Sunrise Daal

I saw the sun rise while I was running yesterday. I was going down MacArthur Boulevard towards the city and I watched the windows turn metallic orange on the high rises in Rosslyn; it reminded me of the 4th of July, when we sat on the grass in Georgetown next to the Potomac. Huge fireworks were exploding over the Washington Monument and reflecting off the buildings behind us, and it seemed like we were surrounded by glowing embers. I doubt I'll be seeing the sun much on my runs from now on, which I think means summer is officially leaving: I'm ready to eat soups and other hearty dishes every day! Lentil Daal is one of my favorites, and a recipe that I thought should probably be posted and immortalized since I make it every other week. It serves as a protein for me, which is something I'm always looking for. I've adjusted my recipe over the last couple months and have recently started replacing red lentils with yellow- I find the texture to be meatier, and the color brighter (hence, the title of this post!)

Ingredients

1 cup yellow lentils
4 cups water (use 3 cups water with red lentils)
1 tomato, cut in wedges
2 tbsp. oil
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 medium onion, chopped (I use red, because I like the color)
5 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tsp. coriander
3/4 tsp. tumeric
1/2 tsp. cayenne
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tbsp. butter

Bring lentils, water, and tomato to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes (yellow lentils will take longer than red). When lentils are almost done (the consistency should be fairly thick at this point, and it should be sputtering and popping a little), heat the oil and add the cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds stop sputtering add the onion and garlic- cook for 4-5 minutes. Add the spices and cook for a couple minutes longer, then pour the mixture into the cooked lentils. Stir in the salt and butter- let the daal finish up over low heat for just a minute or two more (it's fine to take it off the heat at this point if you're worried about overcooking it). This recipe, along with brown rice, Indian Cabbage, and raita (lemon, yogurt, salt, cucumber, cilantro), is enough for three meals.

The most difficult thing about this dish is that there's not a lot of down time while you wait for the daal to cook. I'm usually furiously chopping onion or cabbage, making raita, and measuring spices. I leave the pot of lentils uncovered unless it looks like they aren't cooking fast enough, but especially at the beginning they have a tendency to get foamy and boil over, which is a huge mess, so leaving them uncovered allows me to check on them and prevent that from happening. Towards the middle/end of their cooking period you need to start stirring them frequently, as they tend to stick to the bottom. It's helpful to measure out all your spices beforehand, particularly if you're making this in combination with Indian Cabbage, which incorporates a lot of spices, too. Of course, if you're Rachael Ray or Rhonda Mapes you can just eye-ball it! I don't have a fantastic picture of my daal because I was too hungry to eat it after making it last night, but take a look instead at my mason jars filled with goodies (including yellow lentils):

I plan on posting more pictures of my little apartment soon, but I'm waiting to make a couple other changes before I broadcast my space to the world!

The Woes of Frozen Kale

Okay, so I don't have to tell you that I'm a huge fan of freezing things....I also love roasted kale, which I buy every other week. After the hurricane Trader Joe's shelves were devoid of tons of essentials, so I was forced to go to Safeway, the most expensive, poorly arranged store in the WORLD. I purchased the only remaining bag of kale left on the shelves- it was large enough to feed a family of 10. So, in an attempt to be extra thrifty last week, I froze my leftover kale in sandwich bags, as well as a portion of kale-coconut milk-kidney bean soup (which was delicious). Anyway, guess what doesn't freeze well? Kale. Earlier this week I eagerly emptied a sandwich bag onto a baking sheet, tossed it with olive oil, salt and pepper, and cumin, and roasted it in the oven. It ended up tasting like spicy, soggy lettuce. Then yesterday I tore into my leftover soup and I almost couldn't make it all the way through. If I wasn't poor I would have thrown it out, but luckily I believe in eating absolutely every single thing I purchase. How should I use up the rest? I was thinking of adding small portions of it to supplement my smoothies... but a disgusting smoothie would be almost too much to bear, so I'm not sure I can risk it.  Anyway, here's a picture of a sure mood-booster: Beef and mushroom stew, dill-yogurt smashed potatoes, and salad with raspberry vinaigrette. Plus, a lovely view of my desk!

And, although leaving work over 10 hours after arriving kind of sucks, I got to witness a beautiful sunset as I rode away on my bike:

                             

                                            I guess Georgetown isn't that bad after all.
          

Sweet Relief

Last week was the first time in 3 months that I was able to wear a tee shirt during my morning run. I've even experienced that cold-hands feeling a couple times, where I have to keep clenching my fists to get the blood circulating. I'm always soaked through with sweat by the end, of course (Deborah says I sweat so much because of my high metabolism?), but it feels like the seasons are changing, and I am ready. I think I could really love fall here: cool mornings and nights with warm, sunny days...it will make the heat of the summer worth it, I hope.

Okay, on to the food- before my trip home I made an incredible meal that I haven't had time to share until now. I adapted this recipe from Rachael Ray's Stretch a Buck Turkey and Bean Burrito Burgers:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cooked brown rice
a little over 1/2 a pound ground turkey (sorry, I know that's vague)
1/2 can pinto beans
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
salt and pepper to taste (unfortunately I don't remember these measurements, but knowing me, I probably put a lot in)

Method:

Combine the ingredients and form into patties (this recipe made three big ones!). Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry each patty, about 5-7 minutes per side. I served mine with homemade apricot lime salsa, roasted potatoes, and kale chips. Seriously, amazing. Andddd unfortunately I have no picture because it won't upload. It's a beautiful photo, though! Check out my awesome breakfast instead:

Oat bran, Hershey's special dark cocoa powder, coconut oil, TJ's Sunbutter, brown sugar, and raspberries. So glorious!