A walk on the wild side

This past year, I ventured into the Forks Over Knives Plan - the Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet.

It was doable. The only problem was that it took all the joy out of eating - all the joy out of life, which apparently has a lot to do with good eating.

I have a friend who runs a kitchen in a shelter. He says that they get alot of Bob's Red Mill Brand items donated. I can understand how that might happen. We had an entire shelf of good intentions left in the cupboard at the end of our run: Bob's Red Mill bulgur, barley, brown rice, red lentils, green lentils, wheat berries, quinoa, steel cut oats, you name it.

Six weeks of eating this way took me back to my 20's - the days of Diet for a Small Planet,  the Moosewood Cookbook, and food co-ops. This phase all started when one fall day I looked into the eyes of a cow at the Fryeburg Fair and said, "How could I possibly eat you?"

Three months after that, Thanksgiving happened and my vegetarian phase ended.

Eating the plant-based way involved a lot of preparation but not a lot of pleasure. I found myself going back to some of my old favorite recipes that, although meatless, had forbidden foods like butter, oil, and chicken stock.

One of the recipes I made was Curried Squash Soup which I originally got from the Boston Globe. I made this notation on the recipe: Gave recipe to Gus on the Yankee Kitchen October 20, 1994. 

Curried Squash Soup

1 large butternut squash (about 3 pounds) - peeled & cut into chunks
2 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
2 to 3 TB oil
2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 medium onion, chopped
salt to taste
juice of a lime or lemon

Put the squash in a large pan with the broth and water. Simmer until tender about 15 to 20 minutes. While the squash is cooking, heat 2 TB of the oil in a small frying pan and stir in the curry powder and cinnamon. Add the chopped onion and saute for 4 minutes, adding the additional oil if necessary. Puree the squash and the curry-onion mixture in a food processor or blender in two batches and return to the pan. Reheat. Check seasoning and add salt and lemon or lime juice to taste.

I served the squash soup with Mengedrah - a Syrian dish with lentils and rice that my mother-in-law used to make.

Mengedrah 

1 c. rice
2 1/2 c. water
2 small onions chopped
1/4 c. oil
3 TB butter
1/2 c. lentils
salt to taste

In saucepan, combine lentils with 1 c. water. Cook on medium heat. When it comes to a boil, lower heat and simmer 10-15 minutes. Add rice, 1 1/2 cups of water & salt. Bring mixture to boil. Cover & simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. You may find that you need to add more water during this time. Place butter on top of rice and cook an additional 10 minutes.

In separate pan, saute onions in oil until brown. Mix onions and oil with cooked rice and lentils.