Energy Tank

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Darwin's original Pareto-optimal, Turing-complete, Lyapunov-stable, cryptographically secure, decidably typesafe energy tank. Plaintext version.

ENERGY TANK is a one-pot meal that is cheap, easy, and can sustain an athlete for days. Usage cases include

• Eating healthy on a budget
• Feeding a bunch of vegan Pikans
• Maintaining a high-protein diet for your athletic training
• Re-balancing your GI system after encountering third-world microbes
• Cooking when you know you need steady energy for 10 hours and might not be able to eat during that interval

Nutritional information: ENERGY TANK is designed specifically to provide most of your nutritional needs on a short-term basis. It is mostly protein and fiber (roughly 1/4 of the non-water mass is protein; another 1/4 is dietary fiber), with some starch, plus a heap of vitamins, iron and some high-density lipoproteins. Feel free to vary the proportions. Energy tank is more of an idea than a specific recipe.

Ingredients:

• GRAIN GROUP
  • 2 cups rice
    Optionally substitute for 1 cup of rice:
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 cup orzo
• LEGUMES GROUP
  • 1 1/2 cups dry lentils
    Optionally substitute for the equivalent amount of lentils:
  • Dried split peas
    Optionally add:
  • 1/2 lb (dry) chickpeas, or probably 2 14-oz cans
• VEGETABLES GROUP
  • 1 large or 2 medium onions (more if you like onions)
  • 1 lb spinach (frozen is OK)
  • 4-5 cloves garlic
    Optionally add:
  • 3 tomatoes
  • 3 medium potatoes
• SPICES
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 2 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tsp black pepper
    Optional:
  • 2 tsp crushed red pepper
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp celery seed
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Preparation

If chickpeas are not canned, you must soak them for at least 16 hours before boiling them until they become soft. If you're not opting for the optional ingredients here, ignore them.

Dice the potatoes. Slice the onion in half and then across the halves into long strips. Mince the garlic. In the bottom of the stew pot, start to sautee the onions and the garlic with the spices (except for the salt) in 1/4 cup olive oil. When the onions start to become translucent, add the rice and the quinoa to the frying pan for about a minute (until they turn a little brown). Then add 4 cups of water and all the legumes and potatoes.

The dish is not ready to serve until all the ingredients are cooked enough to be soft. This takes a long time. As you cook, if things are not soft but there is no water visible, add more water 1/4 cup at a time. Stir liberally during the cooking process -- you want the ingredients to be evenly distributed. When everything is almost all the way soft, add all the spinach and tomatoes to the pot. Now add the salt. Feel free to add more spices if it's not strong enough for you.

Serve hot with glasses of milk or with yogurt or paneer/cottage cheese on the side. A side of bananas or sausage is also delicious.

ENERGY TANK remains delicious for days if refrigerated and reheated.

This recipe is placed in the public domain. Eat well and enjoy.