Mujadara Recipe

This is a vegan dish from the Middle East. It's easy to make.

Lentils

1/2 cup of rinsed brown or French lentils and a bay leaf - cook in water to cover until tender. Remove the bay leaf and set the lentils aside for now.

Carmelized Onions

While the lentils are cooking, saute the following ingredients in a heavy skillet until the onions are carmelized. Don't let them burn.
1/2-1 cup of thinly sliced onions, shallots or leeks
Garlic clove, chopped
1 teaspoon of sugar (jaggery or brown sugar is recommended)
olive oil

Soaked Raisins

While the lentils and onions are cooking, soak 
1/2 cup of raisins in
juice of a 1/2 lemon, and
1 tablespoon of hot water

Rice

When the onions are ready, in a separate heavy skillet, combine the following ingredients:
1/2 cup basmati rice
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds
If you are not using powdered spices, reduce the quantities to 1-2 teaspoons. I like to use the whole spices and grind them fresh.
Saute the rice and spices in olive oil then add 1-1&1/2 cups of water, cover the rice and cook it until tender. 

When the rice is done, add the lentils, onions and raisins and stir. At this final stage you can also add 1-2 cups chopped tender greens like arugula, tender kale, etc...

Salt to taste.

Laura Spaulding

Madhur Jaffrey's Beet and Tomato Soup

As served at Kentucky Street on June 24.

Bunch of fresh beets
Equal weight of fresh tomatoes
1 tsp ghee
1/2-1 tsp whole cumin seeds (I used a full tsp)
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
4-6 whole cloves
1/2 piece stick cinnamon
1/2-1 tsp salt

Wash the beets and leave about 2 inches of tops on the beets. Not necessary to peel them. Cook the whole beets in water until you can pierce them with a fork.  Remove from water and let cool.
In the beet water, scald the tomatoes and remove from the water. Save the water.  Let the tomatoes cool enough to peel them.
Slip off the beet skins and tops and put the whole beets and the peeled tomatoes in a food processor or blender. Add enough water so that you thoroughly blend them to a soupy consistency.

In a heavy sauce pan or soup pot, heat the ghee until sizzling, but don't scorch it. Add all the spices and lightly saute until fragrant.  Add the beet/tomato mix.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes on low heat. Add salt to taste.  You can add a bit of cream, but I didn't do that.

Strain. Enjoy!

The original recipe can be found in Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking, Alfred A. Knopf, 1981. I made some changes which I think makes it faster and easier to prepare.