Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Stew

During this time of year, there isn't much better than a nice pot of stew. I've made a couple new ones in the last week, and I thought I'd share. The first one is from a recipe I saw in the December '08 issue of Cooking Light. It's an Ethiopian lentil and edamame stew. It's really easy to make, and definitely has a flavor that would strike most people as totally different than anything they've ever tasted. It has a decent amount of lemon juice in it, which gives it a nice tang. Plus, the combination of cumin, cinnamon, cloves and fresh mint give it a really great flavor. To go with it, I made the Injera bread (using teff flour) from the same issue. It was also very different. Very much like a savory pancake. Probably more similar to a buckwheat cake which have that tad of sourness. (I subbed the Better Than Sour Cream for the yogurt.) It is definitley a meal I'll make again.

I also made a soup from a recipe on the blog of our local natural foods co-op. It's a vegetable soup with lentils, chickpeas and an interesting grain called kamut. The kamut is sort of like a cross between brown rice and wheatberries. It's really chewy and hearty. This soup was perfect for the bone chilling cold we were experiencing late last week. It would also be a good, healthy soup to make if you're suffering a cold or the flu. It's broth-y enough to be very soothing to your throat, and hearty enough to provide some healthy nutrition.

Not really a stew, but it's awfully close. A long, long time ago I made this recipe from Carrie's blog. It's a Thai curry with udon dish. I made it less broth-y this time so it would be easier to eat. These noodles are quite spicy, and if you need your sinuses cleared, this will take care of it!

I also made some really, really good scones this week. I didn't take a photo, though. They're the Ginger-Scented Date and Cashew Scones from Vegan Planet. We got the Vegan Planet cookbook as a Christmas gift. So far, so good! It's a huge cookbook too, and I look forward to making some new recipes from it.

4 comments:

carrie said...

How are you doing DM? How's the Vegan Planet cooking going? I love that book!! I've been missing your posts....both your food and your music. Did you see Radiohead on the Grammy's? I didn't care for the addition of the marching band too much. What have you been listening to lately?

Susan Chipley said...

Hey, Carrie! Wow. I actually am working part-time as a preschool teacher right now. It's about 20 hours a week, and it's amazing how much time that cuts out. I don't have time to cook like I was before, so it's been lots of beans and rice type things. LOL I actually made the pasta puttanesca from Vegan Planet this week. It was super-easy and really, really good. I barely have time to sit down with the computer now. I usually just check my email a couple times a day and that's about it.

We didn't watch the Grammys this year. I've never quite gotten over Radiohead being nominated for album of the year 3 times with no win. Not even for OK Computer! I'm really glad Coldplay won, though. Maybe that's a little bit of justice. I'm going to see Coldplay in Pittsburgh on May 30th!!!!

I've recently been listening to the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack, as well as the new Neko Case album and MGMT. All really good stuff. I hope all is well with you. I'll stop by your blog sometime in the near future!

carrie said...

Hey DM - I hear ya, I've been too busy to keep up with my blog lately too, not to mention, after almost 18 months of blogging, we're eating a lot of repeats!!

I'm going to see Coldplay again in June in Indianapolis....You are going to have a great time, Chris is such a hoot (and quite sexy to boot)!!

I've heard Neko Case on public radio, but I've not heard to album yet, that might have to be my next iTunes purchase.

Anonymous said...

Hey mama,

Just wanted to let you know that I'm fumbling inarticulately at a new address.

Hi to Sleek and the kidlets.