It could definitely be worse.

Before we talk food, let's talk weather.  More exactly, let's talk what we can do when we feel helpless in the face of tornadoes and floods and earthquakes and tsunamis and...well, you get it. 

• Donate to a disaster relief charity.  JustGive.org makes this easy, and you can donate                          anonymously.
• Host a fund-raising activity: a walk or run, a field day, a "pay what you'd donate" dinner at                      someone's home, a bake sale.  Then see #1.
• Donate time at a food bank or animal shelter.  It may not directly affect the disaster areas, but it         still helps people in need.
•  If you can, fly to the area in need and pitch in.  I'm guessing you could contact the American Red Cross and ask about volunteer options.
•  Find out about the soup kitchens, food banks, and animal shelters in the affected areas, and send a shipment of food, blankets, chew toys, etc.

Get creative.  Any little thing can help in big ways.

As you might imagine, after this morning's news about Joplin, MO, I don't really have the heart to whine about how it's grey and cool here for the fourth week in a row.  It does stink, but really, I'd have to be rating high on the suckitude meter to go there right now.  So instead, I cook. 

The chopping, the smells, the sizzles all help with the blues.  We had friends over for dinner this weekend, and I spatchcocked a chicken (which, I'm serious, is maybe the coolest cooking term EVER) for the first time, rubbed it up with garlic and lemon a la Nigel Slater (am currently addicted to his cookbooks and writing), and grilled the bird until the skin was crispy and the meat was tender.  I did not, of course, eat all of the skin myself.  Ahem.  Or at least not every little bit of it.

I served it up with a Jerusalem Artichoke and Farro Risotto from Janet Fletcher's book Eating Local, and we were very happy indeed.  The bottle of Pinot Grigio helped with that, of course...

Tonight, I'm back to playing with lentils.  I love legumes (wouldn't that make a great t-shirt?) and use them often, but get stuck in the black bean-cannellini rotation.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, per se, but there are so many other options out there that it seems a shame not to explore every so often.  Also this weekend, we went to one of our local farmers' markets and picked up a package of stew lamb; my head went straight to a lamb and lentil stew.  At first I was thinking Italian overtones (because that's pretty much what I always think of first) and then I decided to do some searching and see what else was out there.  I read quite a few Indian-inspired recipes, and from those cobbled together this one.  The pound of stew lamb will feed six, but you can also up the veggies and lentils and leave the lamb out entirely without the dish suffering.

Indian-Spiced Lamb and Lentil Stew
serves 6
1 lb lamb stew meat, cut into small chunks (can omit, just up the lentils and veg)
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced (I used 2 small leeks, since we had some in the fridge)
2 med. to large carrots, peeled and diced
2 sticks celery, diced
2 in. knob of ginger, peeled and minced or grated
1 tbsp curry powder (or more to taste)
1/2 tbsp garam masala (or more to taste)
1- 3" cinnamon stick
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1/4-1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
15 oz. can diced, no salt tomatoes (if yours aren't no salt, just wait to add all of the salt you think you might want)
1 cup of lentils
6 cups of liquid (I used a mix of water and chicken broth)
10 oz frozen, chopped spinach (no need to thaw)
1/4 cup golden raisins
basmati rice to serve, optional

1.  In a large Dutch oven, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium-high heat.  When shimmering, add lamb.  Cook until browned on all sides, about 5-7 minutes.  Remove lamb from pot.

2.  Add 2 tbsp oil, and minced garlic through cayenne pepper (remember to go easy on the salt at this point).  Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables begin to soften, about 5-7 minutes.  Return lamb to pan, and stir in lentils and tomatoes.  Add 6 cups of liquid and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan with your spoon to get up the bits that have stuck.  Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until lamb and lentils are tender, about 35 minutes. 

3.  Stir in spinach and raisins; cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 more minutes.  Serve hot over rice, if desired.

Baby, It's Cold Inside!

I think I've already mentioned my predilection for freezing things.  It's how I preserve summer and my favorite flavors on into winter, when I'm less inclined to buy fruits and vegetables out of their New England season.  I dole these things out and try to make them last until the end of winter, when I can start buying things like local asparagus and lettuce.  Don't get me wrong, this is no Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (which I not-so-secretly aspire to accomplishing...a girl can dream...).  I have a looooong way to go before I'm putting by enough vegetables and fruits to get us through winter.  But it's like opening precious jewels when I take out a quart of tomato sauce or make blueberry pancakes with the fruits from last summer.

This past summer, I had great luck with green beans and Romano beans, and we're just now finishing up the few packages I put by.  I socked away about 2 pounds of roasted red peppers, and 2 quarts of blueberries.  I also freeze greens like kale, chard, and collards, and I freeze as much tomato sauce in varying forms as I can possibly cram into the freezers we have. 

Another way that I like to freeze things is baked into muffins, scones, quick breads and things like lasagnas.  I found a zucchini-orange bread recipe last summer that I LOVE, and I put by about 10 loaves of the stuff.  We're down to our last few of those, as well as our last batch of peach-blueberry muffins. 

My least successful frozen "treat" would be the zucchini.  I followed the guidelines from one of last summer's "Eating Well" issues, but I have to say, the zucchini was a little...er...limp in tonight's dinner.  That's okay, though, because the green beans were fabulous, and the stew over all was delicious.  Herbes de Provence is a new blend for me to play around with--I'm typically an Italian Seasoning kind of girl--but I enjoyed it and will look for new ways to use it.

French-Style Chicken and Vegetable "Stoup"
by Me (inspired by Rachael Ray)
Serves 4-5
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion (I used red) chopped
1/2-3/4  c chopped carrot
1/2-3/4 c chopped celery
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 medium fennel bulb, cored and sliced about 1/4" thick  (I'd increase this to a whole bulb next time, I think)
1 heaping tsp Herbes de Provence
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1 tsp total salt and 3/4 tsp total pepper)
1 small fresh zucchini, chopped*
1/4 c dry white wine
1- 14.5 oz can low-sodium diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 to 1 1/2 cups water  (could leave out if you want it more like a stew)
2 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 1/2 pound, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 to 1 1/2 cups frozen chopped green beans
1 15 oz can white beans, drained and rinsed
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, for grating over top

1.  Heat olive oil in a large saucepot or Dutch oven over medium heat.  When oil shimmers, add onion through Herbes de Provence.  Sprinkle with salt.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables start to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add the zucchini, and cook another 2-3 minutes.  Raise heat to medium-high.

2.  Add white wine and cook until almost evaporated.  Add bay leaf, tomatoes, broth and water, if using.  Bring to a bubble, add chicken, and reduce heat to medium.  Add more salt, and some pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through, about 7-10 minutes.  Add green and white beans and heat through, about 3 minutes.  Serve with grated cheese on top, if desired.

*I used frozen zucchini from last summer's bumper crop (okay, it was the neighbor's bumper crop...).  I can't say I'd recommend it, because I like my zucchini to have a bite to it, but if you've got it, add it when you add the beans, and bump up the cooking time by a few minutes to make sure all the frozen things are heated through.  From now on, I'll just freeze the zucchini inside my baked goods. :)