We love international cuisine, but we also love fresh, local food. Fortunately for us, we certainly don’t see why we can’t have the best of both worlds!

As we were browsing through Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2004, we came across a Split Pea-Spinach Dal with Cauliflower recipe and started wondering how we could adapt it to what we brought home from the farm and what we had in our pantry. This week, our options included a couple of zucchini, a crookneck squash, a bag of split peas, and a few miscellaneous farm goodies.

A dal is a spicy Indian dish traditionally made with legumes and seasoned with a variety of spices and other flavorings (e.g. mango, tamarind, cumin, ginger, etc.) , depending on regional preferences. So we decided to make a “Las Cruces Dal,” named after the city we live in.

6 servings

• 3 1/2 C water
• 1 C dried split peas
• 1 medium or large zucchini, 1/2 inch cubes (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1 crookneck Squash, 1/2 inch cubes (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1 to 4 C Swiss chard (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1 Casper eggplant, 1/2 inch cubes (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1 C onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (our source: a farm in Mesquite, NM)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds (or 1 tsp ground cumin)
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds (or 1 tsp ground mustard)
• 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves

1. Combine 2 1/2 cups water, split peas and bay leaf in a large Dutch oven or pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 50 minutes or until peas are tender.

2. Add 1 cup water, zucchini, squash and salt. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer partially covered for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and discard bay leaf.

3. Heat oil in a pan over medium to high heat. Add onion, ginger and garlic. Sauté for 3 minutes, then add cumin, mustard, coriander, turmeric, paprika and cloves. Cook over a low heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

4. Add onion mixture and eggplant to peas and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes or until thick.

5. Stir in chard, cook for 5 minutes or until chard wilts.

“Las Cruces Dal” isn’t as good looking as its Indian counterparts, but it sure tasted good. If you can get your hands on yellow split peas or lentils, it’ll kick the aesthetics up a notch.