Curried Vegetables with Dahl

Time for more true confessions.  I don't know anything about Indian cuisine.  In fact, I used to frequent an Indian buffet for lunch with coworkers.  One day I was gushing about how much I loved "that one tofu dish".  My buddy, Burke's like, "Um that's cheese, not tofu."  What? I about died!  You have no idea how much of that I would pile on my plate!  Hence why I used to frequent it.  Now, it is more of a quarterly treat.

Pizza on Saturday means I can cook something fun on Sunday!  Nice!  I'm still loving Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home.  I haven't made anything I didn't like out of it yet.

This is no exception.  There's curry, always a great start!  Then there's cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and red and green bell pepper.  If that's not enough veggie for ya add in spinach.  Finally there's dahl!  Dahl is pureed cooked lentils which makes the dish a creamy stew wonderful served on rice.  This has to be the healthiest meal I've had in a long time. (no cheese in disguise as tofu here)  Bonus, it tasted delicious!  We each had seconds!  Word of warning, prepping the vegetables took awhile so add some time in for this.

My favorite part had to be the cauliflower and sweet potato.  Yum.  C added some Thai Chili paste and I thought it was a welcome addition if you like it spicier.  I ended up adding some too.

This makes TONS.  Haul out your large dutch oven.  We had enough leftovers for two more dinners at least.  If only I didn't forget to put them in the fridge.  grrr.

Curried Vegetables with Dahl
from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home


Dahl
1 1/2 cups red lentils
4 cups hot water

Curried Vegetables
1 onion chopped
1 fresh green chile finely diced (I used poblano)
3 Tbsp canola oil
2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (about 4 cups)
1 Tbsp mild curry powder
1 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp fresh grated ginger root
2 cups water
1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets (about 4 cups)
2 green or red bell peppers, chopped
8 oz fresh spinach, roughly chopped
2-3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt to taste

Thoroughly rinse the lentils.  In a medium saucepan bring lentils and water to a boil.  Lower heat to simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes or until lentils are tender.

Preheat dutch oven on stove over medium high heat.  Once hot add oil and saute onion and chile for a couple minutes.  Lower heat to medium and add sweet potatoes, curry powder, cumin, and ginger.  Cook for 2-3 minutes stirring often.  It will smell AWESOME!

Add water and stir to pick up all spices collected on bottom of pot.  Add cauliflower and bell peppers.  Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Once lentils are cooked puree lentils and the cooking liquid in blender or food processor until smooth.  Once the cauliflower is tender stir in the chopped spinach and lentil puree (dahl).  Salt to taste.  Serve immediately over rice with naan bread.  Have seconds without guilt!