Add Lentils!

OK.  Just had my last serving of the spaetzle, which was actually, after the first day, delicious.  The recipe itself said that it would be better on the second day.  And then my old friend from college recommended frying it and topping it with beef stew (that's what she does with her spaetzle, which she rolls and cuts by hand instead of using la machina!).  Having no beef, but having lentils, tonight I fried up my leftover spaetzle and topped it with some red lentil stew.  And it was really good!

Red Lentils Soup is really yummy and super easy to make.  Again, I'm sure I'm borrowing heavily from many cooking shows and cookbooks, but here is a general way to make it that I use. 

1.  Chop up some onion and/or garlic, fresh ginger, cilantro, and a vegetable like a carrot or a potato.  Rinse your lentils (about a cup).

2.  Heat up some olive oil in a saucepan.  Add salt and pepper.

3.  Saute onions and/or garlic until fragrant.

4.  Add your vegetable and saute it for a while (maybe 5 minutes).

5.  Add the lentils and saute them for a minute or two.

6.  Depending on how thick or thin you like your soup, add water.  I usually add three cups of water for one cup of lentils for a thick red lentil soup.

7.  Bring it to a boil.

8.  Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. 

9.  Take it off the heat and add the chopped cilantro and ginger.

10.  Pour it over spaetzle, brown rice, or eat it plain.  (But it was yummy over the spaetzle.)

For those of you thinking, "You went to Switzerland to write a play!  What are you doing posting so many posts about cooking?"  I can only respond, that good plays require good food!  And I'm going to Geneva next week, so really, life should get a little more interesting.

In the meantime, I am reading lots of books about particle physics, transcribing my notes into my computer, writiing a bit, sketching a bit, but mostly trying to wrap my brain around the particle physics so I can understand what I see at CERN next week!

I did go to Lugano earlier in the week...

And had my first Swiss-Italian gelato (hazelnut flavored), which was marvelous, particularly while resting on a bench and enjoying the sun by the Lago di Lugano.

Again with the food, I know!  But not only does playwriting require calories, so does getting around in Switzerland.  Look at the steps I had to go up and down before even getting to my meeting at the University in Lugano: 

Down the steps from the train station to the city.

Up the steps, back to the train station.

Piece of the cathedral, halfway up the steps.

The funicular was not in operation.

Residents of the Lago di Lugano

And I haven't even added the steps that go from the train station in Intragna up to my apartment!  It's Switzerland!  Every direction is uphill both ways!

So eat your spaetzle.  It'll make you strong!