Travel the world in your kitchen right now

With planes and people grounded for the duration, travel can't go further than the next room. But you can still go places! Your kitchen can transport you. Eat like you were where you dream to be. Here are some tickets to foreign adventure. I'll offer more in the next post.





Burmese/Thai khao soi
This coconut chicken noodle soup with a chili kick is a traveler's favorite in Northern Thailand and all across Burma. It's so beloved, it's on the menu of just about every Burmese restaurant everywhere.

not my photo

     
Serves 6 people as a main course. 

6 boneless breasts of chicken, cut into large bite sized pieces
2 tbsp corn, Canola or sunflower oil
1½ tbsp. red curry paste
3 cups coconut milk
1 tbsp. Garam Masala
½ tbsp turmeric
1 star anise or ½ tsp powder
1 cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves
1 tsp ground cardamom or 3 crushed pods
2 cups chicken stock
½ tsp brown or raw sugar
¼ c fish sauce
About 6-7 (loosely packed) cups of boiled flat Chinese Bah-mi egg noodle or fettucini noodles (about 11/4 lbs)
1 tsp lime juice
Thinly sliced shallots (garnish), fried.
To garnish: 6 slivers of fresh lime, chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Optional: 1 cup pickled Chinese cabbage

Soak noodles to remove excess starch and drain. Cook noodles as per directions on package and set aside. Fry the garlic in a little extra oil until transparent.

In a heavy casserole or soup pot, heat oil and add the red curry paste, curry powder and turmeric. Cook stirring vigorously until the curry paste is fragrant—1-2 minutes. Be careful not to burn the paste. 

Add 1 cup of coconut milk. Over med/high heat, let it come to a boil and bubble for a few minutes, stirring well, until the red oil separates from the coconut milk. Add another cup of coconut milk and wait until the oil separates. Add garlic, chicken pieces, star anise, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom with chicken stock and the rest of the coconut milk. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, add fish sauce and simmer.

Cover the pot and simmer until the chicken is done, 4- 5 minutes. Check seasonings; you might need to add more fish sauce. The flavor should be a bit salty and spicy with a sweet aftertaste. It should be a bit saltier than what you would like the final dish to taste. Stir in lime juice and remove from heat.

Divide noodles between deep soup bowls. Pour the coconut chicken over the noodles. Garnish with fried shallots, cilantro leaves and a lime wedge. Optionally pickled cabbage.


Portuguese Caldo Verde

I recently published this in a magazine and almost immediately a reader wrote in to say it had quickly become her favorite dish.  There are many ways to make it so feel free to improvise. Before blenders, the soup was served chunky but you can puree as much or as little as you want.

Serves 6

2 large chorizo or linguiça sausages
¼ c olive oil
2 yellow onions, peeled and diced 1 bay leaf
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lb boiling potatoes (I used yellow), peeled
1 tsp salt
4 c vegetable broth (some people use chicken)
2 c water
¾ lb kale, washed, stems removed
1 tsp sherry vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
To Serve: Olive oil, best quality
Buttered cornbread or rustic loaf croutons

Fill a medium saucepan 2 /3 with water. Over high heat bring it to a boil.

With a small fork, prick holes in the sausages and put them in the boiling water for 5 minutes to leach out the fat. Remove with tongs and discard the water.  When the sausages are cool enough to handle, strip the casing off one and crumble it up.  Slice the other into thin disks. Set aside.

In a large heavy gauge casserole or a soup pot, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and on medium/low heat sauté 5 minutes. Add the garlic, bay leaf, crumbled sausage and freshly ground black pepper, stirring to blend. Continue sautéing until the onions are soft and translucent, 3-5 minutes. 

Add the diced potatoes to the pan with the salt. Stirring, cook over low heat to slightly soften the potatoes, 2 -3 minutes, not letting them stick to the bottom of the pan. Pour in the broth and water.  Bring to a boil, immediately reduce heat to simmer and cook until the potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Scrape scum off the top.

While that’s cooking, cut the kale into horizontal shreds. You can do this by rolling up a bunch of leaves as though making a cigar, then cutting across into thin shreds. Once the potatoes are soft, using a slotted spoon, remove 1 cup of them (sausage and onions might come with them, no problem) and set aside. Add half the kale to the pot. Cook 2-3 minutes to soften it. Remove the pot from the stove. Remove the bay leaf from the pot and discard.

