chorizo

Lentil butternut squash soup, Mama ía blog

Lentil and Butternut Squash Soup, ‘Tis the Season

Lentil and butternut squash soup, Mama ía blogDo you have the feeling that the Christmas and winter holiday season was ages ago? I certainly do, not so much because a long time has passed, but because so many events and activities have happened since. And I’m not talking about out of the ordinary or amazing events. In fact, January is probably one of those months (September would be another one) when everything goes back to normal —the restart of old routines, the beginning of new projects; but more than anything, a month of inwardness, of restarts, of cleaning and organizing, in literal and figurative terms. In one word, January is a month of resetting. This lentil and butternut squash soup, that I make often during winter, seemed appropriate for this time of year (a particularly cold January).

Lentil and butternut squash, Mama ía blogLentil and butternut squash soup, Mama ía blog (more…)

Arroz al horno, hearty baked rice, Mama ía

Arroz al Horno, Hearty Baked Rice —Valencian comfort food

Arroz al horno, hearty baked rice, Mama íaMy son Matthew was home this weekend. This is always an event, because even though he’s only two hours away from us, he doesn’t come home all that often. In fact, we hadn’t seen him since the Christmas break. So whenever he comes home, we make it a celebration. This weekend in particular, we attended a concert, and spent time together, even if some of that time was him doing (more…)

Lentil Soup with Chorizo and Lentils

Lentil Soup with Chorizo and Bacon, comfort in a bowl

Lentil soup with chorizo and bacon, Mama ía

As a child, I thought lentil soup was okay. Just okay. In fact, I wasn’t a soup person, or a stew person. I didn’t like anything that had much broth in it. I much preferred dry rice dishes, like paella or arroz al horno, baked rice. And beans, in particular, weren’t my thing. I still remember my mom’s singsong, “Las lentejas tienen  mucho hierro. Y fibra”, lentils have so much iron, and fiber. And her lentil soup with chorizo and bacon not only had a lot of fiber and iron, but was full of flavor. (more…)