Indian Spiced Lentils

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 cup green lentils
1 1/2 cup vegetable stock or water
4 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts divided
1 green jalapeno pepper, minced
1 red serrano pepper, minced
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 cup Italian parsley leaves, chopped

1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add onion and sauté 2 minutes. Add garlic and spices and sauté 1 minute. Add lentils and stir to coat. Add stock. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until the lentils are soft but chewy, about 40 minutes. Transfer lentils to a large bowl.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet. Add white part of scallions and peppers. Sauté briefly until peppers brighten in color, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add to lentils.

3. Stir in pomegranate molasses, salt and pepper. Taste to adjust seasoning. Before serving, add green scallions, cilantro and parsley and gently toss to combine. Serve warm or at room temperature. (The flavors will develop if refrigerated several hours or overnight.)

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Warm Salad of Slow-Roasted Tomatoes With Almonds

Pressed leek terrine and mayonnaise

(A vegetable mixture that has been cooked or otherwise prepared in advance and allowed to cool or set in its container)

Avocado Hummus

Caponata on panelle (easy flatbread)

Baked Butternut Falafel With Cucumber Yogurt

Baked ricotta with avocado, grilled tomatoes and chive oil

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Puy Lentil Hummus That's the brown lentil, with sun-dried tomatoes!

Roasted Carrot-Cumin Hummus

Colombian Potatoes with Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:

• 3-4 pounds red potatoes
• 3 shallots or 1 small white onion
• 1 bunch scallions
• 1 teaspoon chile powder (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 3/4 cup cream
• 6 ounces whole milk mozzarella, or other salted white cheese that melts well

Preparation:

Ingredients

• Lettuce leaves, queso fresco slices or cubes, hard boiled eggs, avocado slices, slices of mild hot peppers, finely chopped scallions, finely chopped cilantro or parsley, tomato and onion curtido, aji criollo

Instructions

1. Peel the potatoes, cut them in half and boil until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain and save until the refrito is ready.
2. In the same pot that the potatoes were cooked, prepare a refrito by melting the butter over medium low heat and adding the diced white onions, diced garlic, achiote powder and some salt. Cook until the onions are translucent, about 7-10 minutes.
3. Add the potatoes and milk to the refrito and use a potato masher to mash the potatoes until they are smooth and creamy.
4. Mix in the crumbled queso fresco and cream, taste and add additional salt if needed
5. Serve immediately, can be served in individual plates or in a large serving bowl garnished with lettuce leaves, queso fresco cubes, quartered hard boiled eggs, avocado slices, slices of peppers, chopped scallions and chopped herbs. The tomato onion curtido and aji sauce can be served on the side and added according to each person’s preference.

Smoked eggplant and yogurt purée

Ingredients

2 large, plump eggplant
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup, thick, set, plain yogurt
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A few dill fronds

Aleppo pepper optional

Method

Place the aubergines directly onto the flame on the gas hob, turning them from time to time, until the skin is charred and the flesh feels soft to touch.

Place them in a plastic bag and leave to sweat for 5 minutes.

Hold each one by the stalk under running cold water and gently peel off the charred skin, until you are left with the smooth bulbous flesh on the end of the stalk.

Squeeze the flesh to get rid of any excess water and place it on a chopping board. Cut off the stalk and chop the flesh to a pulp.

In a bowl, beat the flesh with the olive oil, lemon juice and garlic. Beat in the yogurt and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with dill and serve with chunks of fresh crusty bread.

Mahummara Dip

Ingredients

1 cup roasted red bell peppers
1/3 cup toasted walnut pieces
1/2 pita bread, torn (slightly stale is good!)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. pomegranate molasses
large pinch of aleppo pepper or red chile flakes
pomegranate arils and italian parsley to garnish (optional)
1 package pita bread for serving

Instructions

In the bowl of a food processor or in a blender jar combine the roasted bell peppers, walnuts, 1/2 pita bread, garlic, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses and pepper. Mix until a thick puree forms, scraping down the sides of the bowl/jar as needed. With the machine running slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Taste and adjust seasoning

Garnish with pomegranate arils and italian parsley. Serve with pita bread triangles, small cucumbers, pepper strips and/or celery.

1 cup dried garbanzo beans
1 cup chunked onion
4 garlic cloves
1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or 1/4 fresh habaneros or 1/4 fresh scotch bonnet pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon hot curry powder (to taste)
1 teaspoon dry roasted and ground cumin or 1 teaspoon just cumin powder
1 lb potato, peel and cube
1 -2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
4 1/2 cups cabbage, chunks

Directions:

Soak the chickpeas overnight in water to cover. Drain, recover with fresh water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered until very tender. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid. Add enough water to the reserved cooking liquid to equal 2 1/2 cups.

Put the onion, garlic, peppers and 1/4 cup of water in a blender and process until smooth. You can always add more pepper in the end, but you can't take it away.

Heat the oil over a medium high heat. Put in the onion paste and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium low, then cover and continue cooking the paste. for another 2-3 minutes. Stir it frequently just to prevent sticking, and keep it covered between stirs.

