From my side of the bed, I can see into the bathroom, which has a skylight window, and I can make my daily weather call before my toes even touch the floor. If the bathroom is yellowish-bright, its sunny out. If its just bright, its cloudy out.
Yesterday, the bathroom was dark. Like scary movie house dark.
It was kind of nice, at first. I made my ritual cup of morning coffee, ate a chocolate filled croissant, and watched Tom and Jerry in bed.
But around 2:00 pm, it didn't look like the weather was clearing up any time soon, and I had cabin fever. Julián and I decided to venture out to a park for a hotdog lunch. The weather man (the real weather man, not my bathroom window) was reporting a whopping 64 degrees despite the cloud coverage, so I dressed appropriately.
Stepped out of the subway after a 30 minute ride, and it was pouring rain. I know I speak to all of you women out there when I say my heart dropped. Why does it always have to rain on the day you decide to give your hair a New York style, big-momma style blowdry?? And no umbrella! I was crushed.
Of course, Mr. Latin Charm tried to make me feel better by saying my wet jerry curl looked even sexier than my hair did before. It worked. We went to the park and ate our hotdogs under the safety of the hotdog man's tent.
Getting home last night, I couldn't wait to throw on my pajamas and curl up around a bowl of something hot. I've got it! Chili! My mom always made the best chili when I was a kid; she would make so much in fact, that she'd freeze giant Ziplock bags of chili in our garage fridge, so we could just pull it out and eat it whenever we wanted.
Argentina does not have chili. Argentina has guiso, and more specifically in this case, guiso de lentejas, or lentils. In layman's terms, it's lentil soup. And it's incredible.
This recipe takes about two days to prepare. Just like you would when preparing dried beans, you'll need to soak the lentils overnight before using them in your soup the next day. You can even soak them a few days ahead, like I did, and store them in the refrigerator.
As with the case of any old soup recipe, you can play with the recipe and add / take out ingredients as you please, make it more watery or more hearty, etc. This specific recipe called for beef AND spicy sausage, but I just doubled the amount of sausage.
As with the best things in life, this soup takes time and patience. Besides boiling the lentils, I constantly kept the heat at medium or medium low, and let the flavors of all the ingredients simmer and mix together slowly. It will make your kitchen smell divine.
Guiso de lentejas
(Adapted and translated from Recetas Simples Y Deliciosas)
3 cups lentejas
2 tbsp. fresh garlic, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 spicy sausages
1 small box tomato puree
2 sweet potatoes, cooked and chopped
2 potatoes, cooked and chopped
1 tbsp. crushed red pepper
2 tbsp. oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp. canola oil (for frying)
1. Soak the lentejas in water at room temperature water for at least 8 hours. Throw out the soaking water and strain the lentejas. Cover with fresh water, about two inches above the lentejas, and boil until tender, about an hour. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. In a large pot, combine garlic, onions, peppers, and oil, and fry 5 minutes.
3. Add the spicy sausage and fry two minutes longer. Add tomato puree and condiments.
4. Cover with water until all ingredients are submerged. Cover and cook on medium heat for an hour.
5. Add potatoes and sweet potatoes and let cook 7 more minutes.
6. Add the lentejas, stir well, and cook 5-10 minutes longer, just enough to allow ingredients to mix. Additional water can be taken out/added as desired. Serve with a side of crusty bread and a hearty glass of red wine.
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