If you have an immersion/stick blender, put it in the pot and partially purée the contents to thicken the soup.  There’s no exact measure for this. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can put 2/3 of the pot contents in a food processor and lightly blitz it.  If you don’t have that either, take out 2/3 of the contents and mash them with a potato masher, then return to the pot.  

Put the pot back on the burner on low heat. Add the reserved potatoes, rest of the kale and the sliced sausage. Stir in the vinegar. Simmer 5 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.

To serve: ladle into large bowls, put a few drops of best quality olive oil around the top and then a few crunchy cornbread or other croutons.  You can also make buttered crostini to top the soup with.   

Guatemalan chicken stew

This is known as "pepian" for the pumpkin seeds in it and is an alternative to a Mexican chicken tinga. This is a quick version using a rotisserie chicken already cooked.

5 red, ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into quarters

3 tomatillos, husked then cut in half
1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 small dried guajillo chile pepper, soaked in hot water for 20 to 30 minutes, then seeded and coarsely chopped
1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp pepitas (pumpkin or squash seeds)
One 3 -inch cinnamon stick
3 to 4 cups chicken broth (salt free works best) 
White and dark meat from 1 purchased rotisserie chicken, shredded (about 5 cups
Salt (optional)

Combine the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion and the soaked, chopped chili pepper in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot with a lid; place over medium heat and cook for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring once or twice, until most of the vegetables have softened. Remove from the heat and let cool 10 minutes.

Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the sesame seeds, pepitas and cinnamon stick; toast for about 6 minutes, shaking the skillet a few times to keep the contents from burning. Remove from the heat and let cool 10 minutes.
Working in batches, combine the vegetable mixture with its liquid and the toasted mixture in a blender. Add up to 1 cup total of the broth, if needed, in order to process into a fairly smooth puree.

Strain the pureed mixture through a fine-mesh strainer back into the pot that was used to cook the vegetables, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible; you should have about 4 cups. Discard the solids.
Place the pot over medium heat. Add the remaining 2 to 3 cups broth and the shredded chicken. Cook uncovered 30 minutes, stirring a few times. Taste and season with salt, if desired. Remove from heat; after a few minutes, the sauce should thicken slightly.
Serve hot in tortillas or over rice.

Middle Eastern Shakshuka

This fabulously tasty and vivid egg dish is served in Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and almost all the countries that abut them. So naturally there are many ways to prepare it. This is one.
Serves 4

3 tbsp fruity olive oil
3 lg garlic cloves, minced
1 lg red onion, diced
1 med green bell pepper, seeded and chunked
1 sm yellow bell pepper, seeded and chunked
1-2 hot chili peppers like Serrano or real jalapeno, seeded and minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp caraway seeds, smashed or ground
1-2 tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp dried mint leaves
¼ tsp turmeric
¼ tsp ground cayenne or arbol chili powder
pinch ground cinnamon
1 tsp wine/balsamic vinegar
½ tsp honey
1 tsp tomato paste
2-3 cups chopped tomatoes in their juice
salt
black pepper to taste
8 eggs 
1 bunch fresh cilantro, stemmed, washed and chopped for garnish
optional add ons: feta cheese, pitted black kalamata olives, chopped spinach

In a large heavy-gauge sauté pan that has a lid, heat olive oil. Sauté onions, bell and chili peppers and garlic over medium heat til soft, about 5 minutes. Add the spices—cumin through cinnamon—and heat until fragrant, maybe 60-90 seconds. Stir in vinegar, tomato paste, honey and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the sauce thickens, maybe 10-12 minutes depending on how juicy the tomatoes were. Taste for flavor and add seasonings to your taste.

Get the sauce very hot and bubbly over medium heat and have the pan lid handy. Carefully create 8 small pockets in the sauce and crack an egg into each one. Try to nudge a little sauce into the egg whites. Cover and continue cooking to poach the eggs to your liking.

