with the New Style dates of the Gregorian], he burned some of his manuscripts, which contained most of the second part of Dead Souls. He explained this as a mistake, a practical joke played on him by the Devil. Soon thereafter he took to bed, refused all food, and died in great pain nine days later.

[...] His body was discovered lying face down; which gave rise to the story that Gogol had been buried alive.

Would Gogol have refused all food if they'd served him red quinoa with curried stew? ... Just kidding :(

serves: 3-4

prep. time: approx. 30 min.

INGREDIENTS

2/3 c.red quinoa

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

some kale, chopped

some red cabbage, sliced

4 c.water

3/4 c.

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

curry powder

miso

nutritional yeast

1. Cook red quinoa according to package directions.

2. Saute carrot, kale, and red cabbage (weird combo, huh?) in coconut oil in a pot.

3. Bring water to a boil with red lentils and sweet potato, then reduce to a simmer. Season with curry powder if you're lazy like me. Stir in some miso.

4. Mix nutritional yeast into the quinoa. Throw everything together in a bowl.

Posthumous Promotion Curried Lentils

On January 17, 2001, President Bill Clinton posthumously promoted Meriwether Lewis from Lieutenant to Captain. I don't know why that was necessary. Don't worry, he also posthumously promoted William Clark, who was thereby spared rolling over in his grave. Seriously, though, posthumous military promotions? Waste of time.

Today is a sad day. Someday I will have fewer of those, maybe.

servers: 3-4

prep. time: approx. 30 min.

INGREDIENTS

1 c. red lentils

1 yellow onion, sliced

1 sweet potato, chopped

6 kale leaves, torn

2 plum tomatoes, chopped

~3 c. water

curry powder

Bragg's liquid aminos

nutritional yeast

DIRECTIONS

1. Saute the onion in a pot in coconut oil over medium-high heat. After it goes translucent, toss everything in and keep it at a low boil or aggressive simmer until the red lentils start to break down.

2. Stir vigorously. I ate it by itself because I forgot to put on some orzo and didn't want to wait for rice.

Operation Pull-Out Tacos

 

Three days ago, the US military officially fully withdrew from Iraq. The occupation has ended after nine years. The whole thing has been almost too stupid, too nightmarish to believe, and most Americans withdrew their emotional forces a long time ago. And I don't think we learned anything. I don't even have the sense we could, as a people, prevent our government from a repeat offense, if you'll allow me that understatement. I propose a national New Year's resolution: renounce cynical reason.

makes: approx. 10 tacos

prep. time: approx. 30 min.

INGREDIENTS:

tortillas

1 lb. firm tofu

few collard leaves, torn into pieces

1 poblano pepper, diced

1 sweet potato, skinned and cubed

2 avocados

juice of 1/2 lemon

cumin

coriander

salt

chili powder

DIRECTIONS:

1. Boil water for the potato. Cook until soft, drain.

2. Saute the tofu over medium-high heat. After it starts to stick, add the poblano pepper and shuffle with a spatula every couple of minutes. Season. When the tofu begins to brown, add the collards and cook until sort of wilted.

3. Fry tortillas in a pan over high heat.

4. Mash two avocados with lemon juice and salt.

5. Serve with salsa!

"From hell" / Global Protest Reddish Stuff Over Rice

[UPDATE 10/22/11: I totally screwed up! The photo below, which I removed from the top of this page, is actually of a meal I cooked when A. was still in town. A brilliant innovation, too: pumpkin coconut curry. Standard curry recipe, but along with a can of coconut milk you throw in most of a can of pureed pumpkin. Thickens it up beautifully and isn't overpowering. Below is a picture of the meal described below.]

 

I cooked this meal on October 15, the day a bunch of protests occurred worldwide, in part inspired by the Occupy movement in NYC. It feels bogus to write anything about Occupy that isn't thorough and critical, so I'll just say: in solidarity, until the end of exploitation and forever. October 15 also happens to be the day when a letter purportedly written by Jack the Ripper was postmarked in 1888. The body of the letter (mangled, as you'll see) reads, "I send you half the Kidne I took from one women prasarved it for you tother piece I fried and ate it was very nise. I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer." There's a crude analogy somewhere in there between the two events.

