Household Blog

Springtime, the farmer’s markets have reopened, glory be to the PTB! Another winter past, another year springing anew, and nothing shakes off the last residual frosty shivers like a curry. In celebration, I got more produce from the farmer’s market than one girl could possibly stand a chance of eating on her own. But I’m going to do it. With a little help from my friends of course. And here was last night’s creation.

Spring Lentil Curry

• 1 1/2 c. dry lentils
• 1 to 2-inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 whole Arbol pepper, or similar dry medium-hot pepper
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 3 to 4 spring onions, white parts and greens chopped and separated
• 1/3 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• several handfuls fresh spinach, chopped (3 cups maybe? ish?)
• 1 can organic coconut milk
• 2 T. curry powder
• sea salt to taste

I use sprouted lentils, and if doing this, be sure to start them sprouting the day before. Regardless, cook your lentils, sprouted or otherwise, in chicken or vegetable broth. Set aside, reserving a little bit of the liquid.

Heat a broad, deep skillet over medium heat. Add butter, ghee, or coconut oil for sauteing, and then add ginger and bay leaves. Cook until aromatic, about a minute. Add carrot and the white parts of the chopped onion and sprinkle with a smattering of salt, stirring until the carrot is slightly tender.

Add lentils, coconut milk, the hot pepper, and curry powder. Mix well and adjust curry to taste, adding more salt if necessary. Allow to cook and thicken a bit, uncovered, about twenty minutes. Add spinach, cilantro, and the reserved green onion. Cook another five minutes and adjust salt and curry to your taste.

Serve over rice. Rub your belly with joy and gratitude for spring.

It’s fall, full-fledged and fiery on the trees, and as all the leaves turn golden, orange, and crimson, I’ve got greens on the brain.

When we picture our fall cornucopia, we often think of pumpkins, sturdy winter squash, onions, garlic, potatoes, appples, and looming over all of these is the ominous T-Day turkey. But most of all, I am thrilled by the bevy of greens – swiss chard, spinach, watercress, kale, collards – the southern girl in me is salivating at the thought. The theatre geek in me can’t help but thinking of Bernadette Peters’ vegetable rap from Sondheim’s Into the Woods. Oh Bernadette, how I love you.

I’ve begun studying herbalism this year, and more and more I return to the thought that we aren’t meant to receive our nourishment from pills and vitamins, but from whole foods. As Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine.” And you can’t beat dark, leafy greens for a healthful meal. I gather them up by the basketful and fling them with abandon into soups, stews, salads, and sautes. The morning after could very well find the remnants in a quiche or omelette. I just can’t get enough.

Here are a couple of my favorite ways of preparing greens, very simple, oh so good:

Greens—Mediterranean Style

1 bunch greens, any kind, clean and dry
1/2 c. raisins (adjust according to taste)
olive oil
champagne vinegar (or your favorite vinager)
salt & pepper to taste

Bring a teakettle of water to a boil on the stove. Place raisins in a heat-safe bowl and pour boiling water over them till they are covered. Set aside.

Heat a glug of olive oil in a skillet or crock over medium heat. Add the greens, toss briskly, sprinkle on a bit of seasalt, and cover. Allow to steam just until softened but still brilliant green – do not overcook. Remove from heat and stir in a tablespoon or two of vinager, salt and pepper to taste. Drain the raisins well and toss these with the greens. Serve.

Greens—Asian Style

1 bunch greens, any kind, clean and dry
olive oil
1 T. fresh minced ginger
1 – 2 T. tamari (soy sauce)
1 T. honey

Whisk together ginger, tamari, and honey, adjusting amount to your particular tastes. Set aside.

Heat a glug of olive oil in a skillet or crock over medium heat. Add the greens, toss briskly, sprinkle on a bit of seasalt, and cover. Allow to steam just until softened but still brilliant green – do not overcook. Remove from heat and toss with the tamari dressing. Serve.

What are your favorite ways to prepare greens?

I love this time of year. Just got whomped last weekend with an unexpected twelve inches of snow, and today, five days later, it’s set to be 80 degrees out. If you don’t like the weather in Richmond, wait five minutes.

Spring Fever, for me, means cleaning house, acting like a lunatic, getting outside as much as possible, gardening, and cleaning out the pantry while relishing the first fresh spring produce. La.

Here are a couple of my faves from this past week.

Pantry Pilaf

I love rice, not the bland white stuff, but the chewy, nutty blends of black, brown, and red rices, take a little longer to cook but the flavor is lovely. So you can cook this with any kind you like, but you know how I feel.

1 c. rice, uncooked
1/2 t. sea salt
1/2 onion, chopped (I used yellow, but I think I’ll try red next time)
1/3 c. dry sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 T. oregano (preferably fresh)
olive oil
juice of one lemon
pepper

Place your chopped sundried tomatoes (I prefer to use the dried ones, not the ones packed in oil) in a small bowl or ramekin. Add the lemon juice, pepper, oregano, and just enough oil to give it a  nice gooey mix. Stir well and set aside to soak – do this first – the longer it soaks the better. In skillet, heat a bit of oil and saute the onion just until tender. Set aside.  Cook rice with a half teaspoon of salt and two bay leaves and the requisite amount of water. One rice is fully cooked, toss in the sundried tomatoes and onion. Top with sunflower seeds if desired, and serve.

Braised Greens & Garlicky Beans

1/2 c. dried white beans (I used Rancho Gordo‘s Mayacoba – their beans are marvelous)
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch fresh spinach, washed and de-stemmed
lemon pepper
salt

Soak the beans in a liberal amount of water for 4-6 hours. Closer to dinner time, cook beans until tender (this takes a while – I use this as good kitchen meditation time – prep other ingredients, read a book, listen to music, drink some wine, you know – warm things up). Once beans are fully tender, drain them and set aside. Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium. Add garlic, saute about a minute, then add the beans. Mix well (try not to smoosh the beans as much as possible) and continue to saute another couple minutes. Add spinach leaves (do not mix in yet) and season with salt, lemon pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Cover the skillet and allow the spinach to wilt. Just before the spinach is fully wilted, remove the lid and toss to mix the greens and beans together. Remove from heat – do not overcook – that beautiful spinach green with the white beans, like the last winter snow melting away. You know, if winter snow was bean shaped and tasted like garlic *grin*. Enjoy!