Had a great time teaching three legume recipes on Sunday in Central Jersey. The hostess is a Taoist and vegan who invited 25 friends who wanted to learn more about cooking vegetarian meals. I made the Sweet and Sour Chickpeas, and Red Lentils with Fenugreek and Squash/Pumpkin from my book, along with a brand new recipe for white lentils which I'll share here. The group was amazed at the difference in taste among the recipes and how good they were! But anyone familiar with the range of dishes ...
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The village Punjabi cook doesn’t waste a thing, nor does she use many spices. When I saw a beautiful bunch of beets with bright green leaves and almost neon red stems, I planned to make three dishes—a roasted beet sald with walnuts and goat cheese with the beets, a mixed stir-fry with the leaves and, because I had a container of cooked black lentil thawing on the counter, a mahan dee daal with beet stems. Well, it was fabulous!

Black Lentils with Beet Stems

Yield: 6-8 servings

1 cup whole bl...
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This is the one of (God willing) many opportunities to share my recipes with you. I wish to start off the year with two healthy recipes from my book Menus and Memories from Punjab: Meals to Nourish Body and Soul because they are really hearty -- stick to the ribs, yet low in fat and delicious! Lentils and bread are the base of the Punjabi diet. Punjabis don’t feel they have eaten a meal unless it has bread. This one is so simple, just flour and water -- but wait ‘til you taste them!

Yellow...
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