Author: PatagoniaLlami

Ever since I tried Rachel Roddy’s recipe for lentils (which is more or less this one, though she adds garlic, a good idea, and a leek and doesn’t use the bay or rosemary) from her Roman cookbook, it has become a favorite. I follow her advice by making sure I have leftovers so that I can reinvent them in various ways.

Once you have a batch of this simple stew on hand, you can use the lentils for so many things: half-purée them and add a swoosh of olive oil for a hearty, creamy and delicious soup; stir them through freshly boiled spaghetti and you have what I like to think of as vegan spaghetti bolognese; or—my favorite solution to weeknight dinner—top them with a crisp-edged, soft-yolk fried egg.

Brown lentils are typically used to make this stew, as brown and green lentils are firm and retain their shape when cooking. Red or yellow lentils are softer and faster-cooking, with the tendency to fall apart into a thick and wonderful mush when cooked; these are better suited for soup, sauces, or dips.

Many will say there’s no need to soak lentils at all, but Italian recipes always call for soaking—usually from somewhere between 2 to 12 hours—and this reduces the cooking time significantly. Don’t add salt until the very end or the lentils will remain tough and hard despite hours of cooking.

The lentils keep well in the fridge for the better part of the week, though they tend, like all legumes, to absorb their liquid (and its flavors) the longer they are in the kept. When reheating, add a splash (or more) of water to loosen and revive the mixture, depending on how you’re re-inventing them. —Emiko

Directions

1. Rinse the lentils well and set them in a wide bowl. Cover with water to cover and soak for at least 12 hours or overnight (you can skip this if you are not a believer of soaking dried lentils, but do always rinse them).
2. Place the onion, carrot, and celery in a large saucepan or soup pot with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Sauté gently on low heat until the vegetables are very soft and the onion is somewhat translucent, but not colored. Add the bay leaf and the drained lentils and 5 cups of water.
3. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and cook until the lentils are tender but retain their shape (this can take as little as 15 minutes to upwards of 45 minutes, depending on the lentils and whether they were soaked). Keep checking them and add more water if necessary. Add salt to taste only once the lentils are tender, otherwise they will remain tough. Stir through chopped parsley and serve as you like (see notes for ideas).

This recipe is featured in the story, Forget Taco Tuesday—You’ll Want Julia Turshen’s Chorizo Tacos Everyday, sponsored by Bosch.

This salsa will cause you never to buy another jar of salsa. It’s seriously that good, and almost surprisingly so because it’s so easy to make. It’s not only vegan but also totally free of all of the things that people tend to point out (fat, sugar, dairy, gluten, and so on). I like this salsa best just after it’s made, when the lime juice and cilantro still have their freshness, but it’s also totally fine to make it up to 3 days in advance and store it in a covered container in the refrigerator. Keep in mind that cooked and cooled tomatillos tend to gel, almost like really good chicken stock, so don’t worry if the seems a little thick when you take it out of the fridge. Be sure to let it come to room temperature before serving and then maybe give it an extra squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of salt to perk it up. —Julia Turshen

Directions

1. Position an oven rack about 6 in [15 cm] from the heat source and preheat your broiler. Line a large sheet pan with aluminum foil.
2. Place the tomatillos, scallions, jalapeño, and garlic cloves on the prepared sheet pan and broil, taking the pan out to stir the vegetables now and then, until they’re charred in spots and softened a bit, about 8 minutes all together, depending on the strength of your broiler.
3. Transfer all of the broiled vegetables to a blender or food processor, add the lime juice, cilantro, and salt and pulse until puréed but not completely smooth (texture is good!).
4. Alternatively, put the broiled tomatillos into a medium bowl and crush them with a potato masher. Finely chop the scallions, chile, garlic, and cilantro, add to the mashed tomatillos along with the lime juice and salt, and stir well.
5. Serve the salsa at room temperature.

Directions

1. Cook couscous according to package directions. Use chicken broth in place of water. You can add a few leaves of fresh sage if you have them (remove before making salad). When couscous is tender, add canola and olive oils while still hot. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon each kosher salt and fresh ground pepper (or to taste.) Stir in 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper. (Cool to room temperature while you chop fruit and cheese.)
2. Mix all chopped fruit, squash, cheese (skip for vegan version), and pecans with cooled couscous. Add the juice of the other orange and 1 teaspoon honey. Stir well, taste and adjust seasonings and/or dressing. Serve at room temperature in a bowl lined with fresh spinach leaves and garnish with reserved whole pecans. Keeps one day well covered in the refrigerator.

