How to Make Red Lentil Dhal and Bolognese at the Same Time

Now that my two-year old, Pinta, is sleeping better (fingers crossed on that one), I find myself more well rested, but busier in the kitchen. When she was an infant and through her first year, she was in the habit of waking at 5:00 in the morning. That is, when she was feeling generous. Other times, she’d wake at 4:30. It was the roughest eighteen months of my life. Memory loss being a symptom of sleep deprivation, I’m still not sure how I managed with so little shut eye.

During those long and dark mornings I retreated to the stove. I own much of my culinary development to Pinta, who I used to supervise by handing dull kitchen implements, stacking containers, spoons, and just about anything that wasn’t dangerous. She would sit and play with them as I cooked, and cooked, and cooked.

These days, she doesn’t typically wake until 6:30, or so. (We owe our sanity to an excellent counselor, Jean, at the Soho Parenting center. I suggest that anyone with a similar situation seek them out immediately.)

With less time awake in the morning, I have to cook faster. I’m getting better at it. It took me an hour this morning to knock off two of my signature dishes, the red-lentil dhal and a huge pot of Bolognese sauce.

Still, I’m considering getting a food processor in the hopes of increasing my speed. I’ve never worked with one before. Anyone have any suggestions about what to look for when buying one?

Comments

[PJ Mullen]

Love the blog. Just found it from your article on ParentDish via Dad-Blogs. I'm the family cook myself and I love making Dhal for my 14 month old. He loves it. Looking forward to reading more from you. BTW, on food processors, I'm not much of a fan myself, but I do have a 14 cup Cuisinart model that works well for me. It has 720 watts, but I'm not sure that really makes a huge difference. I got it for capacity.

[John]

PJ,

So glad you found my blog and are enjoying it. As for food processors, what I'm wondering, is do they dice vegetables like carrots and celery?

[PJ Mullen]

Mine came with several different plates, including a chopping blade, but I honestly don't use it much for that. I usually do it to make a hummus or mihummara for parties or blend my son's baby food. The one time I did use it I was making a very large batch of tomato sauce and it did ok, but I was just being lazy that day.

[Jill Mann]

I have never used one either. I always seem to have time to do it the old fashion way.