What to Make & Eat This Week

Getting serious about warming winter dishes that include plenty of greens

Holiday season 2024 is now in the rear view and now it’s time to look ahead to new promises and possibilities. I sometimes stop to think about random it is that a New Year starts at the most dark and dismal time of year; wouldn’t it make more sense to celebrate a new year closer to spring, when life comes rushing back?

But this is what the calendar gods have dealt, and so we play this hand. Even people who don’t really believe in New Year’s resolutions are making promises, mostly having to do with taking care of our fragile bodies — moving them more, feeding them better. If you’ve resolved to eat healthier — or even go 100% vegan, I hope you’ll continue to enjoy this newsletter.

I’m enjoying creating it, going deep into my archives to freshen up dishes that are do-able and seasonal, with the thought, very often, of “I haven’t made this in such a long time!” I’ve always maintained that a major obstacle to good eating is simply not planning … getting to the kitchen at 6 or 7 without a clue what to make. And so make-do becomes the default.

Let’s not do that this coming year! Let’s choose at least 2 or 3 meal plans (in this newsletter I always present 4), shop for the needed ingredients — and hope for leftovers, too. I can reassure you that doing these will make life, which despite best efforts gets so complicated, a little easier. And a lot more comforting.

So let’s start planning and cooking! This week we’re going to make …

• Curried Red Lentil Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Greens

• Vegan Sheet Pan Hash Browns with Tofu & Kale

• Rosemary Roasted Potatoes with Collard Greens & Vegan Sausage

• Easy Gnocchi with Greens and Beans

Bonus! A spread from the interior of Vegetariana featuring two classic apple desserts.

Curried Red Lentil Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Greens

Curried red lentil soup with sweet potatoes and greens is nourishing and deeply satisfying. When you want a robust cool-weather vegan soup quickly, red lentils are a good base, cooking up in just 15 to 20 minutes. This is definitely a go-to cool-weather soup for me.

With a mildly earthy flavor, red lentils are often used in Indian and Middle Eastern dishes, often spiked with curry and other bold seasonings. They cook to a fairly mushy consistency, making them fitting for dal, soups, and stews.

What kind of greens? Any variety of chard can be used in this soup (Swiss, green, or rainbow, for example— learn more in our Guide to Chard). Mustard greens or escarole are good, too. Or for a no-prep option, you can go with baby spinach.

Complete the meal: I like to serve a refreshing salad as the next course. Mixed Greens and Pear Salad with Maple-Glazed Pecans is a lovely foil to this soup’s flavors. Or really, any kind of green salad, and keep passing the flatbread!

This recipe makes about 6 servings. For more tips and the printed recipe card, see the full post.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 cup chopped red onion

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 6 cups water

• 1 1/2 cups dried red lentils, rinsed and sorted

• 2 large or 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

• 2 teaspoons grated fresh or bottled ginger

• 2 teaspoons good-quality curry powder, or more, to taste

• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander or cumin

• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 6 to 8 ounces chard (any variety) or baby spinach
  (see Variation for other options)

• Juice of 1 lemon or lime

• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a soup pot. Add the onion and garlic and sauté over medium heat until golden, about 10 minutes. Add the water, followed by the lentils, sweet potatoes, and seasonings.

2. Bring to a slow boil, then lower the heat. Simmer gently with the cover ajar until the lentils are mushy and the potatoes are done, about 20 to 25 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, wash the chard, remove its stems and midribs, then slice into narrow shreds. If you'd like to use the mid-ribs, slice them very thinly. Baby spinach needs no further prep. Stir greens (and midribs, if using) into the soup along with the lemon juice. If the soup is too thick, adjust the consistency with a small amount of water.

4. Continue to simmer gently until the greens are just done, about 10 minutes for chard and 5 minutes or less for baby spinach. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Serve at once, or if time allows, let the soup stand off the heat for an hour or two. The soup thickens as it stands. Adjust the consistency with more water as needed; taste and adjust the seasonings as well. Heat through before serving.

Variation: You can use mustard greens or escarole in this soup as well. Rinse leaves well and cut into bite-size pieces. Mid-ribs are soft, so you need not remove them or cut in any special way.