Uncover the pan. Add the optionals you desire. Let them heat up 1 minute. Remove pan from heat. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve right out of the pan.
Afghani Qorma

This delicious, colorful and very healthy chicken dish is in my collection of what to do with yogurt recipes. It's what's called a qorma lawand, a fragrant Afghan curry thickened by nuts and made creamy by yogurt naturally sweetened by carrots, which are native to Afghanistan, and raisins. So all the good food groups at once.

serves 4-6

1/2 cup almonds
4 garlic cloves
2" fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
1/2 c water or chicken broth if you prefer
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (breast meat won't be as tasty or tender)
1/4 ghee or unsalted butter
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 yellow onions thinly slice

1 Serrano pepper, seeded and minced (2 if you like hot food)
2 med carrots, peeled and sliced in thin disks
1/3 cup dark raisins
1 heaping cup plain thick yogurt
salt and black pepper to your taste
1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro leaves

In a food processor, purée the nuts, garlic, ginger and water. Put this into a large bowl.
Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, stir into the marinade.
Marinate at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Melt the ghee in a large heavy gauge lidded casserole over medium heat. Add the spices and sauté about 30 seconds until they are fragrant but not brown. Stir in the onions and chili pepper. Sauté until the onions are soft and starting to brown, maybe 7 minutes.  Stir the chicken into the pot with all its marinade. Simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to your taste. Stir in the carrots and raisins and yogurt, blending everything. Add 1/2 c water or chicken broth to make gravy. Bring to a boil,then reduce heat to low simmer, cover the pot and simmer 40 minutes, adding water or broth if the dish seems to be drying out. Most important: keep heat low to avoid curdling the yogurt.

Serve with the chopped cilantro on top as garnish. Serve with rice, roasted potatoes or naan and perhaps a simple spinach salad.

Bengali/Nepali carrot pudding

I included what is everybody's favorite dessert in Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking after it got thumbs up from all the mothers of a fifth grade in Marin County, CA. In the book I tell the remarkable story of how I found out about this dish and learned to make it. I also point out that leftovers make a perfect breakfast. What I am most proud of is that many Nepalis have told me my version beats every other one they know. 

serves 6

2 cups finely grated carrots, about four large carrots (you can also chop them finely in a food processor if you stop long before the puree point)

4 cups (1 quart) whole milk
1/2 cup confectioner’s (powdered) sugar (use regular granulated sugar if you don’t have this. I use it because the cornstarch mixed with the sugar makes thickening go faster)
2½ tablespoon unsalted butter
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ cup white raisins
1/4 cup cashews, split and lightly toasted* -Optional
2 tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut, lightly toasted*-Optional
*Put them in separate piles on the small baking sheet of a toaster oven or on a small baking sheet in a regular oven and bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes until they are lightly golden.

In a large sauté pan over medium heat melt the butter. Add the carrots and cook until they’re buttery and very mushy.

Meanwhile in a large heavy bottom saucepan or medium sized casserole, put the milk on high heat and bring it to a boil. Immediately lower the heat just enough so the milk continues to boil but does not bubble over. The aim is to boil it down without burning it or losing it over the top of the pot.

When its ready, pour and scrape the contents of the carrot mush into the milk, add the cardamom and raisins. Stir to blend. Continue to boil this over the highest heat at which it will not boil over, and stir occasionally to determine if the mix is thickening, also to keep anything from sticking to the bottom. Do this until you start to feel it thicken against the spoon, which could be up to 30 minutes.
Stir in the sugar and continue cooking another 10 minutes or as long as it takes for the mixture to stick to the spoon or seem wiggly. This means you can see the bottom of the pan because the pudding wiggles aside as the spoon passes through it.

Pour into a serving bowl and cool. It will thicken a little more. To serve, optionally top with the toasted coconut and cashews.

Medicinal food in a time of Covid-19

Someone asked me if there is a magical dish that could inoculate us against this rapidly spreading novel virus. Of course not. If there were, everyone would be wolfing it down now and hoarding the ingredients like toilet paper. However...

There are certainly foods that people have known for ages combat pathogens and/or boost the immune system. Please remember the original medicine was food and today's pharmaceutical industry is simply manufacturing overly expensive products based on the chemicals in these foods. Rx is the iconic abbreviation of recipe.   

