The winter solstice

Today is the winter solstice. I bet you didn't know it's one of my favorite days of the year. Why would anyone like the day that's kicking off three months of winter? Simple. I'm almost exclusively an early-morning runner, and the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year. So after today I can look forward to it getting light out just a wee bit earlier every morning until the summer solstice. It makes for seeing some good sunrises while running too.

 

Like today! I had a magical run this morning. I parked at my friend's office near downtown like I usually do. It was still dark when I ran to the Downtown Mall, where I got hit with a crazy on-no-weather-forecast-I-saw snow squall. Running past the huge lit-up Christmas tree at one end of the Mall and the 💗CVILLE sign in the middle of the Mall, with the big wet snowflakes blowing into my face, it felt like the perfect set up for a Christmas movie meet cute, if I hadn't already had the perfect meet cute with my dream woman 40+ years ago in the Hopkins cafeteria.

Ten minutes of running up Main Street later, I was at the Corner and the skies were relatively clear. From there, I ran through campus and then around past the Law School to The Park, above which was an awe-inspiring carrot-orange sunrise that must have lasted 15 minutes while I circled The Park and ran down Arlington Boulevard. And while I was running down Arlington, my old running buddy Bill drove by on his way to the grocery and he stopped to have a nice chat with me. Then I continued on my way, all while keeping up 8:35 pace on a 60-minute sub-threshold workout, which was my fastest run since Thanksgiving. Sometimes it all just comes together.

 

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On a cold winter's day, a good soup or stew hits the spot. Dylan and Moriah recently made us a delicious North African Bean Stew with Barley and Winter Squash from NYT Cooking. This one is very similar but with fewer ingredients and a little easier to make. It cooks for a long time, so it's not a weeknight meal, but most of the time is hands-off once the initial chopping is done. It makes a lot of food, too, so good for leftovers or for sharing with friends and family to round out a stellar day.

 

Red Lentil Barley Stew

Adapted from Melissa Clark via the New York Times (Feb. 23, 2024)

Time: ~1:45 (lots of it hands-off after the initial chopping is done)

Baharat is a Middle Eastern spice mix. It's easy to mix up some of your own if you have all of the necessary spices on hand.

40 grams (3 tablespoons) extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling

2 leeks, white and light green parts, rinsed well and sliced into half-moons, or 1 cup sliced onion
3 carrots, diced
1 small fennel bulb, chopped (~1 cup), and fronds reserved and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
33 grams (2 tablespoons) tomato paste
1 tablespoon baharat (see note and recipe below) or garam masala
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 cinnamon stick
2 quarts vegetable broth
180 grams (1 cup) pearled barley
180 grams (1 cup) red lentils

30 grams (2 tablespoons) freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving

    1. In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the leeks (or onion) and cook, stirring often, until softened and just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes (less for onion).
    2. Stir in the carrots, fennel, garlic, and salt. Cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes.
    3. Stir in the tomato paste, baharat, turmeric, and cinnamon stick. Cook until the tomato paste turns a deep brick red, about 2 minutes.
    4. Stir in the broth, barley, and red lentils. Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until the barley is tender and the lentils are falling apart, about 1 hour.
    5. Stir in the lemon juice. Taste for seasoning (you may need a fair bit of extra salt depending how salty your broth is). Serve drizzled with olive oil and garnished with the chopped fennel fronds. Serves 8.

Baharat

 

Adapted from Kos Kaffe and Melissa Clark via NYT Cooking

 

Time: <5 minutes

1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1½ teaspoons ground coriander
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
1½ teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoons black pepper
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon allspice

Combine all of the ingredients in a glass jar. Makes ~¼ cup.