Yellow Split Pea Soup

Split peas are basically lentils bigger brother that really isn't spoken of much. If you really want to make a soup or the like that requires lentils, split peas will substitute in fine and have a large amount of protein and iron as well. However, the only place I really see or have heard of them being used is in Split Pea soup, which I always imagined as a kind of being made of green garden peas and therefore pretty gross sounding. Once again, my conception was terribly off base(I mainly subsided on Northern Eurpean/Irish food as a kid, so I didn't know about all these things) and the soup is actually delicious. The recipes I found were fairly sparse in flavorings though, so I mixed the ones I found with Vegan Dad's tarka dahl recipe, keeping the parts of each that I preferred. My composite:

Yellow Split Pea Soup

1 cup split peas, rinsed
2 cups water
1" ginger, minced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large onion, cut into crescents
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp red chili flakes, or two large whole dried chilis
1/4-1/2 tsp salt, to taste mainly

1/4-1/2 tsp ground mustard, optional

Cook the onion, ginger, and garlic in a pot with the oil until the onions are translucent. Add in all of the other ingredients and cook until the split peas are very soft(they will basically disintegrate) and serve hot. Make sure not to undercook the split peas, I did that one time and it ends poorly.

Parsnip-Lentil Soup

I was seeking to make myself a simple carrot-ginger soup the other night but the grocery store lacked any carrots but the large woody ones; they would make a terrible soup. They did have, however, quite the large volume of parsnips so I decided to pick them up instead, due to their similar flavor. As much I love the flavor of parsnips, I didn't think they would make a good one-to-one substitute for carrots in such a place so I decided to make a different kind of soup. Having a bag of indigo lentils leftover that I needed to use(my parents don't eat lentils at all, my mother has some old grudge against them), I mixed the two thing I had to make a soup. It needs some additional spices, but I'm not exactly sure what at the moment(I'm actually thinking a bit of cinnamon, actually). Anyway, here is the basic recipe:

Parsnip-Lentil Soup

1 1/2 cup lentils(green or indigo)
4-5 medium-small parnips, scrubbed and chopped to bit size
1 large onion, in crescents
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups broth
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, more if needed
1/2 tablespoon black pepper

Fry the onion and garlic in the pot until the onion is starting to become translucent. Add in the broth, lentils, parsnips, and bay leaves. Cook for 45 minutes or until done in your opinion, then add sea salt and pepper and serve hot. At the end here, if you want to try the cinnamon addition(I did in an individual bowl and it was nice), I would try around 1/2-3/4 tsp ground cinnamon. I would start low and move up, as it is cinnamon.

Mujadara

I seem to have fallen in love with lentils, in pretty much any form I can get them. Which is nice because it gives me a good source of protein and iron as well as a fair amount of uncomplicated meals. This is one of those meals; however, it does take a long time to do because you need to caramelize onions. Mujadara is basically rice, lentils, caramelized onions, and a bit of spices all mixed together and eaten hot. So if you don't like caramelized onions, move on, it's basically what the entire dish tastes like. This dish is of lebanese origin and from what I've been told usually only served at more legitimate ethnic lebanese restaurants; it's not as popular as something like falafel(it is just as tasty though). Here's the recipe:

Mujadara

4 tablespoons oil
3 pounds white onions

1.5 cups green or brown lentils(red or white will fall apart, indigo will be too stiff)
2 cups long grain brown or wild rice

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Sea Salt & Pepper
Fresh parsley leaves(optional)

Slice the onions into moderately thin rings and add to a deep pan with the oil and cook on medium-low heat until the onions are very soft, around 45 minutes. Don't put a lid on this like I did, it will just make the next step take much longer. Once the onions are sufficiently soft, raise the heat to medium high and cook until they are a deep brown and have sweetened. Mix half of these with the cooked rice, lentils, and spices*. Add the other half of the onions on the top of the dish and garnish with the parsley leaves. Serves four.

*Cook the rice plain in the ordinary fashion. Cook the lentils so they are still somewhat firm but not underdone. If you let them start to break apart it will still taste fine but you'll lose the proper texture and aesthetic appeal. I recommend a cup and half of water per cup of lentils and to cook them for around 30-45 minutes.

Christmas Feasts!

Ahhh Christmas, a time of many dinners and gatherings; all full of food that will either kill me or fails to be vegan. So in other words, it is a time of cooking a plethora of meals for all the aforementioned gatherings. So I designed myself a menu of lentil soup, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts and cranberries, and potato & sauerkraut pierogies; Not all at one of course. That would be a ridiculously large amount of food, not that I object to that at all. I may have spent the entire day in the kitchen but I cannot really object to that at all either. Now after my little intro, I think some recipes are in order...

Lentil Soup

2 cups lentils, green or indigo*
4 cups water
1 bunch carrots
2-3 teaspoons thyme, preferably fresh
3 bay leaves
~2 cups kale leaves, roughly chopped
Red Wine Vinegar

Mix the bay leaves, the lentils, and the water together in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30-45 minutes, then add the thyme and and carrots, chopped. Simmer for another 1-1.5 hours, until the soup is nice and thick. Add kale leaves and mix in well, cooking for another ten minutes. Add red wine vinegar as taste individually in your bowls.

Brussel Sprouts and Cranberries

4 pounds brussels sprouts, halved lengthwise
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper

1/2 cup fresh cranberries
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. On 2 large rimmed baking sheets, toss the brussels sprouts with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 40 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the sprouts are tender and browned in spots.
2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the cranberries, maple syrup, ginger and lemon zest. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until the cranberries break down and thicken, about 10 minutes. Pour on top of hot Brussels sprouts, mix and serve.

Now, for the tour de force(in my mind, anyway)
Potato & Sauerkraut Pierogies
Dough(I recommend doubling this, or tripling if it's a larger group):
2 Tablespoons margarine or shortening (I finally found Willow Run margarine, which makes me unimaginably happy. Yes, I'm easy to please).
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water

For filling, just make some mashed potatoes and buy some sauerkraut(if you make you're own you're twice as cool though)

Cut the dough into the flour with a fork, and mix in the water a bit at a time with your hands until it reaches the proper consistency. It may be a bit more or a bit less than it called for, whatever feels right to you and holds up well. Press between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick, more towards the former. Cut the pastry into ≈2 inch diameter circles, put a generous spoonful of the filling in the center, and fold them together. Press the edges together so there are no holes in the pierogies(I found this quite difficult, try making them a bit wet when you do this and it seems to help some). If you're confident that you actually made them stick together well enough, you can boil them for ten minutes to cook them. If not, just pan fry them until each side is golden brown. Serve hot. These also freeze well for later.

*Indigo lentils are a bit more expensive, but lentils all in all are dirt cheap anyway so there's not much complaint there. They hold up much better during cooking than any other ones(green ones hold up well though, I would avoid red or white for such a soup). Lentils are the third highest of any plant source in protein(after soy and hemp), high in iron & vitamin B1, and low in fat. Combining this with the fact that they're cheap and you're set; one of my favorite foods.