You’re shocked, right? No chocolate, and no sprinkles today!
You might not know it from my recent posts, but I promise I don’t sit around all day eating chocolatey desserts… Today I’ve decided to break the “desserts-only” streak, on which I’ve been for the past month or so, with a savory recipe featuring one of my fave legumes: the lentil!
When I do make a lentil dish, I always say to myself, “I should cook with lentils more often!” Such was the case with last night’s dinner.
Yumlicious Lentil Curry
(Lentils… perfect for Lent!)
- 2-4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 large onions, diced
- 4 carrots, chopped
- Optional: 2 zucchini, sliced
- 3 minced garlic cloves (about 1 tbsp)
- 1 (28 ounce) can plum tomatoes
- 1 cup (7 ounces) lentils (See the note below this recipe, in regards to whether to use 1 cup uncooked or cooked)
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 2 teaspoons mild curry powder
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped (I use 1/2 tsp dried)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
- optional: pepper (I only use a small dash)
- 1 tablespoon good-quality red wine vinegar
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions and carrots and cook over medium low heat for 8-10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. Add the garlic and cook 1 more minute. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
- Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes with a knife until they are coarsely chopped. Add the tomatoes (and the juice in the can), lentils, broth, curry powder, thyme, salt, and pepper to the pan. Raise the heat to bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer covered for about 40 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Check occasionally to be sure the liquid is still simmering.
- Remove from the heat and allow to sit covered for another 10 minutes. Add the vinegar. Season to taste and serve hot. Enjoy!
Cooking Mishap!
The original recipe, based off one from The Barefoot Contessa, is supposed to be for lentil curry. So I could not figure out why mine looked more like soup. Finally I realized: when it called for 1 cup lentils, it meant un-cooked. I’d used 1 cup canned! Oops!
All was not lost, however. I simply drained the liquid and poured it into a separate container. This gave me the curry for which I’d hoped… and now I had the most delicious, broth-y soup, besides. Two dishes from one recipe!
And just because it wouldn’t be a CCK post without chocolate…
I made this for dinner tonight for me and my meat loving boyfriend and even he couldnt get enough Katie u are a genius!! Will def make again
Looks yummy! But curry is supposed to be soupy- your liquidy version looks way more like curry than the drained one! I think maybe non-liquidy curry is a Western interpretation? Not sure but in most traditional curries, the soupy part IS the actual “curry”
Thanks for this recipe, Katie! I made it for the second time last night, because it seemed like the perfect dish on a snowy evening. Like you, I always forget about cooking with lentils, but love them every time I do. I started following you for your dessert and oatmeal recipes, but I really love all your savory dishes. Tonight we are going to have your Mexican Tamale Pie 🙂
Thank you for trying it!
Made this tonight – my first time trying lentils. My 2 year-old twins and I LOVED it! We’ve been slowly trying all of your dinner recipes and have loved every single one. I’ve been desperate for some new recipes so I was so happy to find your site and excited to try even more recipes. Thank you!
Thank you so much for trying it 🙂
Would this freeze well? I cook and freeze meals for my daughter to eat while away at college and this recipe looks amazing!
I cook and freeze many of Katie’s recipes, and they all hold up well, just as good heated up as when fresh.