In various posts over time i have revealed how some of these foods including spices work as medicine.  The Newari spice tea is effective against coughs and tickling throat. Garlic has historically been "killer of demons" because it's a sulfur drug that goes straight to the lungs and wipes out nasty stuff in them. For centuries plain yogurt has been the go-to cure for turista because its active cultures become antibiotics in the intestines. Bitter foods like broccoli and arugula can open or clean sinuses. Turmeric kills bacteria which is why the Nepali people rub it on raw chicken. Lime juice can do that too. Cinnamon is a wonder drug (anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, antimicrobial) because it is the bark of a tropical tree loaded with chemicals that protect it from ants. (Cinnamon thwarts ants.)      And a British surgeon practicing triage on the killing fields of Greece during WWI discovered honey is a very effective antibiotic. Seafood, lentils, beans and especially chickpeas are good sources of zinc which seems to strengthen the immune system and may in fact thwart this virus. So eating these foods right now is a good way to keep your body clean and thus in fighting condition.    

There is no one magic bullet recipe but you can combine medicinal ingredients as best you can into at least one dish every day,  so you can feel you are "doing something" to contain and combat this pandemic. I have already posted a few pantry ready recipes to help you if the fresh food supply dwindles or you are quarantined from it.  Check out three posts back the pasta recipe perfect for right now: Venetian spaghetti with onions.       

Here are other very simple, medicinal recipes using mostly pantry supplies. They are from my can of chickpeas collection.

Catalan braised chickpeas with almonds

serves 4

2 cans of chickpeas, washed and drained

6 tbsp olive oil

1 sm garlic clove, mashed and minced

1 sm yellow or white onion, diced

2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

2 lbs tomatoes, peeled and chopped (you can used boxed)

1/4 c vegetable broth

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp pine nuts

2 garlic cloves

2 oz blanched almonds (1/8 lb)

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan and fry the onion until it's soft. Add 1 tbsp chopped parsley, the minced garlic clove and tomatoes. Simmer, crushing the tomatoes with the back of the spoon, until you have what looks like sauce. Add veg broth and chickpeas. Simmer 10 minutes.

While that's happening, grind the almonds, pine nuts and garlic into a "pesto" which in this recipe is called "picada."  Stir it into the chickpeas and simmer another 10 minutes. Add a tbsp of veg broth if it looks too dry. Stir in the final tbsp parsley, season with salt and pepper and serve with bread and cheeses.

Turkish chickpea stew

serves 4 as a side, 3 as an entree

2 tbsp ghee or 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 sm red onions, halved and sliced into thin strips
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp cumin seed, crushed with the back of a knife
1 tsp fennel seed
2 tsp ground Aleppo pepper
2 tsp sugar
2 14 oz cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
14 oz chopped tomatoes (boxed or canned is fine)
1 sm bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 lb baby spinach leaves
salt and pepper to your taste
To serve: 1 lemon, the juice
1/4 c thick yogurt (4-5 tbsp)

In a medium size heavy pan, heat the ghee or oil/butter over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and spices and cook until the onions begin to brown. Lower heat if anything is burning. Stir in tomatoes and sugar. Add chickpeas and brown them lightly. Add parsley, salt and pepper. Heat thoroughly. Toss the spinach leaves on top, cover the pan, cut off the heat and let the leaves wilt in the steam, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer the stew to a serving bowl, add the fresh lemon juice and serve with a dollop of yogurt for each person.

           

More on food in the time of Coronavirus

Just a reminder that onions and garlic, which you can stock up on, are antibiotics for the lungs. And honey is antibiotic for the throat. Antibiotics do not necessarily kill viruses; they kill bacteria which are not the same thing at all. But they can help keep you clean and pure so your immune system is fighting ready.  

Oysters and red meat provide significant amounts of zinc as do pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, lentils and beans. I say this because zinc is suspected to slow or thwart this particular virus from getting down into the lungs. So rice and beans with onions and garlic should be on your plate sometime. 

Another nutritional stalwart that stores, as long as you have a fridge, is peanut butter. It is high in protein, has fiber and provides potassium--which can be hard to find in foods. For those of you who have it on hand and want to do more than slather it on bread with jelly, here's a traditional Chinese recipe perfect for kids. 

Peanut Butter Noodles

You serve this at room temperature. Don't worry if you don't have snow peas. And if you don't have fresh chives, just mince some red onion.

