Lentil Soup Can Fix the World

Okay, so maybe I'm being a little melodramatic - but truly a good lentil soup does have restorative powers, and this recipe, by nutritionist Mary Louise Zernicke, is a truly good lentil soup.

You can read more about Mary Louise, her tips for senior nutrition and the good work Meals on Wheels does on my Blog Appetit post here.

Below is her recipe for lentil soup.  Enjoy.

Mary Louise Zernicke’s Lentil Soup
Serves 4-6

1 cup dried, brown lentils
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 cups diced onion
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1 cup (about 2 stalks) chopped celery, including leaves
1 cup sliced carrots
4 cups vegetable broth or stock
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes with liquid
1 bay leaf
2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste

Put lentils in a bowl, cover with water and allow to sit overnight. Over medium heat, heat oil in a large soup pot and cook onions. Add garlic and celery. Once celery begins to soften, add carrots, vegetable broth, tomatoes with liquid and bay leaf. Drain lentils. Add lentils to soup. Simmer covered, stirring occasionally, for 30-40 minutes until vegetables are cooked through. Remove bay leaf. Stir in vinegar and add salt and pepper as desired.
------------------------------
A version of this article appeared in the j. weekly.

Much Depends on the Sauce

My husband, an eat-alongside vegan (I'll define that later), claims that much of the tastiness of my vegan cooking depends on the sauce.  He claims that if every vegan and wanna be vegan had five or so sauces in their repertoire they would eat very well.

Tonight I made a cauliflower, greens, pepper and tomato gratin with a soy white sauce (with daiya mozzarella shreds) topped with bread crumbs, paprika, nutritional yeast and smoky "bacon" tempeh.  Gary is not much into "goopy" sauces (I prefer to think of them as gooey), but he really liked the dish (as did I) - I served it with whole wheat pasta penne tossed in an olive oil, garlic and fresh pea sauce. 

I was very happy with all the combinations and I'm adding these sauce concepts to my list of "vegan sauces."

I'm sorry I made this on the fly and didn't write down what I did, but here are the basics:

Spicy Cauliflower Gratin

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Steam a head of cauliflower florets until just tender. Saute 1 chopped onion, 4 minced garlic cloves until golden, add in 1 chopped jalapeno and 1 red pepper.  Season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and cumin to taste.  Saute until peppers are softened.  Add in a couple of handfuls of chopped greens (I used a mix of mustard, turnip and collard), sauteed for a few minutes, add a cup of water and stir/steam until greens have softened, add in drained cauliflower, 2 tomatoes cut in 8ths each, Saute until cauliflower and other veggies are cooked through. 

Grease casserole dish. make white sauce following traditional recipe but substituting vegan margarine for butter and unflavored soy milk for milk.  When thickened, add about 1/2 cup non-dairy mozzarella cheese shreds.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Put veggies in dish.  Pour sauce evenly over. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, nutritional yeast and paprika. (Optional, cook smoky tempeh as per package instructions, chop and sprinkle over sauce.) Bake about 20-30 minutes until slightly browned and sauce is bubbly.

Pasta with Garlic and Green Peas

Heat olive oil in deep pot, saute sliced garlic until golden, add cooked pasta, toss.  Add lightly steamed peas, toss and serve.
-----------------------------
An eat-alongside vegan is a spouse, friend, partner or other who is not him or herself a vegan but who enjoys vegan food and is supportive of your vegan efforts.

Bill of Fare - Some Thoughts on Eating Vegan and the Virtue of Plain Baked Potatoes



Assume that's vegan spread on this hot potato


There is something so creative to me, at least at this stage, about cooking without animal products.

I wouldn't exactly say I've lost my taste for non-vegan foods, but I'd also say that the flavors of what I do eat seem so much stronger and cleaner. 
The food I've been cooking (as opposed to making do with when I eat out) has been astounding.  Take today for instance -- portobello mushroom onion soup (made with my good homemade stock) and cranberry bean and dried tomato bean slather on crusty whole wheat bread for lunch (with a small side of leftover kale and bean saute) and sauteed potatoes, onion, garlic, carrots, turnip greens and tomatoes with smoky tempe with lots of spice for dinner.

The flip side is having to almost always find some way to accommodate my veganism when we go out.  Asian and Indian restaurants are the easiest, everything else can be tough.  Do I really want a sorry-looking iceberg lettuce salad and a plain baked potato for dinner?  No.  Have I eaten that, yes. Partly because going out to eat is usually now not about the food but about the convenience (lots of bean and rice burritos have been consumed) or about being with friends or family (lots of baked potatoes and side orders of veggies). 

Since I've always been so food-focused I kind of relish this switch in perspectives and think it is a good thing. Part of my acceptance comes from knowing what I am doing is good for me, part comes from the "game" I'm playing with myself to do it and part comes from feeling like what I reach my weight loss goal I will add in the occasional animal product so nothing will be off limit forever (disclaimer - I still take tastes of dishes with animal products as part of my freelance food writing efforts, although I find that I am creating fewer and fewer recipes that require that compromise).

The truth is I no longer enjoy (nor does my body) eating more than a few spoonfuls of anything non-vegan.  I am enjoying how I feel with being a vegan.

-------------------------------------
Photo credit: WP Clipart