Dinner

I had my wife make a batch of cannellini beans while I was out; they weren't soaked, so she pressure cooked a cup of them for "0 minutes" (i.e., just brought to pressure then rinsed before cooking again) and then added 1/4 cup or so of grilled " ArtiHeart " artichokes and 3 cloves of roughly chopped garlic, and pressure cooked for 20 minutes. I blended the result along with a little onion, garlic powder, salt, and nutritional yeast, then grilled on a cast iron pan with no added oil, making a patty with my hands and then covering with a light coating of whole wheat pastry flour. I also served some mixed vegetables and organic Mandarin with an olive. My daughter especially loved the burger! I am happy that it did come out well. I should make more burgers from scratch.

The weather became cold tonight and I felt like a warm soup. I thought I'd make a main course of a curried cauliflower dish along with a dhal. Frankly, I prefer a chunkier not even quite stew to dhal often, but though I've tried cooking dishes like lentils at the low end of the water and high end of the time required, I generally get a product more liquidy than I expect (I do like dhal and soup, but often try for something thicker, which I also like!). Tonight, I ended up with a nice consistency of my lentil dish which was actually just a tad bit dryer than it could have been. Here is what I did. Ingredients 1 1/2 cups brown lentils 1 1/2 times as much water (i.e., 2 1/4 cups) 1 cup carrot cut into 3/8" slices (I used 3 small carrots; if they weren't thin, I'd have halved them, as well) 2 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") minced About 2T organic Meyer lemon, including all (flesh and rind), cut into 3/8" cubes (if no organic Meyer lemon or no Meyer lemon at all...

My wife recently picked up a lot of potatoes. I thought I'd try a potato pie. I had one frozen whole wheat pie shell left. I recently made pizza with it and, since this shell is really meant for lighter desserts, the pie fell apart a bit when I served. My fear for that with my vegetable pie proved true, and I should try more hearty crusts or maybe a double crust for main courses. Anyway, this is what I did. Ingredients 4 cups Yukon Gold or yellow potatoes cut into 3/8" slices (I used 3 medium yellow potatoes) 1/2 cup shallot cut into 1/4" slices (I used a big shallot that yielded the 1/4 cup with slices about 1 1/4" x 1/4") 1 cup frozen sliced mushroom 1 cup frozen peas 15 ounce can black beans, well rinsed - about 2 cups 9" pie shell (I used a whole wheat one) 1/4 cup nutritional yeast 1/3 t salt 1/3 t fresh ground black pepper Process I cooked the potatoes in boiling water for about 13 minutes (or until the potato was cooked at the edges but almost cooked...

A few days ago, I found in a gourmet market an interesting looking thin bean called a  "rice bean" , also known as frijol arroz . It is quite small, like large rice grains, and cooks stovetop in just 20-25 minutes with 2" of water above the beans. The website description, however, suggests 30 minutes: Rice Beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris ) are related to the Kidney Bean. They have a mild flavor and firm texture. Grown in Idaho, these beans are 1/4" long and are pill-shaped, like a giant grain of rice. Their uniform ivory white color and unique shape make it hard to believe they're really beans. This quick cooking bean makes it ideal for dinners in a hurry, perfect for cold pasta and vegetable salads. Rice Beans are also great mixed with colored rices such as wild rice or Thai black sticky rice. There is no soaking required. Rinse beans well. Place in pot and cover with plenty of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain and serve. One cup ...