ghee or oil, 1 tablespoon 
garlic, 1-2 tablespoons minced 
onion, 1 medium, chopped 
celery, ½ cup diced
carrot, ½ cup diced  
garam masala, 1 teaspoon 
sweet turmeric masala, 1 teaspoon 
tikka masala, 1 teaspoon
tamarind paste, ¼ teaspoon, mixed into warm water (opt.)
ginger, 1 ½ inches, grated
coconut milk, 8-12 ounces
red lentils, 2 cups
chicken or vegetable stock, or water, 1 quart
spinach, 10-16 ounces
salt to taste

Heat the oil to a shimmer. Sauté the onion on medium heat for 3 minutes. Lower the heat to medium low, add the garlic, and sauté for another minute, then add the carrot, ginger, and celery and cook 3-5 minutes. Add the spices and stir to mix thoroughly for 30 seconds. Add lentils and broth and simmer 20-25 minutes, until lentils are tender. Add more water or broth as needed. Add spinach and cook until tender. Add the coconut milk and bring the soup back up to a lower simmer. Taste, correct salt, and serve.

Like many of you, I over-indulged over the holidays. Not terribly, just a little more sugar, a little more meat, and several fewer vegetables than I like to. Yesterday, I shopped for the good stuff: spinach, peppers, lettuce, oranges, bananas, grapefruit, cabbage, eggplant, buttermilk, yogurt, and some lean beef so I can make my own ground beef. And all I wanted for dinner was a vegetarian, vegetable laden meal, satisfying, but not heavy. So I put some rice on to cook and made this.

a small thub-sized piece of ginger, minced or grated
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 fresh hot chili, minced, or one to two dried hot chilis
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 cup lentils (I used 1/2 cup red lentils and 1/2 cup split yellow peas)
water (or broth)
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon butter
8 ounces spinach
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup dried, unsweetened coconut (optional)

Heat the oil to a shimmer. Add the onion and cook until it softens and turns golden brown. Add the garlic, ginger, and chili. Stir, cooking, 2 minutes. Add the turmeric, coriander, and cumin, mix, and cook another minute. Add the lentils and two cups of water. Stir, bring to a simmer, lower heat, and cover. Check every 15 minutes, stirring and adding water as needed. When the lentils are tender add the spinach and coconut. Cook until the spinach is wilted and tender. Add 1 teaspoon salt, taste, and add more salt as needed. Mix in butter and serve over steamed rice.

Serves 4 as a main course.

It's fall here in the Pacific Northwest. All of a sudden, after the hottest summer ever recorded here. The grey and the rain are a welcome blessing. And with that weather comes the desire for soups, puddings, and a move away from the cold, crisp foods of summer. Kheer is perfect for this time.

Kheer - serves 4
1/4 cup arborio or jasmine rice, soaked and rinsed
16 ounces of coconut milk
2-4 tablespoons of sugar (I used 2 1/2)
1+ cup water
a pinch salt
3/4 teaspoon cardamom seeds, ground
1/4 teaspoon turmeric (optional)
2 tablespoon roughly chopped almonds or pistachios (I omitted these this time)

Add the rice, coconut milk, water, and salt to a large-ish saucepan. Cook until rice is still chalky in the middle. Add the sugar and spices. Cover and turn down the heat to low. Check every 5-10 minutes, stirring. If it becomes thick enough for you and the rice isn't cooked through, add a half cup more water.

Serve topped with the chopped nuts, if using, and/or chopped peaches or berries.

I’ve made tons of squash soup lately, but I can’t resist buying squash this time of year. So I bought a gorgeous Cinderella squash, orange and squat and lovely. And I cut it in half, put it in a pan with an inch of water (cut side down) and roasted it til soft. Took it out, drained the water, turned the halves over and let them cool. Then I scooped out the seeds and cut off the skin and put the squash in a container in the fridge. What next? Pie, that’s what. No, really. You'll love it. And it's far better for you than most of the pumpkin pie recipes floating around out there. Also lighter.

Either make a crust or buy your favorite pre-made crust. Pre-bake it or you’ll end up with a soggy mess. Consider a nut crust, if you're making one; the nuts give a textural contrast to the filling.  

(Click post title for entire recipe.)

1 lb chinese eggplant tossed with olive or avocado oil to coat
1 1/2 tablespoon ghee or oil
2 small or 1 large onion, diced
3 cracked black cardamom pods, cracked (optional)
1 small hot chile, minced, if fresh, or crumbled, if dried
3 green cardamom pods, cracked and seeds removed, or a generous 1/4 teaspoon decorticated cardamom
1 tablespoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

(Click title for the rest of the recipe)

Kale Salad with Avocado and Apple
1 bunch kale (I prefer Lacinato or Dino kale)
1 avocado
1 small apple (or ½ a large one), cut into matchsticks
juice of ½ lemon
1 tablespoons light vinegar (I like champagne vinegar)
salt and pepper to taste

Remove the center stems from the kale leaves (if the leaves are larger than 8”). Wash them and dry them in a salad spinner.  Slice the leaves crosswise into ¼ - ½ inch strips.  Put them into a large-ish salad bowl.  Here’s where you get to get messy.  Cut the avocado into 1” chunks and put them in the bowl with the kale.  Now make sure that when you washed your hands before you started this, you washed the backs of your hands and under your nails.  If you didn’t, go do it now. 

With your fingertips, mash the avocado into the leaves of kale.  You’re done when each leaf has been coated and there are few distinct bits of avocado left.  The rubbing of the leaves helps to tenderize them and makes them, to me at least, far more palatable.

Now add the apple, half of the lemon juice and a teaspoon of the vinegar.  Toss. Add ¼ teaspoon pepper and ½ teaspoon salt.  Toss & taste.  Add more pepper and acid (lemon juice and vinegar) as needed.