eclaire (what’s in a) name?

you may have noticed that posts have been a little further apart than usual around here lately, and i sincerely apologize. i’ve been spending most of my computer time obsessing over the new features in apple’s iLife ‘09, and to be even more specific, i’ve been consumed with the faces feature in iPhoto. this new feature goes through your iPhoto library (mine dates back to ‘01 with a few scanned pics from earlier years) and identifies the faces in all the photos using fancy face detection software. next, you provide a name to go with the faces of your friends and family members (i used my wedding photos for this because they contain just about everyone we know). after that, the program starts to get scary smart and suggests other photos that might contain these people as well. the program isn’t foolproof, though, and this led to me revisiting every single photo on my computer to correctly identify every single face.

at this point, i bet you’re thinking “what does this have to do with food? did i mistakenly stumble onto one or another of emilie’s husband’s websites instead of hers?” no, my dear readers, this really was a segue into my topic for this post. because of this great and tedious program, i have been semi-neglecting my kitchen quite a bit in order to make more time to spend on my computer, cataloging faces. thus, my latest food selections have been large, delicious recipes that will last for many meals and free up even more time to finish this faces project. the recipe that i’ve made two weeks in a row (which is a record for me, i never make food two weeks in a row, so you better believe this one’s amazing) is kitchari.

what is kitchari, you might ask? i learned about it through a fluke at dharma’s, an amazing vegetarian restaurant near santa cruz. mike and i were ordering our food a little later than usual, and the regular guy at the cash register asked us if we’d like a free bowl of kitcheree (they spell it different there) because they were about to close and didn’t want the soup to go to waste. he assured us the soup was mouthwatering, and when we hesitantly sampled the yellow-ish green soup, our faces lit up with delight and we gobbled up a whole bowl in addition to our entrees. we were able to identify whole cumin seeds, rice, and cilantro, but not much else except for deliciousness. we regularly order kitcheree whenever we go to dharma’s now, but we’re still unsure what’s in the soup except for the three items listed above.

when we saw this recipe in last month’s vegetarian times, we jumped at the chance to make our own, and were delighted to discover other ingredients in the marvelous concoction, including split mung beans and cauliflower. this recipe also eliminates cilantro, a very divisive ingredient.  and i hate to brag, but i think that we have discovered the perfect kitchari recipe – it’s even better than dharma’s.  so what are you waiting for?  cook up a big pot of kitchari today – there is very little prep work and it happily simmers away on the stove while you do all the other things you need/want to do, and it will be there waiting for you when you are ready to eat – no muss, no fuss, and filling and flavorful to boot!

kitchari with cauliflower and peas

adapted from january’s vegetarian times
yields 4 servings

• 2 T plus 1½t ghee or butter or earth balance, divided
• 1/2t minced fresh ginger
• 1t whole cumin seeds
• 2c cauliflower florets
• 1/2c basmati or brown rice, rinsed
• 1/3c split mung beans
• 3/4t turmeric
• 1/2c frozen baby peas
• 1t salt
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1. heat 2T ghee/butter/earth balance in large saucepan over medium high heat
2. stir in ginger and cumin seeds and saute for 30 seconds
3. add cauliflower, and saute 4 minutes, until cauliflower is slightly browned
4. stir in rice and mung beans, and saute 1 minute
5. add 3½c water and turmeric and bring to full boil over high heat
6. reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 40 mins
7. add peas and salt, simmering for another 5 minutes, or until rice and beans are soft
8. stir in remaining 1½t ghee/butter/earth balance just before serving
9. note: i doubled the recipe for the pics above to make lots of leftovers, which keep well in the fridge for about a week