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Allison Larkin

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You are here: Home / (non)recipes / A recipe (sort of) for @aracauna_man

A recipe (sort of) for @aracauna_man

May 24, 2011 Filed Under: (non)recipes, food

I’m happiest about cooking when I don’t have a recipe in front of me.  I like to combine good, basic ingredients to taste and see what happens.
I tweeted about my leftover lentil concoction today, and @aracauna_man pointed out that if I’m going to tweet about good food, I should at least offer up a recipe.
I’m way too lazy to try to figure out how to explain my mad scientist approach to lentils in 140 characters, so here’s an almost recipe for my new favorite meal.  There are no amounts listed.  I just eyeball the amounts for our meal needs and what I’m in the mood for.

Veggies, etc.
Precooked lentils
Fingerling potatoes
Frozen artichoke hearts (thawed)*
Onion
Garlic

Liquids
Sesame Oil
Fish Sauce
Rice Vinegar
Lemon Juice
Bragg Aminos (I can’t eat soy sauce, if you can, you could probably use that instead)

Sriracha

Spices
Chipotle Chile Powder
Chili Powder
Chinese Five Spice
Dried Basil
Ground Pepper

I cut the potatoes into small rounds and brown them in sesame oil in a big frying pan on high heat, adding chopped onion and garlic once the potatoes are cooked through and browned.

I add splashes of fish sauce, lemon juice, rice vinegar, and aminos once the onions & garlic have browned slightly and started to soften.  Then I turn it down to medium heat, add the artichoke hearts and lentils, and season with the spices in whatever amount I feel like using.  I also splash some more of the liquids and/or a little of the thawed artichoke liquid if it all starts to look too dry.  I add Sriracha at the very end, because I feel like it gets lost in all the other flavors otherwise.

It’s not the prettiest of meals, but it’s one of my favorites.  Cold leftovers for lunch the next day are even better.

* I use fresh broccoli instead of the artichokes, if I have it, separated into bite-sized sections.  I add it after the onions & garlic, and give it extra time to steam before adding the lentils.

2 Comments

Comments

  1. Sara says

    May 26, 2011 at 6:28 pm

    Have you ever tried Tamari? When I was doing GF, I always used it. I think it’s just as tasty as regular soy sauce, if not better!

    http://www.san-j.com/product_categories.asp

    Reply
  2. courtney says

    May 26, 2011 at 7:12 pm

    Yum! I wish I were talented enough to just create dishes. But if I don’t follow a recipe, the result is usually a disaster.

    Reply

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Allison Larkin

allielarkinwrites

Internationally bestselling author of three novels as Allie Larkin and THE PEOPLE WE KEEP. Look for HOME OF THE AMERICAN CIRCUS @gallerybooks May 2025

“Larkin abandons the typical story arc in favor “Larkin abandons the typical story arc in favor of a more naturally flowing up-and-down journey that basks in beautiful moments like a slice-of-life story. Whether it’s banter at the bar Freya’s working or a leaking roof that is simply one more thing than she can possibly handle right now, the characters and their experiences are so real and pure that their joys and sorrows are amplified tenfold.” 

So honored by this AP review of Home of the American Circus! 

https://apnews.com/article/home-american-circus-allison-larkin-book-review-79ea3d1fdb69ef16232a8dfb7d148ad6

#homeoftheamericancircus #booksbooksbooks
I’ve seen a bunch of references to Home of the A I’ve seen a bunch of references to Home of the American Circus as my second novel. It’s actually my 5th! Before The People We Keep, under the name Allie Larkin, I wrote three books: Stay, Why Can’t I Be You, and Swimming for Sunlight. Here they are in their various editions with some of their translations! (And @justjuliawhelan also narrated Stay and Why Can’t I Be You, if you’d like to listen!)

Fun fact: That gorgeous dog on the hardcover of Stay was actually our dog Argo, and I took that photo of him when @duttonbooks couldn’t find the perfect photo of a black German Shepherd. #booksbooksbooks #bookstagram
Pub Day Part One. The thing is, it’s really hard Pub Day Part One. The thing is, it’s really hard to be a creative person in the world, and the blessing, the salvation, the joy of it is the community around art: the writers who will call an emergency novel Zoom meeting when you’re stuck on a draft, the ones who roll up their sleeves and make sure your words are saying what you intend to say, the one who writes an interview to promote your book in the local paper, the reader who captures pictures of the event and makes a reel, the bookstore saints who plan a meal based on the story and serve blue and yellow cupcakes and sing happy birthday to your book on launch day, the readers who show up and get books signed and ask great questions and tell stories about their lives. That’s book magic. And thanks to @townecenterbks (especially Judy and Stacey although I know there are bookstore saints behind the scenes too) and @reneewritesnovels and @woolfmania and @cassandra.a.dunn and @lindalattelessons @aneedleinmybookstack and everyone who showed up to Read it and Eat, I will never ever forget the pub day for Home of the American Circus. You all made it so special. Thank you! I love you. I’m so grateful to be part of the community of writers and readers. ❤️🐘
@deborahblakeauthor RIGHT BACK AT YOU! ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I will be back on Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I will be back on the grid tomorrow! I love you all so much and I’m so grateful for your support! 😘😘😘 #homeoftheamericancircus
Well, here we are on the eve of Pub Day for Home o Well, here we are on the eve of Pub Day for Home of the American Circus! 

You know that classic bit of writing advice about how you’re supposed to write the book that scares you? Well, for a long time the thought of actually writing and sharing Home of the American Circus scared the heck out of me. I spent many many years collecting ideas for this book, terrified by the thought of how deep I’d have to dig to tell this story the right way. The book is firmly fiction, and the characters are all my imaginary friends, but the setting and themes are literally and figuratively close to home for me. Freya’s story isn’t mine, we have different life events and demographics, but I understand her sense of grief and loss and floundering and hope on a cellular level. And of all the characters I’ve ever written, the way her mind works is the closest to how I think and feel. It takes place in the town where I grew up. And I think when you read this book, you won’t know my life story, but you will know the tenor of my heart. I grew up as a kid with undiagnosed ADHD in a place where I didn’t fit, frantically trying to look normal, believing it was the only way anyone would love me. Always falling short, terrified of failure. And then in my early twenties, I dropped out of college and worked at a biker bar and made such a huge mess of my life that I was forced to build myself up again brick by brick—this time knowing that failure isn’t the worst thing that can happen to a person. That as long as you can find the strength to try again in one way or another, falling flat on your face is not the end of the world. And I learned that the only way to truly feel loved is to be yourself and see who’s up for loving you in your natural form. The people I keep taught me that. And even though it scared me, this was a book I needed to write, it’s the work I’m most proud of, with characters I love the most. So sharing it doesn’t feel like the end of the world at all. Just the end of the world where I have not shared this novel set in ny hometown with a character who has a heart like mine. #misheardlyrics #rem #homeoftheamericancircus #awkwardguitar #itstheendoftheworldasweknowitandifeelfine
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