Chana Dal with Potatoes

First of all, Happy Valentine's Day, to those who care about such things! We are celebrating with dinner at Grezzo, which is a fabulous raw restaurant in Boston's North End with the sort of astonishingly beautiful, imaginative and delicious food it would never occur to me to attempt at home; definitely "special occasion" fare. I always think of raw vegans as the pinnacle of healthiness, and while I admire them, I doubt I could do it full-time (unless Alissa Cohen wants to become my live-in chef, in which case I might reconsider). It's one of those ideas that gains appeal in the summer, when we're surrounded by local fruits and veggies in season, but in the middle of a New England winter, hot food feels like a necessity, and we do like our lentils, beans, whole grains, etc. So: Grezzo (http://www.grezzorestaurant.com) for a romantic evening, chana dal and potato curry for an ordinary February night!

At my house we love us some Indian food; occasionally we go out for it (there's one great place near us that's all vegetarian and mostly vegan), but it's way more fun to whip something up at home. I didn't have much experience until a few years ago, but my partner, Robert, was cooking Indian long before he laid eyes on me, and it was always his go-to option for dinner parties, etc. When he came to live with me he brought along his vasty collection of cookbooks by the likes of Madhur Jaffrey and Yamuna Devi, and I've been like the proverbial kid in a candy shop ever since. Many of the dishes are fascinatingly complex, and the fragrances released by the seasonings are so seductive that I was quickly hooked, and nowadays various curries, stews and dals appear on our table regularly.

You can easily find recipes that will keep you busy at the stove all day, and sometimes that's exactly what I want (especially if we're having company). Mostly, though, I cook things that can be put together relatively easily and make a lot, because leftovers are like gold around here. The dish below meets both of those requirements, and is a fairly standard curry using potatoes, chana dal (yellow split peas) and coconut milk, which are all staples in my cupboard. This version is quite mild and family-friendly, but you can always add some chili peppers, cayenne or a shot of hot sauce if you want to heat things up a bit. On the side I like basic saffron basmati rice, but it would be fine with brown rice, millet or even quinoa if that's more your style. Add some naan and spicy pickle, and you'll have a delicious, healthy dinner that's as good as anything you'll get in a restaurant, with the added bonus of being able to eat it in your pajamas. (If you like that sort of thing, which we do!)

Chana Dal with Potatoes

Ingredients:
~ 1 tbsp. mustard oil (olive or canola would do, too)
~ 1 tsp.hot chili oil
~ 1 tsp. black or yellow mustard seeds (I use a combination)
~ 1 tsp. cumin seeds
~ 3 cups chopped yellow onions
~ 2 tbsp. each: minced garlic, grated ginger
~ 1 tbsp. each: fenugreek powder, curry powder, brown sugar
~ 1 tsp. each: kosher salt, garam masala, cumin, black pepper
~ 1/2 tsp. each: nutmeg, cinnamon
~ 4 cups potatoes, cut in 1/2" cubes (I used Yukon Gold)
~ 1 28 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes, including liquid
~ 1 cup chana dal (yellow split peas)
~ 2 15 oz. cans coconut milk
~ 1 cup frozen green peas

Directions:
~ In a large, deep pot combine the oils and toast the mustard and cumin seeds over medium heat until they begin to pop (about 2 minutes; you might want to cover the pot for this part)
~ Add the onions, garlic, ginger and seasonings. Continue cooking another 5 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking.
~ Add the potatoes, chana dal, tomatoes and their liquid; cook another few minutes.
~ Add the coconut milk, cover and bring to a boil.
~ Reduce heat to low and cook (about) 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so to prevent sticking.
~ Add the frozen peas and cook another 10 minutes.
~ Serve over saffron rice (or whatever you like, but I'm not going to lie: this rice is really good):

Saffron Rice

Ingredients:
~ 1/2 tsp. saffron, soaked in 1.5 cups hot vegetable stock for 5-10 minutes
~ 1.5 cups plain unsweetened soy milk
~ 2 tbsp. Earth Balance (or oil, I just like EB here)
~ 3 scallions, thinly sliced
~ 1 tsp. kosher salt
~ 1.5 cups basmati or jasmine rice

Directions:
_ In a saucepan, heat the EB or oil over medium heat; add the scallions, salt and saute about 3 minutes.
~ Add the rice and cook another few minutes until all the grains are coated.
~ Pour in the hot saffron/broth mixture and the soy milk.
~ Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 10-15 minutes.
~ Fluff with a fork and serve!

