Apple Pie

Ingredients:

• 9 inch pie crust (in the frozen food section) 
• 6 large or 7 medium apples
• 1 tbsp lemon juice, roughly
• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 2 tbsp flour 
• .5 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg 
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1 tsp corn starch
• 1/2 cup flour 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 3 tbsp butter, cold

Preparations:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Peel and slice apples. Chunk a couple of them. Place sliced apples in a large bowl. As chopping the apples, I sprinkle each apple with lemon juice to keep it from browning.
3. In a small bowl, mix together white sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, corn starch, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Sprinkle mixture over apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated. Spoon mixture into pie crust.
4. To make the crumb top, mix together 1/2 cup flour and brown sugar in a small bowl. Cut butter into small pieces. Cut in butter into flour mixture until it's crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over apple filling. Cover top loosely with aluminum foil.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until top is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Spiced Vegetable Dal

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry lentils
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1.5 tsp ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• Pinch of ground turmeric
• 3.75 cups vegetable broth
• 3 ripe roma tomatoes, seeded and diced (or 1 14.5 can whole tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped)
• .5 cup chopped Italian parsley (or 2 tbsp dried cilantro and 1 tbsp dried parsley)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 cups cooked brown rice

Preparation:

1. Rinse the lentils
2. In a large soup pot over medium-low heat, heat the butter and vegetable oil. Add the ginger, garlic, and onion. Saute until the onion turns clear, about 10 minutes. Add the cumin, cloves, and turmeric, and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Stir in the lentils and the broth, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add tomoatoes and parsley. Simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the lentils are very soft but not mushy. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Place 1 cup hot rice in each bowl. Spoon the dal over the rice. 

Cook Time: 1.25 hours
Serves: 6