Pat the cat enjoyed a taste of some sweet potato. Maybe because of the Bragg's liquid aminos in the sauce? Don't know if that treat was causally related to the big pile of vomit I cleaned up this morning.

servings: 3-4

prep. time: 50 min.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. long grain brown rice

1/2 c. red lentils

1/2 c. yellow split peas

1 sweet potato, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

1/2 c.almond milk

1/3 c. olive oil

several squirts of Bragg's liquid aminos

several squirts of tamari soy sauce

garlic powder

cumin

Sriracha

DIRECTIONS:

1. Simmer rice for 45 min.

2. In a pot, simmer lentils, split peas, sweet potato, and carrot for 30 min.

3. In a saucepan, whisk everything else together. Bring a boil, then reduce heat and stir.

4. Pour the sauce into the pot and toss. Serve over rice.

I reviewed a bad film called Fireflies in the Garden. Some of the word aren't mine. Read it here!

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.

Douglas Hofstadter Beet Soup

Douglas Hofstadter turned 66 today! Gödel, Escher, Bach is a great book, but so is the much more concise, political, freely accessible "A Person Paper on Purity in Language." Check it out.

There's maybe a little too much going on in this soup, but at least it's hearty and flavorful. And there's lots of it. My first time cooking with beets. Beets are delicious. For the broth I used 3 c. water I'd frozen after cooking black beans, plus 2 c. water from making kidney beans on Saturday.

makes approx. 5-8 servings (I really have no idea)

INGREDIENTS:
1 c. green lentils
2/3 c. quinoa
5 small sweet potatoes, cubed
1 beet, skinned and cubed
1 medium white onion, diced
~1/2 c. tofu, crumbled
1/4 c. cilantro
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp. chili powder
5 c. vegetable broth
3 c. water

DIRECTIONS:
1. Fill a large stock pot with broth and lentils. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Add the sweet potatoes and the beet.
2. After 25 min., toss in the onion, tofu, cilantro, and spices. Start simmering the quinoa in a separate pot.
3. After another 20 min., turn off the heat. Stir in the quinoa and the water, which will instantly bring down the temperature to a comfortable hotness. Serve immediately!

I can't figure out how to embed audio, so if you want to listen to this funny little piece I recorded March 10, 2006 on a warped half-size acoustic guitar and contact mic, you'll have to download it here.

Macaroni and Cheeze and Pea Greens with Baked Sweet Potatoes and Acorn Squash

I know, my spelling of "cheeze" is horrible and offensive, but I feel that it needs an idiosyncratic spelling to make it obvious that no dairy is involved, even though this is a vegan space. I'll use "mylk" if I'm not qualifying "milk," too, but if I'm saying "almond milk" or "cashew milk" then I'll go ahead and use the standard spelling. But "nondairy cheese" is a mouthful, so "cheeze" it is.

I got a big box of pea greens from the farmers market last weekend. The box makes all kinds of promising claims about the wonderful micronutrients in pea greens. Whatever. The mac and cheeze turned out pretty much as I'd hoped, but the sweet potatoes and squash was a bit lacking. If it weren't for the sweetness of the potatoes I might even call it a failure. It's nice to have something simple to go with the tangy cheeze dish, but maybe I could have sprinkled something other than salt and pepper into the oil. ANYWAY... makes approx. 3 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 lb. macaroni
2 sweet potatoes, cubed
1/2 acorn squash, cubed
box of pea greens (2 c.? 3 c.?)
1 c. yeast flakes
1/2 c. vegetable broth
1/2 c. water
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 spoonful mustard
2 spoonfuls tahini
4 tsp. capers
1/4 tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Cube the sweet potatoes and acorn squash half. If you haven't dealt with hard squash before, you'll probably need more time and patience than you anticipate to cut off the rind. The skin? I bet you could find a magical time-efficient method on the internet, though.
3. Coat the bottom of an oven-safe pan with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then toss the potato and squash cubes until coated. Stick in the oven for 45-40 minutes. If you remember, it's a good idea to check up on it once or twice and toss.
4. Heat oil in a small pan on low-medium heat. Mince the garlic cloves and cook for a minute or so. Add the broth and 2/3 of the pea greens. Let the greens cook down a little bit, then add the yeast flakes and water. Crank the heat to a boil, then lower to a simmer.
5. After the cheeze starts to thicken, go ahead and stir in the seasonings, followed by the mustard and tahini, the capers, and finally the remaining pea greens. I spaced those additions a few minutes apart. You can turn the heat real low and add some more water if the cheeze gets too thick.
6. Bring water to a boil. I heeded the instructions on my package of macaroni, which was a mistake. Never listen to the pasta company! It called for 2.5 quarts of water for 1/2 lb. pasta, which took forever to boil and was totally unnecessary and a waste of water. I'd use like 1 q. (= 4 c.) water next time. I don't make pasta a whole lot.
7. Once the macaroni is al dente and drained, pour the cheeze sauce into the pot and incorporate.

Instant comfort! Okay, not instant, but also not too much work.