Month: October 2022

Everyday Red Lentil Dal

Everyday Red Lentil Dal with pickled carrots and peppers and a boiled egg. YUM.

Vegan && Very Low Fat && Oil-Free && Grain-Free

I called this “Everyday” dal not because it’s mundane; actually the opposite, I love it so much I am excited to eat it almost every day. Like most dals I’ve ever met, it’s filling, satisfying, and (perhaps strangely?) soothing. It feels almost like a cheat to call it a recipe and make a post about it because it’s so simple and essential, it feels a little like making a recipe post about corn flakes in milk.

One thing I love about this recipe is that it’s extremely adaptable. It’s hard to make it taste bad if you are just adding ingredients you like, or omitting ones you don’t. This is the combination of my favorites, but I also frequently change things depending on what spices strike my fancy at the time, or what green vegetables have been sitting neglected in my fridge longest.

This recipe also has the benefit that the cooking part has enough hands-off downtime between adding ingredients, that you can prep while you cook, which I think saves time and energy. Making a big batch, as written, usually takes me 30 minutes or less from start to finish (including cleaning up my mess while it finishes simmering on the stove), so I feel like that’s pretty time and energy efficient, especially for so many servings.

The other great part about this dal (there are so many great parts!) is all the options for toppings. I try to make and keep a jar of picked carrots and hot peppers handy at all times to eat with my dal (I’ll make a separate recipe post for that; they are good on lots of other dishes too)! I also love adding a soft/medium boiled egg. Depending on the day, I may add a handful of cubed roasted potato or sweet potato. And DO NOT get me started on Dal Mix from Indianlife, that stuff is crack. It’s pretty low-ish fat, and grain free (yay!), so I enjoy small portions on *many* dishes, most especially this dal.

Dal is really hard to photograph. Also I am not a food stylist. But, trust me, this dal tastes way more amazing than any photo could convey.

Everyday Red Lentil Dal

Makes about 13-14 cups (about 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 quarts) — *freezes and reheats very well*

Depending how hungry you are and what else you’re eating at the time, one serving is one to two cups.

Hardware:

  • Deep bowl or mixing bowl that’s easy to pour from
  • Sieve for straining water from the lentils
  • Stock pot with at least 5.5 quarts capacity
  • Wooden spoon

Bits:

  • 3 1/4 cups red lentils
  • 1 (human) thumb of fresh ginger
  • 2 serrano peppers
  • 2-3 tsp salt (start with 2 tsp and add salt at the end to taste)
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 2 tsp coriander powder
  • optional: 1/2 tsp ground fenugreek seeds
  • optional: 20 fresh or frozen curry leaves, chopped into small bits
  • optional: 1/2 tsp Berbere Ethiopian spice mix (for added spice)
  • 4-5 large roma tomatoes
  • 1-2 bunches of lacinato kale (or collard greens)

To serve: pickled carrots and peppers, pickled okra, boiled egg, hot sauce, cubed roasted sweet potato, Indianlife Dal Mix

Algorithm:

  1. Wash the lentils (do not skip this step or your dal will taste gross!): Measure out the lentils into a mixing bowl that’s easy to pour from. Fill the bowl with cold water, swishing the lentils around with a spoon or your clean fingers. Skim the foam off the top, and then pour into a large sieve to drain the water. Dump the lentils back into the bowl and repeat until the water running through the sieve is clear, usually after 4 or 5 changes of water. This method is more effective and wastes less water than just putting the lentils in a sieve and running tap water over them.
  2. Put the lentils in a large stock pot. Add 10 cups water and turn the heat onto high. When the water gets near a boil, skim off the foam that bubble up; don’t worry about getting it all, but try to get most of it. Once water comes fully to a boil, reduce heat to medium, enough to maintain a gentle simmer.
  3. While you’re waiting for the water to come to foam and boil, mince the fresh ginger and serranos. If you’re using them, chop up the curry leaves.
  4. After the water boils, add minced ginger, serranos, salt, spices, and chopped fresh/frozen curry leaves if you’re using them. Give everything a good couple of stirs.
  5. Dice the tomatoes. When they are all diced, add them to the pot. Stir again to make sure the lentils are cooking evenly and nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot.
  6. Slice the kale leaves off the stems, and chop into 1- to 2-inch squares/strips. When they are all chopped, add them to the pot. Stir to incorporate the kale, and again make sure the lentils aren’t sticking to the bottom of the pot.
  7. Leave the dal to simmer uncovered for at least 5 minutes, until the kale is cooked and soft. Add water if the dal to achieve your desired consistency. Optionally, let the dal simmer up to 10 minutes more to let the flavors meld further, stirring occasionally. (This is a good time to clean up any mess remaining in the kitchen).
  8. Take off the dal off the burner. Optionally, add more salt to taste.
  9. Enjoy as is, or garnished with pickled veggies, egg, Dal Mix, or any toppings you like!

