Now, do not fret, ragazzi. Annalena is not going vegan. Not unless her doctor orders her to do so. There are times when, totally by chance, or circumstances, she prepares a vegan dish, and somewhere in the middle of it she realizes "OH. This is vegan." In fact, she did not make this dish vegan, but she COULD have, and she will tell you how. It is also gluten free, and more than anything else, it is GOOD, and it admits to a number of variations.
The dish itself is very easy to cook, but Annalena warns you ahead of time: you do need to spend a bit of time preparing your ingredients. You will probably need 15-20 minutes to prep everything, but then, you can go and meditate, or do what one does when waiting for the vegetables to meld.
So, let's begin.
What you have here are the vegetables. In the top figure, you see a head of cauliflower, separated into its florets, and cut small. You also see a bunch of spinach, chopped. Here's where your first variation comes in. If you don't have spinach, use kale. If you don't have kale, use chard. If you don't have chard, use broccoli rabb. All you really need, carissimi, is some dark leafy greens. And the quantity is up to you. They will cook down.
And you see, in the lower right hand corner of the top photo, a bag (2 cups) of Indian black lentils. You may not know this, but you should: there are hundreds of varieties of lentils out there. Go to an Indian store and ask for lentils, and see the look you get. Annalena is no expert, but she CAN tell you that you need a variety that will not cook to a pulp. That means you avoid the brown lentils you buy in a bag and use to make soup. They are superb for that, just not here. If you cannot get the black lentils, get French green ones (lentils de Puy), or the Italian ones (casteullucio lentils). Annalena knows both of those as varieties that hold their shape on cooking.
The bottom photo shows you a pound of potatoes, cubed, and two large white onions, chopped with less than surgical precision. The potatoes Annalena had, were very thin skinned (like Annalena). So she didn't peel them. If you have a thickly skinned variety, do peel them before chopping.
And to the question : "how many potatoes are there in a pound?" (Annalena gets asked this more than you might think), you have to imagine her looking over her spectacles with a "REALLY????" look on her face.
And here's our second substitution possibility. At this time of year, you will find sweet potatoes, and you will find winter squash in the market. You should feel free to substitute either, keeping in mind that you will get a sweeter dish at the end.
The ingredients you do not see, are a quart of stock (the original recipe calls for vegetable, but you have read Annalena's tirades against that stuff. She used chicken. Use what suits you), and the spices. Annalena was using a product one of her delivery services sent her, called "Tandoori spice mix." You can buy such product, but if you don't have such, or want to use what you have, look for your South Asian spices: curry powder, tumeric, asafetida, etc. If you have them, you know how to use them. You are going to need 2 tablespoons, so if your spices have different degrees of heat associated with them, keep that in mind as you go along, as well as your audience.
First, start your potatoes, by putting them into some cold, salted water, and bringing that to a boil. They'll be ready when you need them.
Now, we cook. First, two tablespoons of oil in a big pan, and the onions. Three minutes. Follow this with the cauliflower. Another 3 minutes:
Now, add your spices, and stir them in until you can smell them. This will take, literally, seconds.
Add the stock and greens:
When this comes to a boil (it won't take long), add the raw lentils:
Stir everything together, and at this point, drain the potatoes and add them. Lower the heat, and keep the pot uncovered. Let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes. How long, is up to you, and the lentils. Test one after 20 minutes, and if they're not soft enough for you, cook them some more.
Again, at this point, you can doodle with the recipe. When Annalena was eating it, for example, she thought that some raisins would be good. You may want to add yogurt if you decide to break the vegan theme. While this was cooking, Annalena eyed a less than ripe tomato that was going to rot before it ripened. Since she had her potato water ready, she dropped the tomato in, peeled it, chopped it, and added it to the finished dish:
This was a really delicious, filling lunch. You'll get about two quarts of finished stew at the end of this, and you can feel absolutely virtuous about sharing it with people. It DOES kind of seem virtuous doesn't it? And who among us cannot use some more virtue.
The thought "going vegan" reminded Annalena of a song from her misspent youth. So, ragazzi, let's end with The Who, "going mobile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFAlJOIR74w
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