Kakahead

OK I admit it:  I’m a pretty simple person.  What I mean by that is, it doesn’t take much to flip my switch.  Anyone who knows me is very much aware that gardening and food both give me great pleasure; and life is always pretty doggone good when all that melds together.

I suppose it’s pretty natural; but my love of food and cooking came from my parents.  Mom always managed to feed us and usually made pretty delicious stuff.  I say “usually” because she did the best she could with a small budget.  Consequently, not every dish was a cosmic taste bud experience.   She did a great job overall though; and worked really hard to keep us all fed with the most nutritious fare she could muster.

Dad was the great experimenter.  He loved to try new things; but sometimes went a bit off the deep end with strange concoctions.  When Dad was on a roll with a certain dish, he would play with the ingredients in an attempt to produce something with real pizzazz.  Usually came up with some pretty wonderful delights; but once in a great while the results were a bit less than wonderful.  For example:   Dad went nuts with pot pies.  He made all kinds, and all were pretty good.  An inexpensive way to feed a tribe of four kids, right?  Well, all went swimmingly until we were introduced to Smelt Pot Pie.  It was just plain nasty.

“Dad, do we have to eat this??”

“No,” he said, shaking his head with a squint and an embarrassed chuckle.  (Hey, you can’t win ‘em all, right?)

Anyway, thanks to Mom and Dad we all learned how to cook pretty well.  I got pretty lucky with a dish recently so I’d like to share it with you if you don’t mind.  If you do mind, please change the channel.

My beautiful girlfriend sat down to my latest culinary achievement last weekend and she told me something truly wonderful:  “Honey, I think this is the best soup you ever made!”

Now, I made a large pot of it, and I’m not really sure how to reduce the recipe.  Also, lots of the measures are approximate.  But if you’re at all adept in the kitchen you already know that most recipes are a guide, not the carved in stone gospel.

So here it is, my recipe for:

VEGETARIAN GARBAGE LENTIL STEW

Doesn’t that sound delicious??  Well hey, don’t knock it till you try it.

First, the stock.  This is where the GARBAGE part comes in.  When you cut up veggies for other meals: save the peels and odds and ends in a gallon size freezer bag.  Keep this in the freezer until the bag is full.  My last bag full had parsnip ends, onion peels, swiss chard stems, and kohlrabi trimmings for example.  Empty the contents of the freezer bag into a 6 quart pan and fill the pan up to just a couple inches from the top.  Bring to a boil.  Take a metal spatula and chop the veggie trimmings occasionally to release the nutrients from inside their soft carcasses.

I let mine simmer for several hours at very low heat, just enough to make it boil gently.  Cover the pot when you’re not visiting it with the spatula but reduce the heat low enough so the contents bubble slowly but don’t boil over.

Finally, take the pot off the heat and strain the contents into another 6 quart pot.   This is the stock for the lentil stew.  Now please take the boiled out veggie peelings, etc. to the compost.  Thank you.

Stew Ingredients:

1 cup lentils

½ cup brown rice

¼ cup wild rice

½ cup barley

5 tablespoons Kikkoman Lite Soy Sauce

1 ½ to 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes (or ¼ cup diced fresh parsley)

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1 teaspoon ground cumin

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3 large carrots, chopped (not too small of chunks… this is stew ya know)

5 large cloves garlic

½ cup frozen peas

1 cup “soup beans”  (string beans that were a bit too far along when picked)

1 cup diced okra

2 fresh tomatoes, diced

Directions:

Add lentils, grains, soy sauce and herbs to the stock.  Bring to vigorous boil then reduce heat.  Simmer at low boil until the lentils are just soft enough to eat.

Add the veggies and garlic; cover and continue to simmer at low heat until the carrots melt in your mouth.

Serve with a slice of rye bread or just enjoy it by itself.  Also delicious with a little grated parmesan on top.  Feeds two people about 180 times.  Well OK, maybe not quite that much; but my lovely wife and I had it for dinner and also lunch a couple times this past week and we’re really glad it’s about gone.  Obviously, you can always freeze half of it and save it for one of those days when you just don’t feel like cooking.

It was really good… as I mentioned before, probably the best soup I’ve ever made.  Of course you can add or subtract ingredients to your liking.

Remember earlier when I mentioned that I really get happy when food and gardening come together?  I got the carrots from the farmers market, but the garlic, “soup beans,” okra and tomatoes all came from my little organic plot on the south side of the house.  Is that cool or what??