Father's Day Dinner - Green Kale with Potatoes, Corn off the Cob with Lemon, Lentils

My Mom is a very particular eater and rarely eats out, except for South Indian restaurants and very occasionally at my house. She doesn't eat onions or garlic. My parents accepted my invitation to eat at my house tonight.

My wife and I had a nice visit to a local farmer's market yesterday, and had a number of nice items to enjoy, including green kale, a small kind of potato that is a good multi-purpose variety, and salad greens with edible flowers. I've cooked kale by simmering it in liquid, but today decided to try something different and make it resemble vegetables cooked in an Indian-like style.

I cut the potatoes into 3/4" or so pieces and sauteed them in canola oil over medium-high heat slowly for maybe 15 minutes. Then I added a dozen or so drops of Mongolian Fire Oil, red bell pepper pieces, green beans cut into 3/4" or so lengths, and kale hand torn from the stems into approximately 1" pieces. I cooked for just a few minutes, then added maybe 3/4 teaspoon of cumin seeds and 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric. Another minute or so later, I served with a little salt.

I also grilled three cobs of corn over the flame of my gas burner, stripped the kernels, mixed in some salt, Earth Balance vegan non-hydrogenated margarine, and the fresh squeezed juice of about 1/10 of a lemon. A brown rice mixture and salad rounded out the dinner that I think all enjoyed.

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I was looking forward to making a nice meal last night, but was called in the afternoon on another very sad infant bereavement photo assignment to the hospital. I am part of a group, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, of professional photographers who, totally at their own expense and with no compensation, photograph new born babies who have died or are about to die.

In this case, a family with apparently no hope for their baby just born was gathering family and wanted me there to take pictures of the child on life support and (this was very painful for me to witness!) as he was taken off the support and beyond. It was sad but I think that I was able to capture memories that hopefully will help the family heal; the parents were great and very appreciative. We were at the hospital for about 4 hours - my wife came along for support and a colleague who is considering joining the group came to observe. My wife was quite hungry when we were done well into the evening, so we went out to eat at the Whole Foods Market deli.