Directions

1. Heat 1 quart of water in a saucepan to boil.
2. In a sauté pan over low or medium-low heat, add sesame oil, soy sauce or tamari, Sriracha, and fish sauce. Stir ingredients or rotate pan to combine and let cook for about 30 seconds. Add peanut butter, stir to combine, then turn off heat.
3. When water is boiling, blanch kale for about 15 seconds. Drain the kale and add it to the sauce in the sauté pan and stir to coat.
4. Bring clean water to boil. When the water is boiling, add the noodles and cook until al dente. Fresh noodles will cook very quickly; dry noodles will cook in 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Use tongs to add the noodles straight from the water to the sauté pan with the peanut sauce and the kale. The unstrained noodles will carry enough water to dilute the peanut sauce; if you decide to strain the noodles and then add them to the sauce, add 1 tablespoon water, as well. Add a dash of fish sauce to finish.
6. Garnish with chopped scallions, chili flakes, and chopped peanuts.

The kitchen is low on supplies, you’re too hungry to go shopping, and ordering takeout is expensive. Make an omelet! But there aren’t any eggs—what now? Grab chickpea flour instead. Also known as garbanzo bean flour, it’s the base ingredient for Ligurian farinata (or socca) and Provençal panisse, as well as Burmese tofu and some iterations of South Asian chilla and papadum (the latter three typically call for a specific type known as besan or gram flour). Not only does chickpea flour work as a nutty (and gluten-free and protein-rich!) replacement for all-purpose flour in baking, when mixed with liquid and a bit of baking powder, it forms a smooth batter and sizzles into a distinctly omelet-like concoction—for less than a quarter the cost of a dozen eggs.

For four omelets, you’ll need 2 cups of chickpea flour ($1.60) and 2 cups of water, which whisk up into the consistency of a loose pancake batter. To channel a bit of salty-eggy flavor and boosted color, stir in nutritional yeast and smoked paprika as well. Falling somewhere in between a dosa and American-style omelet in flavor and texture, I fill chickpea omelets with a gooey, stringy, wallet-friendly cheese, like smoked Gouda, Pepper Jack, or Muenster ($3.40). (If you want this meal to be vegan, swap in your preferred vegan cheese and use maple syrup instead of honey in the salad dressing.) I like to chase the soft, rich omelets with a crunchy-bitter salad of radicchio and fennel ($5) dressed in honey, mustard, and apple cider vinegar, but if you have another side in mind, follow your heart. Could you go the diner breakfast route and opt for hash browns? Yup. Frenchify it with a lemony-shallot dressing over tender greens? Bien sûr! What about frozen sweet potato fries and ketchup? Duh. Since the omelets run you just about $5, you have plenty of wiggle room. —Rebecca Firkser

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, baking powder, paprika, and 1 teaspoon salt. Slowly whisk in a scant 2 cups of water. Set aside for 10 minutes or up to 1 hour to thicken.
   
2. While the chickpea mixture is resting, in a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, and honey. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then toss in the radicchio and fennel until well coated.
   
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until rippling and nearly smoking. Swirl the oil around the pan, then immediately pour in ¾ cup of batter and again quickly swirl to coat the pan. Cook undisturbed for 1 minute, until the omelet turns matte in color and slides around the pan easily. Cover the surface of the omelet with one-quarter of the cheese (about ½ cup loosely packed). Cook for 30 seconds, until the cheese is just starting to melt, then use a spatula to fold the omelet in half. Cook 1 minute more, flipping halfway through, until the cheese is melted and the omelet is golden, then slide onto a plate. Repeat with the remaining olive oil, batter, and cheese to make 3 more omelets. (These taste great at room temperature, but if you prefer to keep the cheese melty, place the cooked omelets on a sheet pan in a 300°F oven until you’re ready to eat the whole batch.)
   
4. Drizzle the salad with more olive oil, toss to combine, and divide among the plates, then sprinkle the omelets and salad with flaky salt and more black pepper.