Serves 6-8

1 lb fresh Chinese egg noodles (sold refrigerated, often near produce)

2 tbsp olive or corn or canola oil (don’t use fruity olive oil)

3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1” fresh ginger root, peeled and minced or grated finely

1 tbsp rice vinegar or wine vinegar if you don’t have any

 ¼ cup soy sauce (heavier is better but not mandatory)

1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter

½ cup Chinese sesame oil

1/8 tsp hot chili paste or Tabasco or habanero sauce

1 tbsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted

1 cup chopped fresh chives (the thick Chinese chive works best)

¼ lb fresh snow peas, cleaned

Cook fresh noodles in boiling water according to package instructions or for two minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water.  Mix olive or other oil into the noodles to keep them from sticking and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, blend garlic, ginger, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil and chili. Stir in peanut butter and keep stirring to make a smooth sauce.

Put the noodles in a large serving bowl and pour the sauce over them. Use a fork to blend. Mix in chopped chives (you may have to use your hands). Sprinkle sesame seeds all over the top. Optionally, if you like chili, you can now sprinkle some red pepper flakes on.

To garnish with snow peas, line the edge of the bowl by placing one snow pea upright next to another.  You can also chop the snow peas and mix them into the noodles. Serve at room temperature.

In the pasta post two back you will find easy going pantry stock deliciousness with cacio e pepe and Venetian spaghetti with onions. Here are a few more pantry proud recipes to get you through.
Corn Chowder

This is another two can feast. If you have fish or shucked shellfish, throw it in to make fish chowder.

Serves 6

2 tbsp butter or ghee
1 lg onion, peeled and diced
1 Serrano or other hot chili, seeded and diced OR 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp dried sage
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground chipotle pepper
1 tsp cracked or freshly ground black pepper
3 cups corn kernels (here's where the can comes in)
3 celery stalks, cleaned and diced
2 cups water
3 medium potatoes (any color), peeled and cubed

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp. diced pimento (these come in jars)

2 cups vegetable broth

12 oz. evaporated milk (not sweetened)

4 oz heavy cream

Melt butter in a medium soup pot or casserole. Add onion and chili pepper, sage and oregano. Sauté over medium heat until onions are golden brown, about 6-8 minutes. Stir in coriander, chipotle pepper, black pepper and celery. Continue to sauté 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Puree one cup of corn with 1 tbsp vegetable broth and add to the pot, stirring to blend. Add potatoes, salt and the rest of the vegetable broth. Blend ingredients, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add 2 cups corn kernels and pimentos. Add two cups of water. Continue to simmer covered on medium low heat for 5-8 minutes. (You don’t have to be exact.) Taste for salt and adjust to preference. Stir in evaporated milk and heavy cream. Cook over medium low heat uncovered until the soup is warmed thoroughly. Do not bring to a boil once the milk and cream have been included. Stir once to blend all flavors. Ladle into soup bowls.

Migas

This is lovely leftovers, a traditional Spanish way to creatively serve yesterday's bread today. Morcilla is a smoked meat for which you can substitute chorizo or pancetta or leftover bits of ham.

Serves 4

1 medium loaf of stale white bread (around 2-3 days old)

Extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, crushed with the skin on

1/2 lb (skimpy) morcilla, chorizo or pancetta, cubed

4 shallots or 1 sm onion, finely chopped

2 tsp smoked paprika

A small bunch of parsley, chopped

3 tbsp white raisins, soaked (either overnight or 2-3 hours before) in sherry (or water)

2 tbsp hazelnuts, toasted and crushed

1 tbsp (heaping) pine nuts, toasted

8 eggs

Salt and black pepper

Remove the bread's crust and cut it into 2cm cubes. Sprinkle with water to get it slightly damp. Put it aside in a plastic container or bowl with a damp tea towel over it until needed. The idea is to keep it moist.

Put a sauté pan on a medium to low heat and pour in 1/2 c extra virgin olive oil. When it is warm, add the garlic. When the garlic is halfway to caramelized, add all the meat and cook 2 minutes. The meat should release fat. Add the bread, stay on low heat and keep tossing it 4-5 minutes. After 2 minutes, add the shallots and season with the smoked paprika. Add the chopped parsley, raisins, hazelnuts and pine nuts and blend. The bread should not turn into croutons; it should be crispy on the outside but still moist and chewy on the inside. Using a slotted spoon, divide the pan mixture on four plates.