POTS-ade

Well, after a false start, I’m back. At least for a little while. I’ve already got some more recipe posts queued up, so I will at least give you some new recipes before disappearing again. Even after that false start and very long unplanned absence, I’m surprised, happy, and humbled to see that during that time some of you out there have continued to find your way here nonetheless. Your views and likes on my recipe posts have warmed my cold metallic robot heart (J/k it’s still only my stomach that’s robotic, not my heart… yet). Thank you!

In the spirit of openness and community and whatnot, here’s the story. In mid-2018 I started feeling constantly fatigued, and eventually my gastroparesis symptoms came back and wouldn’t subside. I got the first appointment I could with my gastroenterologist, who agreed to turn my stomach robot (aka gastric neurostimulator) up a notch. Within a few weeks my stomach symptoms were better, but not the fatigue. I had gone to my primary care doctor about the fatigue, who thankfully is awesome; she took it seriously, ran tests, and referred me to cardiology, rheumatology, neurology, but nothing turned up. The neurologist referred me to another neurologist outside the hospital system I usually go to, but I left two messages and his office still didn’t call me back for an appointment. Fast forward to March 2019, one morning while in a meeting at work the room suddenly started spinning and I nearly passed out (not embarrassing AT ALL). One ambulance ride later I was in the hospital’s emergency department; they did tests and discharged me at the end of the day. I landed back in the ED a few days later for similar symptoms (which occurred while at home, thank goodness), and they called the elusive neurologist for me to get me an appointment with him asap. Thankfully it didn’t take him too long to figure out I have POTS.

POTS stands for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. The website my neurologist pointed me to for more info about my diagnosis was this one, which I will refer you to now: http://www.dysautonomiainternational.org/page.php?ID=30. (Since I have become an established patient, his office has been much better at returning my calls.) Basically, because of POTS, I am prone to fatigue, lightheadedness, dizziness, pain, and brain fog (which, turns out, is an actual real thing, studied and documented in the literature. In medical terms, “it sucks”). Even when I’m not particularly symptomatic, I seem to be pretty light-sensitive, get tired easily and randomly, and, you guessed it, I’ve got ANOTHER food sensitivity! I am sensitive to anything with a high glycemic index. It’s not typical for me to be quite that sensitive all the time, but sugars are definitely now another thing to add to the food sensitivity list. Like I needed more.

In 2019 almost no one had heard about POTS. It may be ringing a tiny bell for some of you now, as COVID can induce POTS long-term (or permanently?) in rare cases. “Long-COVID” also shares quite a lot of the same symptoms as POTS as well, so much so, that I’m not even sure what the differences are. But, I totally got POTS before it was cool. Just so you know ;P

In retrospect it is little to no surprise that my POTS is caused by dysfunction of the same nerve group, the vagus nerve, that causes my gastroparesis. While POTS and gastroparesis can occur in some people from other causes, there is apparently a big overlap of people who have idiopathic gastroparesis and idiopathic POTS as a result of the same idiotic vagus nerve. (Anyone else out there? Anyone in Seattle want to start a Dr. Zia / Dr. Armitano fan club? Holler at me in the comments! Comisery loves company!)

