Simple rules

Toward the end of The Nature Fix, Florence Williams distills what she learned in three years of studying the science of "why nature makes us happier, healthier, and more creative" (which is the subtitle of her book) into an "ultrasimple coda": "Go outside, often, sometimes in wild places. Bring friends or not. Breathe." That reminded me of some other similarly useful succinct summaries I've encountered over the years. There is Michael Pollan's short answer to the seemingly complicated question of what we should all eat to be our healthiest selves: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Another one is Jonathan Beverly's generalized guideline on how to run better: "Run often. At different paces. Mostly easy."

The rules may require a little explanation at first, but they're all easy to internalize, if they appeal to you, once you've read the explanation or thought them through once. For example, "eat food" seems obvious, but what Pollan means is to eat the naturally occurring "real," whole foods that people have been eating since we first starting walking the Earth—plants, animals, and fungi—rather than the highly processed products of modern science that Pollan refers to as "edible foodlike substances." Of the real foods, concentrate on plants, treating meat only as a flavoring or special occasion food (or skip it altogether if you prefer). And finally, eat like the French: don't snack, eat small portions from small plates, don't go back for second helpings when you're already full, and eat most of your food at a long, leisurely meal shared with other people.

Beverly's running rules are pretty straightforward. The more often you run, the better you'll be—if you're a three-day-a-week runner, five days is better; if you already run every day, try a day with two runs. Run at different intensities—marathon, threshold, interval, repetition, conversational—to work all of your muscular and metabolic systems, but keep it mostly easy to avoid overtraining and injury.

Williams's first rule ("Go outside, often, sometimes in wild places.") is derived from her central hypothesis that the benefits of nature work along a dose curve that is shaped like a pyramid. At the base are daily interactions with nearby nature, such as birds and trees. The next step up is weekly outings to parks and waterways to approximate the nature dose recommended by the Finns to ward off depression: five hours a month, minimum. After that come one-weekend-a-month excursions to forests or other restful, escapist natural areas. And at the top of the pyramid is a yearly or biyearly trip involving a longer, deeper immersion into wild spaces, which makes for a more lasting reset. Visiting nature with friends deepens social connections (through our shared awe), but being alone lets us think things through. Finally, just breathing deeply strengthens our immune systems and allows us to tamp down the fight-or-flight response that modern living causes us to experience all too often, even though we're not running away from saber-toothed tigers anymore.

 

These rules are all great and useful in their various spheres, but they're all way too verbose for my taste. If you want to live your life happily and meaningfully, you still can't go wrong with the four words on my index card of fatherly wisdom: "Be good. Have fun." By now, you should be able to fill in around the margins as to what I've been getting at all this time.

 

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Bon Appetit has a series of articles on its website tagged "Greatest Recipe of All Time." My buddy Ed swears by one of the recipes (Chili Colorado), which we'll probably get to in a future episode. Another one of the articles that caught my eye is "Cornbread Tamale Pie Is the Greatest Recipe of All Time." Cornbread tamale pie is basically a small pot of chili topped with cornbread. Rochelle Bilow's article in Bon Appetit proclaiming cornbread tamale pie the GRoAT is actually less a recipe than a set of guidelines (kinda like the Pirate Code). Her instructions amount to: brown some ground beef in a cast-iron skillet, then soften some chopped onions and green bell peppers along with a lot of red pepper flakes; add a can or two of diced tomatoes, then slather with your favorite cornbread batter and bake until the topping is "deeply golden and a little crusty—the whole point of this dish is breaking through a crunchy exterior to get to the spicy, saucy chili." 

 

I researched online and the best-known recipe is probably an adaptation printed in the New York Times in 2006 from the 75th anniversary edition of The Joy of Cooking. I made that one (with ground pork instead of beef) and liked it, but I think I enjoyed more (and most of you will get more use out of) a vegan version in Gena Hamshaw's excellent Power Plates cookbook. However, I wasn't wild about her cornbread topping, which is really thick and has some odd additions such as scallions, corn kernels, and nutritional yeast (much as I love me some popcorn with nooch seasoning). So I tinkered with Hamshaw's lentil filling a bit, and subbed in the cornbread topping from The Joy of Cooking recipe, to come up with something we really like. The topping is a little thin, but I thought it was good that way. If you want a big slab of cornbread on top of the lentil filling instead, you can go with one of the other cornbread recipes on UaKS, which shouldn't overflow the skillet.

Lentil Cornbread Tamale Pie

Adapted from Power Plates (2018) by Gena Hamshaw and The Joy of Cooking (75th anniv. ed) via the New York Times (Oct. 15, 2006)

Time: ~1 hour, depending on the age and type of lentils you use (it took me 1:05 to make this with Goya brand pardina lentils, which take longer to cook but hold their shape better)

The volume of the cornmeal depends on the grind you use. 125 grams is about ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon of the Bob’s Red Mill medium grind I like, but use a kitchen scale and this won’t be an issue, now will it?

Lentil filling
270 grams (1½ cups) green, brown, or pardina lentils, picked over and rinsed
4 cups (950 grams) water
1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus sea salt or kosher salt for cooking
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon (17 grams) tamari or soy sauce
2 teaspoons (13 grams) maple syrup
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion
1 green or red bell pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (14.5-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted
1 cup (155 grams) frozen corn kernels or 1 (8.5-ounce) can of corn, drained
Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

Cornbread topping
125 grams cornmeal, preferably a medium grind like Bob’s Red Mill (see note)
1 tablespoon (12 grams) sugar
1 tablespoon (8 grams) all-purpose or gluten-free flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
80 grams (⅓ cup) regular or non-dairy milk
1 large egg (~57 grams still in the shell)
1 tablespoon (13 grams) vegetable oil

    1. For the lentil filling: Place the lentils, water, and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to maintain a lively simmer (medium or a notch or two below). Cook, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender but not mushy and still hold their shape, about 18 to 30 minutes, depending on the age and type of your lentils (more time for pardina). Drain well and set aside.
    2. Meanwhile, place a rack in the center of the oven; heat to 400 degrees.
    3. In a small bowl, whisk together the tomato sauce, tamari, maple syrup, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, and black pepper.
    4. Cut the onion into fine dice and the bell pepper into medium dice.
    5. Heat the oil in a 12-inch ovenproof (stainless steel or cast iron) skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion and bell pepper, season with a pinch of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent and both veggies are softened but not browned, about 7 to 8 minutes. If the lentils aren’t ready yet, reduce the heat to low to keep the veggies warm.
    6. When the lentils are ready, stir them into the veggies, along with the crushed tomatoes, corn, and the tomato sauce mixture from step 3. Season to taste with salt and crushed red pepper flakes. Simmer gently for a few minutes while you prepare the cornbread topping.
    7. For the cornbread topping: In a small or medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. In a one-cup measuring cup (or a small bowl), whisk together the milk, egg, and oil until uniform. Pour the milk mixture over the cornmeal mixture; whisk until combined. Remove the skillet from the heat. Using a silicone spatula, scrape and spread the cornbread topping evenly over the lentil filling.
    8. Bake until the cornbread topping is firm and golden brown and delicious, about 20 to 25 minutes. Be careful of the hot handle when removing the skillet from the oven and serving. Serves 4 to 6.