Mushroom Stroganoff

"If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?" (O Wind, I certainly hope not.)

Here in New England. we are currently in the midst of The Winter That Wouldn't Die. Day after day, like unto my adolescent self in gym class, the mercury struggles to pull itself over the chin-up bar of 20 degrees; day after day, I look at the calendar and think, "Okay, this is crap, can it be over now?" (The perceptive reader may be getting the impression that I'm not a fan of cold weather; is so, s/he is entirely correct.) As a result of this miserable state of affairs, recent menus have focused on hearty, filling things like stews, pasta, potato-based dishes, etc. When, or indeed if, spring comes, there's going to be a whole lot of salads going down the hatch, but for the present, it's podge city around here.

When I think of podgy food, thoughts of my mother are rarely far behind. She is an excellent cook in the meat-and-potatoes tradition of her native England (unlike her own mother, who could kill a brussels sprout with a look at 20 paces), but also well-versed in all the staple dishes of 1950s/60s America. This being the case, beef stroganoff turned up on the table fairly often when I was growing up, which for me (a nightmarishly picky eater) usually translated to a dinner of buttered noodles. As I got older, though, I fell madly in love with mushrooms, and by the time I was a teenaged vegetarian learning to cook, I'd discovered Mollie Katzen's first two books, The Moosewood Cookbook and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. Both feature many dishes with a strong Eastern European influence, so mushrooms, noodles, paprika, and dill made frequent appearances in my early cooking experiments, flavors I still love as an adult.

One night a few weeks ago we had a shocking quantity of mushrooms in the refrigerator, so I decided to recreate my mom's stroganoff (without the beef, obviously). I looked through a few cookbooks for general ideas, but in the end I basically made it up by tasting, adding more stuff, and tasting again until I was satisfied with the result. Everyone at my house pretty much went nuts for it, especially my partner and middle son, and the leftovers disappeared quickly. I didn't photograph it because A. the camera was out of batteries, and B. it wasn't very pretty anyway (hence the groovy fungal fan art above). That said, it was really good, and there are few things more welcome on yet another cold winter evening than a thick, mushroomy stew ladled over a big pile of noodles, right?

Mushroom Stroganoff

Ingredients:
~ 1 cup dried mushrooms (I used Polish cepes), soaked in 2 cups hot water or broth for 30 minutes
~ 1 tbsp. olive oil
~ 2 tbsp. minced garlic
~ 2 cups thinly sliced onions
~ 4 big portobello mushroom caps, chopped
~ 3 cups sliced baby bella mushrooms
~ 1 tbsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce
~ 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill (or 1-2 tbsp. dried, to taste)
~ 1 tsp. each: kosher salt, thyme, smoked paprika
~ 2 tbsp. sweet Hungarian paprika
~ 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
~ Lots of fresh black pepper
~ 1/2 cup dry red wine
~ Juice of 1 lemon
~ 1 tsp. dijon mustard
~ 1 lb. lite silken tofu
~ 1/2 cup nutritional yeast

Directions:
~ In a large, deep skillet or wok, heat the oil and saute the onions and garlic over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
~ Add the sliced mushrooms and seasonings and cook another 15 minutes.
~ Add the red wine and lemon juice; stir to combine and cook another 5 minutes.
~ In a food processor or blender, combine the soaked mushrooms (with their liquid), mustard, nutritional yeast and tofu; blend until smooth.
~ Pour the blended tofu into the mushroom mixture and stir to combine. Continue cooking another 5-10 minutes until the sauce is slightly thickened.
~ Serve over rice, kasha, linguine or (best of all!) vegan "egg" noodles.