How often do you come home at the end of the day and say, “I’m way too tired to cook?” Over the years I have learned what I call “triage” cooking that allows me to make simple, healthy fresh food within 30 minutes. I’ll share more of my triage cooking in other posts.
Robin Robertson’s cookbook, One-Dish Vegan: More Than 150 Soul-Satisfying Recipes for Easy and Delicious One-Bowl and One-Plate Dinners, is one of my current favorites for making simple, healthy meals. Most of the recipes are ready in 45 – 60 minutes, so I tend to cook these when I arrive home at least an hour before dinner time.
I usually double or triple the recipe so I have enough to freeze in Pyrex containers – voila, future lunches and dinners, ready-to-go.
Here is one of my current favorite soup recipes from Robertson’s book. I eliminate the tomatoes (one of my food intolerances), and the soup is still wonderful:
senegales-inspired red lentil soup
Reminiscent of the curreied soups of Senegal, this tasty potage combines lentils and sweet potatoes with cabbage and tomatoes for a delicious mingling of flavors and textures.
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or 1/4 cup water
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup dried red lentils
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
- 2 cups shredded or chopped cabbage
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- Salt
- Chopped unsalted roasted peanuts or cashews, for garnish
1. Heat the oil or water in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot adn cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, lentils, curry powder, coriander, cayenne, sweet potato, cabbage, and tomatoes with their juices.Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add salt to taste, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the lentisl and vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes. If the soup becomes too thick, add additional broth.
2. Serve hot, garnished with peanuts.
