October 1, 2012 – Girl for Animal Liberation

Those of you who follow my blog might recall from previous posts that I cook all of my meals on Sundays so that I have lunch and dinner for the entire week. Eating this way allows me to control what I am putting into my body as well as control my spending. I work in Boston and quite honestly the food offerings around the vicinity of my office aren’t that great. We do have one vegan food truck which is terrific in a pinch. But quite honestly, I prefer to cook my own food as I don’t like a lot of people touching/prepping my food. This probably stems from my days working in the industry as a Garde Manger and then Pastry Cook.

As I mentioned in my post: Cutting the Cord with Cable, well almost, I have friends who cannot make time to cook, and yet seem to have ample time to watch their favorite reality TV line-up (go figure). I receive so much enjoyment from cooking that I would prefer to cook than watch TV.

Also, due to the hours I work (plus my commute in/out of the city), I don’t have a lot of time during the week to prep and cook a meal, which is the other reason I cook meals (usually two or three) on Sundays to cover me for the week.

Anyway, yesterday I made Red Lentil & Chickpea Stew with Rice & Rye and I thought it might be nice to share this with my followers.

In case you are wondering about the Brown Rice & Rye Berries, let me say this: Brown Rice and Rye Berries cooked together is the best! I love it and eat it with everything and so good for you.

Chick Pea and Red Lentil Stew

(FYI: This is a great recipe for a Crockpot!)

Ingredients/Equipment:

Crockpot, Soup or Stock Pot
EVOO (or whatever oil you like)
Celtic Sea Salt ~ eyeball it. I think I used 1 heaping tsp
Yellow Onion (or whatever onion you like) ~ rough chopped
1-3 large carrots ~ cut on the diagonal
Chile pepper(s) ~ Fresh (use whatever kind you like. I used Serrano) ~ chopped
1 Green Bell Pepper ~ rough chopped
Garlic (use as many or as little cloves as you like. I used 5)
Garam Masala ~ eyeball it. I don’t use exact measurements as I use the palm of my hand
2 cans Garbanzo Beans (a.k.a. Chick Peas) drained/rinsed
1 package of red lentils (I used Goya brand)
1 can of Tomato Puree (I used Cento brand)
2 cups of vegetable broth
¼ – 1/3 cup of black pitted olives ~ eyeball it, I didn’t use exact measurements

Method of Prep:

Gather all of your mis-en-place

Pre-heat pot
Rough chop: Onion, chile pepper and green bell pepper
Slice carrots on the diagonal
Drain/rinse Chick peas ~ set aside
Open can of crushed tomatoes ~ set aside

Add EVOO to pre-heated pot
Add onions, carrots, green and hot peppers and salt. Cover and sweat the vegetables until translucent
Remove lid & Add Garam Marsala, leave lid off and cook until you can smell the spices.
Add a little water and scrape bottom of pan
Add Chick Peas, Red Lentils, and Tomato Puree, plus 1 can of water from puree can, vegetable stock and olives.

Give a good stir and simmer , slightly covered, (unless using Crockpot) until cooked through.

Serve with Rice & Rye

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RICE & RYE

Important: MUST SOAK OVERNIGHT (Best cooked in Rice Cooker and/or Pressure cooker, or you could even use Crockpot)

Ingredients:

1 cup Brown Rice
1 cup Bob Red Mills Rye Berries (NOT: Wheat Berries)
4 cups Water
1 TBSP of Wakame Seaweed ~eyeball it
¼ cup Shoyu

Method of Prep:

1 large pot

Measure: 1 cup of Brown Rice, 1 cup of Rye Berries and add to pot.
Add 4 cups of filtered water and Wakame
Cover and soak overnight

Next day:

Remove lid
Add 1/8-1/4 of tsp of Celtic Sea salt
Bring Rice/Rye to a boil ~ DO NOT STIR OR DISTURB, otherwise the rice/rye will turn out mushy.
Reduce to low heat
Cover and allow to cook. PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB

After an hour or more, check to see if all the water is absorbed. Turn off heat, add Shoyu, cover and allow pot to sit on burner (w/out heat).

Be sure stir before serving. Rice and Rye goes with everything!

Enjoy!

-GE