Add the curry powder and the cumin, stir.

Add the chickpeas, potatoes, the lesser amount of salt, and the reserved chickpea cooking liquid.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat and cover. Cook gently, stirring occasionally until the potatoes are done to your tastes, 20 - 25 minutes.

Add in the cabbage and an additional 1/2 - 1 cup of hot water. Bring back to a simmer, cover and cook for an additional 10 - 15 minutes, or until the cabbage is just softened. Do not over cook the cabbage.

Natal Red Kidney Bean Curry

Ingredients:

255g dried red kidney beans
3tbsp vegetable oil
3 whole, dried, hot red chillies
½tsp whole brown mustard seeds
½tsp whole cumin seeds
A generous pinch of ground Asafetida
15 fresh curry leaves, if available
3 medium tomatoes, grated on the coarsest part of the grater
¼tsp ground turmeric
1tsp ground coriander
1tsp ground cumin
2 fresh, hot green chillies, finely chopped
1clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1tsp peeled fresh ginger grated to a pulp
1tsp sugar
1½tsp salt

Method:

1. Cover the beans generously in water and leave to soak overnight.
2. Drain the next day, put in a medium-large pan, add 1½ltr/2½pts water, and bring to the boil. 3. Partially cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low, and cook gently for 2-2½ hours or until the beans are tender.
4. Meanwhile, pour the oil into a medium pan and set over a medium-high heat.
5. When the oil is hot, put in the red chillies, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafetida.
6. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the curry leaves and tomatoes.
7. Stir once, then add the turmeric, coriander, cumin, green chillies, garlic, ginger, sugar and salt.
8. Stir and bring to the boil.
9. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
10. When the beans are tender, pour the spiced tomato mixture into the pan with the beans.
11. Bring to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, on a very low heat, for 20 minutes.

Parveen Haroon's Black eyed Beans with Spinach and Dill
From Pakistan

From Madhur Jaffrey's "From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail." Clarkson Potter 2003.

1 cup dried black-eyed peas
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
3 Tablespoons corn or peanut oil
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon whole brown mustard seeds
4 cloves garlic, chopped
15-20 fresh curry leaves, if available (I used 8 or so dried)
1 pound spinach, washed, finely chopped, and left to drain in a colander (I used one bunch, probably half a pound)
7-8 Tablespoons very finely chopped fresh dill
6 Tablespoons plain yoghurt (I used about 4 Tablespoons milk)

1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons coarsely ground, pure chili powder (gochu karu!)
1 dried lime or 1 fresh lime or 1 to 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Cover the beans generously with water and leave to soak overnight. Drain them the next day, put in a pan with 4 cups of fresh water, and bring to a simmer. Partially cover with a lid, and cook for 50 to 60 minutes, or until tender (mine took 2 hours). Stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt.

Pour the oil into a large pan or wok and set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the cumin seeds and mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop, a matter of seconds, put in the garlic and curry leaves. Stir once, then add the spinach and dill. Stir and cook until most of the liquid in the spinach is absorbed. Reduce the heat to low and add 1 1/2 cups of water, the chili powder, and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Stir. If using a dried lime, crack the lime and take out the dried black pulp. Remove any seeds and crush the pulp. Add it to the spinach. Now pour the contents of the spinach pan into the pan containing the beans. Stir and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Serve with tomato-garlic rice (separate recipe).

Sliced Blood Oranges Sprinkled With Black Pepper

Duh.

Chicory with cheese

8 heads of chicory
1 tbsp lemon juice
100 ml stock
1.5 kilograms potatoes
30 grams butter
30 grams flour
125 grams grated cheese
grated nutmeg, salt

Cut a slice off the bottom of the chicory and scoop out the 1/2 inch white bitter part from the centre. Boil water, add the lemon juice and drop the chicory heads in it. Again bring to a boil and cook the chicory for 5-6 minutes. Drain the heads, but keep 200 ml of the juices. Peel, boil and mash the potatoes. Melt the butter in a pan, mix in the flour and gradually add the juices. Mix in 100 grams of grated cheese, add nutmeg.

Place chicory heads in a greased deep oven dish. Pour in the meat stock and on top of it half of the cheese sauce. Cover it with the mashed potatoes, sprinkle with nutmeg and add the rest of the cheese sauce.

Top off with the remainder of the grated cheese and bake in a preheated oven at 225 C (440 F) for about fifteen minutes.

Red cabbage Twente-style

1 kilogram red cabbage
100 grams bacon (optional)
1 onion
salt and pepper
2 cloves
1 glass red wine
1 tbsp currants
250 grams red currant jam

Dice the bacon and slowly brown (or put a shot of olive oil in skillet if vegetarian). Peel and dice the onion, add it to the bacon and sautee. Grate or chop the cabbage and add it to the pan, mixing well. Add salt and pepper to taste, put in the cloves, currants and jam. Pour in the wine. Turn down the heat and let the cabbage simmer until ‘al dente’. Serve with your choice of meat, mashed potatoes and garnish with fried slices of apple.