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Many older adults don't eat enough protein. Women need about 46 grams of protein a day (0.8 grams of protein for every kilogram of weight / 0.36 gram per pound). We may need nearly twice as much as we get older.
Horse gram (a lentil) is the powerhouse of legumes, it has 22 grams of protein per 3.5 ounce (100 gram) serving. Highest protein content of any legume. Horse gram has been shown to be helpful to diabetics because it slows carbohydrate absorption. It has an impressive nutritional content too, offering calcium, iron, phosphorus, B vitamins and flavonoids. It is a very old food. People grew it to feed livestock and ate it themselves. If studies of the medicinal and nutritional properties of foods interest you there is a link at the end with all the (well documented) information, along with some recipes to try!
It takes a good while to cook horse gram on the stove. Hours. Pre-soaking overnight helps a lot. I fail at soaking overnight. A quick soak helps cut down cooking time, just cover with water, about an inch above the lentils, bring to a boil, turn heat off and leave covered for an hour or two. The soaking liquid can be drained but I just add more water and cook as usual. Tried the quick soak method using a brine made with a tablespoon of salt per quart of water once (I do discard the brine and add fresh water). Couldnt tell that made much difference. The crock pot is my favorite way. Pick over the horse gram, use three to four cups of water to one cup horse gram and let it run until they are tender. Not tried the instant pot yet but I will get to that and share about how it comes out.
They are really pretty! Rust / chocolate colored. The cooking liquid is richly colored too. They hold a firm texture after cooking. Many lentils cook to mush. These have presence! Almost meaty. Definitely a unique legume. I can almost smell and taste alfalfa cooking and eating them... fresh mown hay? The texture is very vaguely reminiscent of petite red field peas? If they were much smaller and flatter maybe? Black eyes peas are kind of similar to field peas in texture, only a lot more so. Like the difference between polished white rice and brown rice, the horse gram tastes more whole, unprocessed. Freezes well. We add it to soups and stews, flat breads, burritos and more.
They are said to keep a year. We store whole grains, beans and other dry goods in canning jars and vacuum seal them. This extends the shelf life considerably. Dry beans keep about forever in real life and no doubt horse gram will too.
A simple recipe starts with making a “wet masala” for a curry with the cooked horse gram. Sizzle some cumin and mustard seeds quickly in a little hot oil. Maybe a teaspoon each. Add a small chopped onion and a couple cloves of diced garlic, cook until they are turning translucent. Drain a can of tomatoes and dump it in.
If we want to get fancy we can add a generous pinch of garam masala powder. JayC carries this in their spice section. A little grated fresh ginger and / or turmeric could go in with the onion and garlic if you like it.
Dump the cooked horse gram in, heat it up and serve with rice for a simple curry. Naan (Indian flatbread, widely available in local grocery stores now.) would be good too if you have it.
We started frequenting ethnic grocery stores as part of a weekly "family night", cooking ethnic foods. It has totally changed how we eat, shop and store food. We eat a lot healthier, more flavorful food nowadays and it saves us a lot of money too. We are working our way through all the vegetables, fruits, grains, pulses and legumes available at the Indian grocery which is how we discovered horse gram to begin with. It is available online now, Amazon and our local Walmart both list it on their web sites. Cheapest at the Indian market and the cultural experience of shopping there is worth any discomfort of being "other" in a strange place. We just ask if we need to cook a new food before we eat it and have always gotten a definitive answer to this question. Often we are gifted with favorite recipes and guided to helpful ingredients to make them. One day we walked in and found we have become regulars, our lives so much bigger and richer for our small efforts to communicate and interact with courtesy and gratitude.
Link to horse gram with potatoes recipe.
Link to whole wheat chapati recipe.
Link to boiled rice (just boil in excess water, super easy!).
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_rice_without_a_recipe/
About protein needs.
Lots of info about horse gram.
Thanks to RegularFeminist for suggesting this could be shared here and offering helpful feedback! I really appreciate it!
Why is he even ELIGIBLE for bond at all? He has kidnapped and raped before and now he has murdered a woman and god knows what else. There should be no avenue for him to get out before his trial. He is a danger to society.
I think a pattern of juvenile crime like he had needs to be taken more seriously. Unfortunately the trend in the US is to take it less seriously--as if teenage boys who rape grow up to be better men??
And to think, I know people - women! - who consider themselves “prison abolitionists,” who think no matter what someone has done, the state should not lock him up. How can anyone with a brain think such a thing?
There are a lot of people who think if you're related to a wealthy person, then you must be wealthy too. But that really wasn't what was important here, she was a woman who made the mistake of being a woman in the wrong place at the wrong time. No amount of wealth was going to protect her here, unless she could have hired an armed guard.
The reality is ladies, no one is going to protect us from these pos men, and they're everywhere. Please, carry whatever kind of weapon you're legally allowed to carry (check local regulations) and carry it with you always. And do whatever you must do to avoid being put in the vehicle with an attacker. Fall on the ground, spit, kick, bite, cross the street, run into traffic, whatever you have to do
And yet, when non-white women go missing, blue checks and TV pundits can't be arsed for so much as a tweet or a soundbite.
And look, I do think "missing white woman syndrome" is a thing, but only for white women who are relatively young, attractive, and "virtuous". Besides the obvious fact that it ignores non-white, it also ignores disabled and elderly women, women in prostitution, and women who simply aren't photogenic enough to generate clicks.
It reinforces the idea that only women who are "useful" to men matter, i.e. young, pretty women and girls, and middle-class, married mothers of young children. It is partly about race, but it's also partly about men's inability to see women who aren't attractive to them as important. When was the last time the story of a missing white woman who was also elderly and suffered from dementia swept the nation?
I completely agree, but no matter the age or color of this woman, like Gabby Petito and Sara Everard, this would be an exceptional story. To dismiss it because she is young and white is unconscionable.
Exactly true
The response to ‘missing white woman’ syndrome isn’t less attention to brutalized women who happen to be white, pretty, young, etc.
The increased exposure for missing/murdered Woc is the answer. And the blue checks can provide this!! Even ordinary citizens can help.
No family of color is going to feel better or be helped by not giving media time to Missing white women. They want their loved one found and the perpetrators brought to justice
100% agree. I hope I didn't come across as dismissive. It is an exceptional story, and it disgusts me that cynics in the media have seized on this family's unimaginable pain as fodder for the culture war.
I was thinking of this as I put my son to bed last night. Two children will never get to have their mom kiss them goodnight ever again.
Exactly.
It’s not like it helps any women of one community to have less light shown on missing/murdered/abused women from another community
What will help is increased exposure to missing/murdered/abused women women and girls from their community.
Increased concern and outrage is helpful, not less