New

If you don't break your ropes while you're alive
do you think
ghosts will do it after?

-Kabir

 

We bid farewell to 2014 with a classic dinner date at a newish Italian restaurant in town (scampi, local lamb bolognese, persecco, tiramisu...) followed by a great, motley party hosted by friends we hadn't seen in too long. This morning I bundled up against the -5 temps and took the dogs out under a sky scrubbed clean of clouds, a blank blue slate, to greet this new year.

I'm still unpacking the year just ended, considering and arranging the moments of growth and challenge, adventure and repose, celebration and defeat in my memory.  It intrigues me how the shards of experience take on new meaning, different coloring, in this retrospective exercise. A mosaic of a year.

I think this new year holds great promise. I'm making my resolutions, scribbling schemes and setting intentions, with excitement, for this next lap around the sun.  

 

One of my schemes/resolutions is to write here more regularly (once a week, ideally, though that is aspirational!) and to try new recipes at a roughly equivalent pace.  In that spirit...

Spiced Lentil and Vegetable Stew

2 cups red lentils

3 cups plus 2 cups plus 1/2 cup water

2 inch piece kombu (optional)

2 tablespoons coconut oil

8 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons fresh minced ginger

4 medium carrots

6-8 small Jerusalem artichokes (optional)

1.5 cups red cabbage, chopped

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried coriander

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/4 cup smooth organic peanut butter

1 tablespoon tamari

Fresh chopped cilantro and chili sauce for serving

Place the lentils, kombu, and three cups water in a medium stock pot and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer approximately twenty minutes or until most of the water is absorbed, stirring occasionally.  Remove the kombu and discard. Add two cups of water and continue simmering, covered but stirring occasionally, until the water is absorbed and the lentils are very soft (15-20 minutes).

Meanwhile, heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and ginger and sauté about five minutes.  Add the carrots, Jerusalem artichokes, and cabbage and continue to sauté, stirring often, another five minutes.  

Add the spices and mix well to coat the veggies, continuing to sauté.  Add the tomato paste, peanut butter, and 1/2 cup water and simmer, stirring frequently, 3-4 minutes.

Add the spiced vegetables and tamari to the lentils and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes, adding water if needed for the desired consistency. Let stand 10 minutes before serving with cilantro and chili sauce.