Red Lentil Soup

We just made this one up, but it’s red lentils and smoked paprika and other soup goodies. Cold weather is awesome!

At Home with Ethiopian Food

We finally made some of the dishes from Kittee’s Papa Tofu Loves Ethiopian Food! Buy this zine. Don’t be stupid. Unfortunately, we never got off our asses to make the injera fakeouts, so we had to serve this over rice. IT WAS STILL AWESOME.

Even though we waited until the last minute to start cooking, we made the berbere paste (delectable spices) and the niter kibbeh (spiced “butter”) which are the most important parts of the dishes. Then we made the greens and the red lentils. With two of us prepping and cooking, it took under 90 minutes to prepare anything. And now we have leftover berbere ready for the next round. OH YEAH.

Full disclosure, the roasted turnips and potatoes were cooked with Bajan seasoning from Caribbean Vegan, but a little fusion meal never hurt anyone.

Spiced red lentils with cabbage and spinach AND potato-cado salad

For the cabbage and spinach: Heat Earth Balance in a dutch oven and add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, allow the seeds to pop. Then add 1 diced onion with 2 garlic cloves and saute 1-2 minutes. Add ginger, cumin, and turmeric. Add 2 cups cabbage and 2 cups spinach. Cover and cook on medium-low for 1 hour until soft. Do not add water.

For the lentils: Saute 1 diced onion with 3-4 garlic cloves and 1 inch of chopped fresh ginger. Add 1 TBL paprika, 1 TBL cayenne, and 1/2 tsp turmeric. Add 2 cups red lentils, 6 cups water, and 1 faux chicken bullion. Bring to a boil, the cook covered on medium until lentils are soft. Uncover slightly and allow lentils to thicken about 30 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Serve with potato-cado salad.

This picture sucks, which is the main reason I didn’t give this dish its own post. Sorry about that.

Chop 4 yukon gold potatoes and boil 10-15 minutes until tender. Drain and rinse in cold water.

While the potatoes cook, chop 4 TBL fresh cilantro, 1/2 cup white onion, and 1 ripe avocado. Pour 2 TBL lemon juice and 2 TBL white vinegar into a small bowl and season generously with salt and pepper. Add onion and cilantro and mix well.

When the potatoes are done, mix them together with the avocado and salad dressing. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Vegan lentil and tofu curry

This dish is loosely inspired by rendang, but never having eaten rendang, nor having all the ingredients, I can’t say it is authentic. If you like a sour and spicy dish though, this is for you.

1 onion, chopped

6 Thai chilis

4 garlic cloves

2-3 TBL fresh ginger, chopped

2 TBL lemon juice

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1/4 cup water

1 tsp tamarind paste

1 tsp 5-spice powder

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp parsley (We didn’t have any cilantro)

3 TBL unsweetened dried coconut

1 can light coconut milk

1/2 block tofu, cubed, seasoned with salt, pepper, and cayenne

1 cup red lentils

Extra water as needed

Blend until smooth  spices, lemon juice, tamarind, onion, garlic, chilis, sugar, and 1/4 cup water. Set aside. In a dutch oven, heat 1 tsp olive oil and fry tofu until browned and firm. Reduce heat and add dried coconut and cook until lightly toasted. Carefully pour in the blended spices and stir with the tofu. Add lentils and coconut milk. Add additional water to cover. Cook covered on medium heat for 1 hour. Stir often to prevent the lentils from sticking. Continue to add additional water if needed.

Serve over rice with garlic steamed spinach.

Vegan cabbage and red lentil stew

So easy, so good.

1 onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 Thai chilis

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

3 potatoes, chopped

1 cup red lentils

2 TBL curry

1 TBL smoked paprika

1 TBL turmeric

1/2 TBL garam masala

1 cube faux beef bullion

6 cups water

1 cup white vinegar

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes

2 cups thinly sliced cabbage

1 tsp black pepper

salt to taste

Heat 1 tsp olive oil and saute onions and garlic 3-4 minutes, until onion is transluscent. Add carrots, celery, potatoes, and Thai chilis for 2 minutes. Add potatoes and spices. Cook and stir until the vegetables are well coated with the spices. Add lentils, bullion, and water. Cook covered until potatoes are tender. Add cabbage, tomatoes, vinegar, salt and pepper. Cover and cook 1 hour on low. Stir occasionally and add more water if needed.

Red lentil and yellow split pea soup

This soup was inspired by a dip we made, inspired by a recipe in Food and Wine magazine for Green Lentil Hummus. We topped it with some white rice and very lemony tahina, mixed with paprika and cayenne for an extra bite of acidity and heat.

Red lentil and yellow split pea soup

1 cup red lentils
1 cup yellow split peas
2 faux chicken bouillion cubes
1 bay leaf
1 carrot
1 stalk celery
1 onion
6 garlic cloves
6 cups water

1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup cilantro
2-3 chard leaves
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne

Bring the water to boil with the bullion cubes, bay leaf, lentils and split peas. Cook 10-15 minutes, until lentils begin to soften. Add diced onions, celery, carrots, and garlic. Cook 20-30 minutes, covered on medium or medium low. Stir every 10 minutes or so to help break up the lentils and peas. Stir in remaining ingredients and cook another 10-15 minutes uncovered, stirring frequently.