What Do We Eat For Lunch in Quarantine?
Two savory bean stews for the Instant Pot
But I like to have a little something delicious available for lunch, something interesting to think about as lunchtime approaches. For me, that means vegetarian and spicy, usually some kind of bean stew with yogurt.
I like to write about what I have been cooking and eating. I am aghast sometimes, listening to the stuff some people eat and call food. I want to cook, enjoy eating good food, and am rather a snobbish eater. I try not to be judgmental of people who are not like me. Not everyone is into it, I know. But for me, cooking and eating are important topics.
One of the features of my quarantine schedule is that I am at home for lunchtime every day. In the old days, before quarantine, I would go to work, do various combinations of eating out, packing a lunch, getting a take-out lunch, and my husband would generally fend for himself. Now that we are home, I have set myself the task of routinely cooking something that we can eat for lunches. Because I am already cooking breakfast and dinner, I want lunch to be leisurely. Sometimes we decide to eat sardines and crackers with a few olives or radishes, eat leftovers from the night before, or pull a quart of soup (yes, I make that, too) out of the freezer.
But I like to have a little something delicious available for lunch, something interesting to think about as lunchtime approaches. For me, that means vegetarian and spicy, usually some kind of bean stew with yogurt. Recently, I have gotten into the habit of making one of these two bean stews each week, eating it for two meals and freezing 2–3 servings for another week, to pull into the rotation. I have adapted both recipes from one of my favorite cookbooks World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey. One is a red lentil soup, the other a tomato and kidney bean stew. I make them both in the 6 quart instant pot.
To have what I need to make these two recipes, I also need to have a stock of vegetable broth and cooked kidney beans, so we’ll do those first.
For the Vegetable Broth-
I have always kept a big container in the freezer above my refrigerator specifically for vegetable scraps. My husband laughs at me, can’t believe I’m saving vegetable scraps, but that’s exactly what I do. When I peel a carrot, clean an onion, into the bin go the skin and stem and any extra bits. I like to add mushroom stems too tough to cook or little garlic bulbs too bothersome to peel, parsley or cilantro stems, the outer stalks and leaves of celery, fennel, parsnips, greens like collards, kale, swiss chard, etc. I don’t use anything with a flavor that is too bold, no cruciferous veggies, or turnips or asparagus. But many other things could be used for stock. I keep filling this container until its full, or until I need to resupply my vegetable stock. Then I dump the contents into a big pot, fill it with water, a few peppercorns, salt, a half cup of wine or sherry and cook it up, letting it simmer an hour or more, until all the essence of vegetable has gone into the liquid. Then, strain and freeze in pint or quart containers.
For the Kidney beans
I usually cook two pounds of beans at once. If you’ve thought to soak the beans overnight, pressure-cook them for 10–15 minutes. If you forgot, just cook 25–30 minutes. (seems easier to just forget). Follow the recipe for your cooker, but be sure to add water up to the halfway mark on the pot to prevent burning, and also to give you lots of delicious, nutritious liquid to use with your beans or for making soups. Be sure to let the pressure release naturally (or for at least ten minutes if you’re in a hurry). Once I have cooked the beans, I divide then up into quart containers with some of their liquid and freeze them, (unless I am ready to make the kidney bean stew, which requires four cups of beans plus some of their juices).
Red Kidney Bean Stew
4 cup cooked Red Kidney Beans with their juice
¼ cup olive oil
One large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1 3/4 to 2 cups either canned diced or diced fresh, ripe tomatoes
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
Dash cayenne
Juice of half a lemon
Yogurt for serving
In the Instant Pot on Saute setting, or in a pot on the stove, heat olive oil and add onion. Cook, stirring until onions start to color. Add garlic and ginger and stir for a minute. Add tomatoes, beans, cumin, coriander and cayenne. Continue sautéing 5–10 mins, to blend flavors. We are not using the pressure cooker here as everything is cooked already. Add more bean liquid if you would like a soupier mixture. Add lemon juice at the end.
Serve with flatbreads, or over rice, if you want. I like to use the fat from the top of the new jar of whole milk yogurt to serve with this. But plain yogurt or yogurt cheese works as well.
Curried Red Lentil Soup
¼ cup olive oil
Large onion, chopped
2 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
½ inch piece peeled ginger, grated
4–5 teaspoons curry powder
½ teaspoon ground cloves,
One large potato, peeled and diced
One medium carrot, peeled and chopped
One pound red lentils
4 cups vegetable stock, and 4 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Juice of ½ lemon
Yogurt to serve
I do this in the Instant Pot. Heat olive oil on Saute setting, add onion, and cook until it softens and begins to brown, then add garlic and ginger. Stir briefly then add seasonings and stir a few times. Add potato, carrot, lentils, stock and water, salt and pepper. Turn on pressure cook setting and cook 18 minutes on high pressure. When it is done you should let the pressure release naturally. You can blend with a hand blender if you like a smoother mixture but I prefer it chunky. If you like it thicker, cook it down a bit on the Saute setting after the pressure is released. If you’d like it more soupy, add more liquid. Add lemon juice at the end. Serve with yogurt fat, yogurt cheese or just yogurt.
One after-thought: A bowl of Miso Soup
It is beautiful to look at, and the steamy broth with its colorful crunchy garnishes is a pleasure whether you have been feeling under the weather or just really tired.
Another favorite for lunch is a bowl of simple miso soup. What a lovely thing this is. It is simple to make with ingredients you can always have on hand, it requires very little of you. It is beautiful to look at, and the steamy broth with its crunchy garnishes is a pleasure whether you have been feeling under the weather or just really tired. Look in the refrigerator for a few pieces of mushroom, a carrot or radish slice, one small broccoli stem, thinly sliced leaf of spinach or kale, a few fresh peas, a scallion… just a few things which you should shave thinly or cut finely and place in your soup bowl, saving some for a garnish. Then set some water to boil, put a tablespoon of miso from your refrigerator in a spoon in a small strainer in the bowl and when it is ready pour about a cup or so of hot water into the strainer, stirring the strainer to disperse the miso into the liquid. Add any garnish you’ve saved for the top and there you have another treat for lunch.
So there you have my thoughts about lunch. Enjoy!
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