Sunday, March 2, 2008

Fasting for Lent(ils)



Lazing off a hangover today, I noticed a bag of dried lentils I'd bought at the natural foods store a month or so back. I also noticed that, since breakfast, I hadn't eaten squat. I salted some water, and began boiling them while Kathy prepared rice, mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus. While they were cooking, I caramelized some onion and garlic in unsalted butter, and then placed them in a bowl, to which I added turmeric, ginger, a little chipotle pepper, garam masala, kosher salt, a dash of nutmeg, a tablespoon or so of olive oil, and black pepper. I drained the beans, added them to the mixture, and garnished with some rough-cut fresh cilantro.

We both ate our fair share (and still had enough left over to feed half of Punjab) the rice and lentils almost as perfect a pair as the rum and Cokes (beer and a Royal Flush for K) we'd imbibed the night before. Good things come in twos, it seems -- something that was further reinforced doing the "kitchen dance" in our tiny cookspace.

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