Deep Thoughts by Robert Felty

While we were in Michigan over Thanksgiving we stopped at our favorite Middle Eastern restaurant in Ann Arbor, Jerusalem Garden, for a tasty mjadra sandwich. Mjadra is basically just lentils, caramelized onions, and either rice or bulgar. I haven’t been able to find it at restaurants in Colorado, so I decided to try to make it myself. I found quite a few recipes online, some with rice, and some with bulgar. Some had almost no spices, and some had many. I decided to use a cup each of brown lentils and brown rice, 2 large onions, a little cinnamon and some cumin. I also added about a half cup of bulgar at the end to soak up the remaining water. It was pretty good, though I think next time I will cook it a little longer, use less cinnamon, and add garlic.

I put the mjadra in a pita, along with some baba ghanoush, lettuce, a pickle, feta cheese crumbles, and a little Red Hot.

Last week I tried another recipe from the Bold Vegetarian Chef. Again, I mostly stuck to the recipe, but modified some of the quantities. This one called for one carrot and one celery stalk. That seemed odd to me, so I used about 3 of each. It also called for 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, which I left out entirely. The result was very interesting. I don’t think I would want to have it frequently, but it is probably good a couple times per year. I do agree with the author that having a variety of lentil soups in ones repertoire is a good idea, since they are easy to make, cheap, and nutritious.

• 3 stalks celery, finely sliced
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
• 2 cups green lentils
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 Tbsp. cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. lime juice
• 2 Tbsp. Frank’s Red Hot
• Grated coconut to garnish
• Spices:
  • 1 tsp. cumin seed
  • 1 tsp. caraway seed
  • 1 tsp. black peppercorns
  • 1 tsp. coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp. black mustard seeds
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1/2 ts.p paprika

First I toasted the spices over medium heat for a few minutes, then ground them up in a mortar and pestle. Then I sauteéd the onions, celery, ginger, and carrots in olive oil. Next I added the spices, lentils, the coconut milk, and the broth, and simmered for about 40 minutes. Right before serving I added the vinegar, lime juice, and Red Hot.

Now that our kitchen is mostly assembled again, I decided to make some more new recipes tonight. I ended up deciding on two recipes from The Voluptuous Vegan. I chose recipes that only required what we had on hand, since it was cold and snowy, and I didn’t feel like going to the store. I did make a couple substitutions. The french lentil soup called for swiss chard, but I used bok choy, since we had a little bit that needed to be used. I then served the soup with some baguette that was a couple days old. Great for dipping. The red cabbage called for apple juice. Instead I used a bit of apple cider vinegar and some sliced fresh apples which were not looking too great anymore. Clare and I were very happy with the results. These recipes might be making second appearances!