When I get bad news — really bad news, not just annoyances — my first inclination is to make a big dish of baked pasta. It’s what I did when I heard my grandfather had died, and it’s what I did when I learned that a co-worker had been admitted to the ICU. It’s not the same as comfort food, really. There’s something about the process, the ritual of it, that helps me deal with the situations I’m in. What follows is my standard recipe, though it’s simple enough that can certainly be tweaked to your liking, and it feeds two-to-four people (or one person in a truly foul mood). Let me know what your bad news food is in the comments below.

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Lentils are great. You can do crazy, fancy and elaborate things to them or just plain simple like adding them to miso soup. They are great at absorbing flavors and at the same time hold on to their own distinctive flavor. They are cheap, healthy and delicious.

Here’s a quick way to eat lentils. Saute diced garlic and onion with lentils in some olive oil. Add enough liquid (water or stock) so that there’s about half an inch between the lentils and the top of the liquid. Bring to a boil and simmer till lentils are done. Add tomato paste, ketchup, salt and pepper to taste. Serve an egg (fried, poached, hard boiled) with the lentils.

Here are few more ways you can cook lentils.
Lentils, Beans and Pork Cracklings over Toast

Pork Belly Stew with Lentils and Kale

Lentils with Pasta

And then there’s always the reliable lentil soup or if you some have some spices laying around, try making daal.

I usually cook rice or pasta, but I have a bunch of quinoa sitting in my pantry so I decided to cook some up the other day. Quinoa is super easy to make and it’s high in protein, making it a good choice for vegetarians like myself. In addition to that, it has the distinction of being one of the “ancient grains” (despite the fact that it isn’t actually a grain, it’s a grass). The simplest way to make quinoa is like rice; in a pot combine water with quinoa in a ratio of just over 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa. I like to add a pinch of salt and a little butter as well. Then cover the pot and cook until the quinoa is done. When the water is boiling remove the cover to let the water evaporate. You may need to add a little extra water to get the quinoa to the desired fluffiness. But you don’t have to stop there.

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On Monday I wrote about the return of the Red Hook Ball Field vendors and how the crowd has been dying down every season. I may not be able to bring a lot of people but I do hope I can help in some way by getting as much people to go with me tomorrow around noon. And according to Blondie and Brownie, their six year permit to vend at the ball field ends this year. So it makes it even more important for us to support these vendors.

So will you join me tomorrow, the 12th, at the Red Hook Ball Field around noon (till 3pm) for some tasty Latin foods? I will try and grab the 2nd bench in the field along Bay St, closer to the corner of Bay St and Clinton St. Then we’re going to follow up with a trip to the new The Treats Truck Stop grand opening for some cookies and brownies. Oh…and I look like this!

THE RED HOOK BALL FIELD VENDORS ARE BACK!! Once again I can walk 30mins down to Red Hook and get some freakin good and authentic Latin foods. And once again I vowed to eat more than just tacos from the Country Boys or a plate of chicharron with yuca from the Ceron truck.

I remember when I first visited the ball field, the vendors were all under their own tents and it would be normal to stand in line for a very long time just for pupusas from the El Olomega truck. My friends and I would trek out to Red Hook early to save a spot on the grass. Back in the day, while it was popular, no one really knew about it yet. And then it got really popular in the food scene. Which was great, more business for the vendors but of course then it drew the attention of the city and you know with the city…they have to put laws and rules on everything. The vendors were forced to serve their food out of trucks that they had to purchase themselves. After that the vibe definitely changed. It sort of lost that pop-up food oasis but people (even people from Manhattan) kept going back which was great! Then the crowd began to thin out. People now have more choices for outdoor dining (The Brooklyn Flea, Smorgasburg, Dekalb Market, Hester St Fair and bigillion other food options during the summer time) and the attention that the ball field vendor once got was gone.

Yes this past weekend was gloomy and chilly and wasn’t the optimal outdoor dining weather but none of the vendors had any lines at all. It’s also quite sad to look at their site and see how outdated it is and that there are so much stuff (bio and menu) in the site that are still missing.

I’m just one person but I like to believe that I have a little bit of fame power and I want to use that power to bring the crowd back to Red Hook. Will you join me?

We’ve obtained an advance copy of Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson and we want to give it away to YOU!

Marcus Samuelsson, chef at Red Rooster, has had quite a life. Born in Ethiopia, his mother died when he was very young and he was adopted by a couple from Sweden. Growing up in Sweden he had nothing to connect him to his Ethiopian heritage other than food, and he’s carried that connection with him as he’s worked as a chef all over the world. At the tender age fo 24 he became chef at Aquavit, and he became the youngest chef to earn a three-star review in the NY Times. He’s appeared on Top Chef and cooked dinner for the Obamas. His memoir is set to be published on 6/26/2012, but you can get a copy now! Be the envy of your friends!

To win a copy of this book, you must follow us on Twitter and tweet the following message exactly as it appears here:

Win a free copy of Marcus Samuelsson’s “Yes, Chef” from @eattoblog! Contest details here http://bit.ly/IZjOMf #yeschef #eattoblog

The winner will be chosen at random from among our followers, and although multiple tweets won’t help your chances of winning please feel free to do so. The contest is only open to people living within the United States, we will pay for shipping, and all tweets must be made by 11:59pm on Thursday, May 10th, 2012. Please bear in mind that this is an advance, uncorrected proof, courtesy of Random House.

It’s a sad truth that fresh seasonal products can be expensive, and doubly so when those products are foraged. Take, for example, morel mushrooms and fiddlehead ferns. Both representative of Spring, both foraged, both expensive. But you don’t have to buy very many of them to make a big impact, and all you have to do is to treat them simply and bring out the best of their flavor.

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