In the same pan, fry the eggs, making sure they’re crispy on the outside (with a skirt) and runny in the middle. Place on top of the bread mixture. Season with salt and pepper and serve right away.

 
Spicy lemon lentils

The acid in citrus fruit is so strong it can kill bacteria rapidly. Ergo ceviche. Grapefruit seed extract is also sold in pharmacies as a way to keep your stomach safe from turista. So this side dish offers you citrus help plus zinc and protein filled lentils. And it's light in case you can't get out to exercise. Best of all, if any is leftover, add chopped carrots and celery plus a cup or two of vegetable broth to make tasty lentil soup.

serves 6

2 cups brown lentils, picked over
1 small cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp butter or ghee
2 lg onions, diced
2" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1/4 tsp ground Cayenne
4 garlic cloves, minced
zest of 1 lemon, grated
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 sm medium hot chili, minced (or 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes)
salt and black pepper

garnish: 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves only, chopped

Put lentils, cinnamon stick and cloves in a large saucepan and cover lentils with water 1" over the top of them. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook about 20 minutes or until lentils are soft. Drain and remove cinnamon stick and cloves.

In a large sauté pan or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and add the oil. Add onions and sauté for 10 minutes until onions are soft and translucent. Add ginger, cayenne, garlic, lemon zest and chili. Sauté another 5 minutes. Fold in the lentils and lemon juice. Carefully stir once to blend. Heat just until the lentils are hot. Season with salt and pepper to your taste. Stir in the chopped cilantro.

Moroccan chickpea soup
You might as well enjoy something very tasty to lift your spirits. This is from my chickpea collection, aka what to do with a can of chickpeas.        

Serves 4

3 tbsp olive oil

1 med red onion, peeled and diced

¼ tsp caraway seed

3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

¼ tsp ground turmeric

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp fresh ground or cracked black pepper

½ tsp ground cumin

4 cups vegetable broth

2 tbsp chopped tomatoes in their juices

1 tbsp tomato paste

juice of ½ lemon

pinch of saffron

2 sm potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 1 cup when done)

1 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

¼ cup Italian parsley leaves, chopped

1/8- ¼ tsp salt to taste

Heat oil in a medium casserole or soup pot over medium high heat. Add onion and caraway seed and sauté five minutes until onion is soft.  Add garlic and all spices and continue to sauté 30 seconds. Add broth, stir in tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, lemon juice and saffron. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes, chickpeas and parsley.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Stir in salt. Serve hot with lemon wedges and, optionally, a dollop of harissa, Tunisian chili sauce, or similar.
Moros y Cristianos

Here's today's beans with rice dish. It's name encapsulates Spanish history: first how the Christians liberated Andalusia from the darker skinned Moors of North Africa, and then how the newly liberated Spanish brought their food with them to the New World. This dish is common in Cuba. I included the recipe in Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking.

Serves 6-8

1 cup dried black beans

1½ cups long-grain rice

3 tbsp olive oil

1 lg onion, peeled and diced

1 lg green bell pepper, diced

3 garlic cloves, peeled, smashed and minced

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1 bay leaf

½ tsp salt (or more to your taste)

½ tsp freshly ground or cracked black pepper

2 tbsp vinegar (red wine, Jerez or white)

1 tbsp (heaping) tomato paste

2¼ cups vegetable broth 

Optional garnish: freshly chopped cilantro leaves

Put the beans in a medium saucepan with 2¼ cups of water. Bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand covered for one hour. Drain and rinse beans.  Put back in saucepan with another 2¼ cups of water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer until beans are tender, about 40 minutes. Drain.

Rinse rice with cold water until water runs clear. Drain.

 In a medium casserole or stockpot, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion and green pepper and sauté over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté another minute. Add cumin, oregano, bay leaf, salt, pepper and vinegar. Sauté 30-40 seconds and add tomato paste. Blend ingredients and sauté one minute.  Add black beans and blend. Cook one more minute.

Add rice and stir to blend. Add broth, blending.  Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until rice is fully cooked and all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and remove bay leaf.Taste for salt and add ¼ tsp if you’d like more.

Drizzle with good quality olive oil and optionally garnish with freshly chopped cilantro leaves to serve.