Curried Lentils and Sweet Potatoes

This is the first of four recipes I made on Wednesday evening of this past week. The kitchen was a whirl of ingredients and dishes. Matt said I was a force of nature. I was in my element - loving every minute of it. The other recipes will follow but lets start with the lentils.

I love lentils, especially red lentils that get all soft and mushy. This could be partly because of my aversion to chewing, but I think it’s also because red lentils cook the quickest and I’m never sure how to cook lentils that are supposed to retain their shape. How soft or hard should brown and green lentils be? If they’re still a little chewy and dry I feel like they’re not cooked through but then I cook them too long and they become mushy and shapeless. I love mushy lentils, but if they’re not supposed to be mushy then I feel like I failed at cooking them. Really, I think I just need more practice. I’m still a newbie at lentils.

This curry called for a bunch of items I didn’t have on hand: fresh ginger, an onion, 2 lbs sweet potatoes and a bunch of swiss chard. We never went grocery shopping last weekend so I just had the remnants of the shopping we did the weekend before - 2 sweet potatoes, celery and 1/3 head of cabbage. The end result was great, although I know the fresh ginger would have made it even better. I really need to start buying ginger root on a regular basis because I so rarely have it when I want it. 

Also, the recipe called for vegetable broth, but I forgot to add a bullion cube to my water. I don’t think it needed the broth though as there was plenty of flavor from the vegetables and seasonings. 

Curried Lentils and Sweet Potatoes (Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

• 1 med onion (or 3 ribs celery), chopped
• 1 inch ginger root, grated (or 1 tsp ginger powder)
• 1.5 tsp garam marsala
• 1.5 tsp curry powder
• 4-5 cups broth or water
• 2-4 sweet potatoes
• 1.5 cups dried red lentils
• 1 lb swiss chard (or 1/2 head cabbage), chopped 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

     Optional:

• 1/2 c fresh cilantro
• zest of one lime
• juice of 1/2 lime
• scallion and almonds for garnish

1. Saute onions in olive oil for a few minutes.
2. Add spices and saute a couple more minutes
3. Add broth, sweet potatoes and lentils. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 25 minutes. 
4. Add chard, salt and pepper (and cilantro and lime if using) and cook 5-15 minutes more until lentils are soft and chard is cooked.
5. Serve hot with desired garnishes.