Recovery salad

Are you still full?

I mean, it’s been three days since the big meal, and hopefully you went for a gas- and bloating-relieving walk afterward. But if you had a lot of leftovers, you might have just kept on feasting right up until — well, you have stopped by the time you’re reading this, right? Or do you have a stacked leftovers sandwich staring at you from a plate right now? Or maybe you turned that Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Romesco into romesco soup with cauliflower crumbles. (Recommend!)

Table of Contents

• My next Zoom cooking class!

• I break for animals: Comet Olsen

• Recipe: Little Gem Salad with Green Curry Goddess and Crispy Lentils

• More favorite lentil recipes

If so, you had something to be thankful for this year. I don’t mean to be Joey Downer, but I’ve had a harder time than usual this holiday season reconciling the compulsion to overdo it — how many pies would I make this time? — with the fact that so many of my neighbors are going hungry. We ended up having a relatively small celebration, with just the three of us, and at least part of that was because I couldn’t imagine spending several days cooking way more food than we would need while food pantries are reporting higher demand than ever.

Thanksgiving, for those of us fortunate enough to be able to make and eat whatever we want, and however much of it, can require some moral gymnastics. That’s probably why this time of year is traditionally also the kickoff of charitable giving and volunteer season. I’m not immune; after I interviewed Jilly Stevens of City Harvest in New York City in front of attendees at the International Association of Culinary Professionals summit a few weeks ago, and she talked about the severe extent of the food-insecurity crisis, I started giving time and money. And I made myself promise: In my semi-retirement, this would be a year-round commitment, not a seasonal one.

Anyway, I’m not trying to make anyone feel guilty about indulging at Thanksgiving. I just hope that if you had a bounty to celebrate, you at least made good use of every last bit of food you cooked and served. I keep thinking about when I was a kid and how when I would leave food on my plate — often, food that I had served myself or asked for — my mother would say, “You know, there are kids starving in Africa.” I would sometimes snark back, “Well, maybe we should pack this up and send it to them!”

I never quite got the connection, obviously, but I do now. If we didn’t waste so much food, we could actually feed the world. City Harvest makes the connection every day; the nonprofit’s mission is to rescue food that’s perfectly good from going to waste and deliver it to hungry New Yorkers.

We’ve got another month of indulgent celebrations ahead of us, before the new year prompts many of us to hit reset. But in addition to trying to put my worries about food insecurity into action, I couldn’t wait for some post-Thanksgiving cooking that could scrub some of the extra fat and sugar from my system. So, even before we finished our own leftovers in this house, I made one of my favorite-ever salads from “Cool Beans,” my 2020 cookbook.

It’s a recipe I learned from the chef at the restaurant Ellē in D.C.’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood, simplifying it for the home kitchen. Quite simply, it’s a pile of little gem lettuce leaves generously coated in an incredible goddess-style dressing based on store-bought Thai green curry paste and then just as generously sprinkled with a mixture of sesame seeds, flax seeds, and fried black lentils for a riot of crunch. The recipe makes a salad big enough for four people, but after The Husband ate a large portion, I polished off the rest.

This was the kind of indulgence I could justify, physically and ethically, and it got me thinking: Maybe next Thanksgiving I should focus my energies on making one giant salad, opening up our house to anyone who wants some, and, if not feeding the world, at least feeding the neighborhood.

My next Zoom cooking class: holiday cookies!

The first one was such a success, we’re doing it again! And while a portion of the proceeds from the first went to Humane World for Animals, this time the beneficiary will be D.C. Central Kitchen, whose mission is to fight hunger differently. The agency, which is in need of donations and volunteers not just this holiday season but year-round, prepares nutritious meals for nonprofits, youth programs, and shelters; and also prepares adults facing barriers to employment through culinary careers, among many other programs.

For my second Zoom cooking class, set for Sunday, Dec. 7 at noon, we’re going to make and decorate cookies! We’re using plant-based shortbread, so simple and delicious just plain — or if you want I’ll show you how to flavor it several other ways. Then we’ve got fruit curd (lemon or lime) and royal icing for decorating. We’ll go over some of the easiest ways to make your cookies look special (think dipping in melted chocolate and then sprinkling with coconut, pearl sugar, or nonpareils), and we’ll also color the royal icing and pull out the cookie cutters and piping bags for some very basic festive strategies!