So after I got diagnosed, I also did the FODMAP elimination diet, mainly as some of my more annoying, but less debilitating, gastroparesis symptoms seemed to be much more frequent and uncomfortable and there seemed to be evidence to suggest a low-FODMAP diet could help. Long story short, I learned all about FODMAPs, and found a few new foods I don’t tolerate well, like garlic, which is one of the highest FODMAP foods. (But also, cassava and camomile?! Dear stomach, you are a freak). Thankfully, it turns out I am ok with most FODMAP foods (and I have since had a real nutritionist, referred by my gastroenterologist, who recommended I NOT avoid all FODMAP foods). The thing is, with all the health stuff going on and the food restrictions in play, I was feeling really down about food. For a while I just physically wasn’t able to do much of anything, and after I had recovered some, it sounds strange, but I was kind of mad at food in general and the trouble it has caused me, and was still causing me. Fortunately, about three years later, I am now in a better place – both with what I can eat, now that I’m NOT avoiding most/all high-FODMAP foods in addition to avoiding fats and most grains for my gastroparesis, and meat for my conscience. Also, I’ve just been slowly finding my passion for food again. Only now I have to be more strategic about how I spend my limited energy. Though when I do spend it cooking or baking, it means that much more to me; I hope others that I cook and bake for recognize that as well.

So now that I’m back, here are my terms for Robot Recipes 2.0: I will continue to share vegetarian food I love to eat and/or love to cook. I am still not very good at food styling, or food photography, and I don’t have the spoons to care about that, especially when I usually just want to eat the yummy thing I made. I am not trying to make money or a career off of food blogging, so my pictures of food CAN, and WILL, be mediocre. The actual taste of the dish once you’ve made it is going to have to speak for itself. Given that this is not my day-job and that I have limited energy, I’m going to go at my own pace with making and publishing recipe posts. (P.S. These terms are mostly meant to set expectations for me about myself. Everyone else will have to take or leave them. That said, I’d love it if you, dear reader, wanted to post more in the comments section with positive messages / constructive criticisms / life observations / contemplations of the meaning of the universe and interpretations of the ramifications that time is just an emergent property of quantum entanglement / pictures of your kitchen timers shaped like hedgehogs and other cute animals.)

You may notice eventually, dear blog reader, that POTS has changed the way I cook a little bit. I now unapologetically tend to make large batches of everything, so I can have leftovers and freeze some for later (for “food-mergencies”). Cooking larger batches also minimizes the time and energy I have to spend standing around prepping and cooking per meal eaten. My experience being temporarily low-FODMAP made me wary of excessive alliums, even though I think I can tolerate them pretty well. Even so, I omit onions and garlic from quite a few recipes where they might normally be found, and keep them to what I consider a minimum in others. (Pro-tip: sautéed carrots with a pinch of hing (a.k.a. asafoetida) is a pretty decent substitute for sautéed onions and garlic in terms of volume and flavor.) Increasing salt intake can also help prevent and relieve POTS symptoms, as it helps keep blood pressure up; since POTS, I have definitely noticed I have an enhanced affinity for salt as well, so you may find my recipes these days to be on the saltier side of normal. Fortunately salt is an easy one to cut back, and/or adjust to taste at the end of most recipes, so this is my note of caution and I leave it to you, dear reader, to use however much salt you’re comfortable with.

And now the recipe! With POTS it’s important to stay hydrated, increase salt intake, and keep electrolytes up, and that’s exactly what this drink does. Also, it tastes good and doesn’t have weird dyes or any sugar, and doesn’t cost 2 bucks for a single-serve plastic bottle that will spend the next 10,000 years in a landfill leaching toxins as it struggles and fails to decompose. I have used this drink in order to help prevent POTS symptoms, and also when that brick wall of symptoms starts hitting it has helped me feel noticeably a little better within minutes. It’s not a magic cure of course, and it doesn’t do enough to make me feel perfect, just gives me a much-appreciated push back towards functional. It’s not much of a recipe, but I wanted to share it particularly in case it helps anyone else who has POTS (is there a name for us… other than spoonies or sickies? POTSies? POTSheads? No?), or even anyone who wants a good, light, super hydrating drink after a workout, or whatever you normies do.

POTS-ade

(Like lemonade, or a certain sports drink whose name ends in “ade”… but for POTS)
Makes one 12 fl. oz. serving

Bits:

  • 1 cup (8 fl. oz.) water
  • 1/2 cup (4 fl. oz.) Uncle Matt’s sugar-free lemonade (can sub 2 Tbsp lemon juice + 6 Tbsp water + 1/8 tsp stevia, but try to find Uncle Matt’s if possible)
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 – 1/2 tsp sea salt, depending on how much salt you want and how salty tasting your salt is

Algorithm:

Combine all ingredients in a glass and stir to dissolve the salt. Drink whenever you need extra hydration, salt, and electrolytes.