Frank and I were biking home from a particularly long day at the lab back when we lived in California. I suddenly braked hard and put my feet down, skidding to a stop.
When Frank circled back to ask what had happened, I told him, with great certainty, that I was going to teach high school.
Frank only nodded mildly at this unexpected proclamation, his helmet bobbing. And then we finished our short ride home, where there was bread to be baked.
I hadn’t spent much time previously with students or in classrooms, but that snap decision turned out to be one of the best I ever made. This past week marks the end of my 11th school year learning alongside our community’s young people. Along the way, I’ve gotten to collaborate with students and teachers both here in Bloomington and across the country to co-create high-impact, humane learning experiences. Our work has been recognized with some fancy awards, and I’ve even co-edited a book about it.
On the menu:Bloomington gas station snacks that are worth a fill up
How have I gotten to do so much cool stuff professionally? I’ve been privileged in many ways, including amazing institutional support from my school, but I honestly think the “secret sauce” is Frank. He tirelessly supports my family as our daytime parent, personal chef, and financial advisor, all while serving our community in several volunteer roles — not to mention his own career of scholarship and writing. All this, in addition to his unwavering emotional strength, allows me to teach with my whole heart and mind.
Families can make incredible things happen when they have enough support.
One of my favorite shirts is from Bloomington’s own Bad Knees Tees print shop. It’s a cheery red with bold white text stating that “THE FUTURE IS IN MY CLASSROOM.” As K-12 students and their families ease into summer break, Frank and I hope you’ll enjoy these two easy, refreshing recipes: a replenishing ginger lemonade and a thick chickpea stew with bright flavors that’s delicious over toasted bread. And we also hope that you’ll continue to support our community’s schools. Our future depends on it.
And, finally, happy 39th birthday tomorrow, Frank! Here’s a ginger-lemonade toast to you and all that you do, for me and for Bloomington.
Thick Chickpea Stew
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into thin coins
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
15 ounces chick peas, cooked or canned, rinsed and drained
¼ cup red lentils
2 cups water
1-by-2-inch rectangle of dried seaweed
3 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic, crushed or diced
½ teaspoon table salt
1/8 teaspoon asafoetida (or 1 tablespoon diced onion)
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
Begin by heating two teaspoons of olive oil in an ample saucepan on medium low. When it is reasonably hot, add the garlic and asafoetida and continue to heat for about 30 seconds, shaking a bit to keep the spices from burning. Add the red lentils, chickpeas, water, turmeric, salt and piece of seaweed (preferably keeping the seaweed near the top since you’ll be scooping it out later). Let these simmer for 20 minutes (during which time the lentils will absorb most of the water — you should add more if it looks like things will dry out, which might happen if too much of the water evaporates while you’re cooking).
In a separate pan, add the remaining teaspoon of olive oil and the carrots and briefly fry for 5 minutes on medium heat.
After the chickpeas and lentils have simmered for about 20 minutes, remove the seaweed (simmering a piece of seaweed along with beans or lentils can make these foods feel more gentle for many people to digest). Use a fork to smash about half of the chickpeas against the side of the saucepan, which will release their starches and help to thicken the dish. Then add the carrots, bell pepper, and tomatoes and cook together for about 5 more minutes.
If you’d like for this to taste more like restaurant food, you should double the amount of salt and oil. Scientists working for McDonald’s studied taste preferences for saltiness and fat content in foods, and they found that most people prefer an ideal salt level (which is a little saltier than would be healthiest for most people, so it’s usually a better idea to brighten your food with a little extra salt sprinkled over the surface, where it’s most noticeable, instead of cooking with lots), but that food is often more appealing when you can incorporate as much oil as possible (as long as you can keep the right texture for the dish). I’ve listed amounts of things that I’d normally use when cooking a weeknight meal for my family, but would probably switch to a more restaurant-style version if I were cooking for guests and trying to impress them.
Also, these amounts of spice and heat will be very mild: You could certainly use a teaspoon of cumin powder, a half teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, increase the turmeric to a half teaspoon. I also think that flavors like cinnamon, nutmeg, and star anise go well with this dish. Or toasted mustard seeds, ginger, and black peppercorns! That would be delicious, but it just wouldn’t fly with my young people. Someday, their tastes will be more adventurous.
Gingery Summertime Lemonade
6 cups water
1.5 tablespoons fresh ginger root, peeled and diced
½ cup lemon juice (in our hands, 2-3 small lemons, squeezed)
3 tablespoons maple syrup
½ teaspoon sodium chloride (table salt)
¼ teaspoon potassium chloride (often sold as “NoSalt” or “NuSalt” or the like)
Combine everything in a blender and let it whir for about 30 seconds, enough to liquefy all the bits of ginger. Then chill, because salty liquids (and all salty foods) will taste a lot less salty when they’re chilled. This tends to make both cold soups and hot Gatorade significantly less pleasant, because most of us would like to have our meals taste saltier than our drinks.
We also tried using powdered ginger, but wouldn’t recommend it — most powdered ginger will give you a rather bitter taste, even if you scale back to about half a tablespoon. Stirring in a few tulsi basil or mint leaves before letting this chill in the refrigerator, though, makes the drink both look and taste an extra bit fancier.
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