As always, you get 25 percent off a ticket to the class as a subscriber to this newsletter; just use the promo code “eatatjoes”! And don’t worry; if you just want to watch and not cook (or pipe) along, you’re welcome to do that. And if you can’t make it live but want to watch later, your ticket gets you access to a recording. (We had a snafu with our attempts to record the first one, but we’ve learned, I promise!)

I break for animals:
Comet Olsen

Recipe: Little Gem Salad with Green Curry Goddess and Crispy Lentils

When I met this salad at Ellē in Washington, DC, it was the sexiest dish using beans I had ever seen: stunning green leaves with red-tinged edges, a pale green dressing, and shiny black lentils. The taste was even better: the spicy, tart, and herbaceous dressing, crisp lettuce, and earthy and crunchy lentils (plus seeds). It was simple and complex at the same time, almost elemental in its appeal. I streamlined the recipe for my own home cooking: instead of making a curry paste from scratch for the dressing, I started with a store-bought version and amped it up with lime and fresh basil. You’ll have more dressing than you need for this recipe, but you can refrigerate it in an airtight container for up to 1 week and use it for potato salads, other greens, and as a dip.

Makes 4 servings // Time: Weekday // Storage: Refrigerate the dressing, lettuce, and lentil mixture separately for up to 4 days.

Green Curry Goddess Dressing

• 16 ounces silken tofu, drained

• 3/4 cup lightly packed basil leaves, plus more for garnish

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for assembling the salad

• 3 tablespoons Thai green curry paste

• 2 garlic cloves, chopped

• 2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest

• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

• 1 1/2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey

• 1 teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste

Salad

• 1/2 cup canned black lentils, drained and rinsed

• Sunflower or safflower oil, for frying

• 2 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds

• 2 tablespoons flaxseeds, toasted

• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste

• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• 6 cups lightly packed little gem lettuce leaves, chilled

To make the dressing: In the large bowl of a food processor, combine the tofu, basil, olive oil, curry paste, garlic, lime zest, lime juice, agave, and salt. Process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Taste and add more salt if needed.

To make the salad: Scatter the lentils on a clean dish towel and gently pat dry.

Pour the oil to a depth of 1 inch into a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Line a bowl with a clean dish towel. When the oil shimmers, sprinkle in the lentils, being careful to avoid splatters. Cook until the big bubbles start to subside and the lentils become crispy, about 5 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to scoop them into the towel-lined bowl. When the lentils are cool, remove the towel, and stir in the sesame seeds, flaxseeds, salt, and garlic powder.

To assemble the salad, scrape ½ cup of the dressing into a large bowl. Add the lemon juice, drizzle in a little olive oil, and whisk to combine. Drop in the lettuce leaves and gently toss until they are well coated. Sprinkle with half the lentil mixture and gently toss to coat. Add another ¼ cup of the dressing, if you’d like, and toss to coat.

To serve, divide the salad among serving plates, chop the reserved basil, and sprinkle each serving with the remaining lentil mixture and the basil.

Substitutions:

Basil: Parsley or mint.
Lime zest and juice: Lemon zest and juice.
Agave nectar: Honey or maple syrup.
Canned black lentils: Dry lentils cooked until just tender and drained.
White sesame seeds: Black sesame seeds.
Flaxseeds: Sunflower seeds.
Gem lettuce leaves: Romaine hearts.

Recipe adapted from “Cool Beans” (Ten Speed Press, 2020), copyright Joe Yonan.

More favorite lentil recipes

These are gift links to the recipes at the Post. Note that they require you to register but not subscribe. Gift links are free to access for 2 weeks, so if you want to come back to any of these recipes but don’t subscribe or want to subscribe, I suggest you find a way to save them!

Lentil and Pecan-Stuffed Acorn Squash

Barbecue ‘Baked’ Lentils

Lentil Lasagna