Board members Sasha and Lisa continue their demo series based on the cookbook, Perfectly Good Food—A Totally Achievable Zero Waste Approach to Home Cooking by Margaret and Irene Li. The first Thursday of each month, you’ll find them inside the main entrance of the store between 3 and 5 pm. In March, they featured the recipe A Very Flexible Curried Lentil Soup as well as a really easy and really tasty salad of local Midori Farm Curtido, corn, and lemon.

Each month, one lucky person will win a copy of the cookbook. For a chance to win, stop by the demo! If you want to purchase your own copy, you can order online from Port Townsend’s own Imprint Bookstore, at https://www.imprintbookstore.com/online-orders.html and then pick it up a few days later at the store downtown. Easy peasy.

Midori Curtido Corn Salad

• 2-3 cups corn kernals (frozen is fine)

• 3-5 tablespoons of Midori Farm Curtido (a slightly spicy ferment), chopped

• Juice of 1 lemon (bottled lemon is fine, but fresh lemon is heavenly)

• Zest from the lemon (optional; zest before you juice the lemon)

• Pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together, and voilà, you have a tasty side dish or a salsa to add into soups and stews.

NOTE: You’ll find all Midori Farm’s ferments in the cooler at the back of the store, on the far left. Try them all! They are great in leafy or grain salads, soups and stews, melted cheese sandwiches, chopped into dips, etc.

A Very Flexible Curried Lentil Stew

from Perfectly Good Food—A Totally Achievable Zero Waste Approach to Home Cooking by Margaret and Irene Li

Serves 4

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, ghee, or another fat of your choice

• 1 medium onion or 2 shallots, chopped

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• 1-inch piece of ginger, minced or grated, plus more if desired

• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

• Kosher salt

• 1 cup dried lentils or another pulse or bean of your choice

• 1 cup diced or grated vegetable of your choice, or another 1/2 cup lentils

• 4 cups greens, stems and leaves separated, and cut into bite-sized pieces

• 3 cups stock of your choice or water, or more as needed

• 1 (14-ounce) can of unsweetened coconut milk, ideally full fat

• Steamed rice or grain, or flatbread or roti, for serving

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and cook until the onion is translucent and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the spices and a good pinch of salt and stir, letting the spices bloom and fray a bit in the oil for another minute or so.

Add the lentils, diced vegetables, and hearty green stems, then the stock and coconut milk. Season to taste with more salt, then bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook, stirring every so often, until the lentils are soft, and the stew has thickened to your liking, about 30 minutes for red lentils. If the stew looks too dry, add a splash of water.

Once the lentils have softened, stir in the chopped leafy greens and any grated or otherwise quick-cooking vegetable. Make sure they get fully covered with stew so they wilt down and cook until soft, which should take just a minute or two for lighter greens like spinach, 3 to 5 minutes for thicker leaves like collards.

Taste again and season if needed, then serve with choice or garnishes and a starch.

NOTES:

• For a little extra pizazz, you can add a scoop of plain yogurt or sour cream. Other toppings could be chopped cilantro or mint or a little lime.

• For variety, change out the spices for a tablespoon or two of any variety of Thai curry paste, which naturally goes well with coconut milk.

• You don’t have to add any greens, but it’s a great way to use up leftover veggies from the fridge.

• You can buy full-fat coconut milk and thin it with water or broth if you want. Extra coconut milk freezes beautifully.