Red Lentil Loaf

I've seen lentil loafs before, but never using red lentil. I cam across this recipe on pinterest and adapted it.  I've made it a couple of times already and just served it for Shabbat lunch with tomato chutney and yogurt sauce.

The leftovers are great for lunches and it doesn't even need to be heated up, it is fine room-temperature.

1tbsp oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium carrot, finely diced
1/4 tsp medium curry powder

1/4 tsp dried ground ginger

1/4 tsp dried cilantro
dash cardamom
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups red lentils
4 cups water
1/2-1 cup rolled oats

Heat the oil in a saucepan, and cook the onion, garlic and carrot over medium heat for 5-10 minutes or until the onion is soft.  Add the spices and cook, stirring constantly for 1-2 minutes.

Add the lentils and water, and season to taste with salt and black pepper.  Simmer for around 20 minutes, until the lentils are soft.  Stir regularly adding more water if needed. 

Remove from heat and stir in as many oats as you need to bring the mixture to the correct consistency (you may need slightly more or less). The lentils should be moist, but sturdy enough to hold its shape solidly rather than filling the container.  Mix well.

Lightly grease a baking dish or loaf tin or line with baking paper, and spoon in the lentil mixture.  Spread out until smooth.

Bake at 200°C (Gas Mark 6 / 400°F) for 30-40 minutes, and then gently turn out onto a baking tray. If needed, broil for a few minutes to crisp and brown the top. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes, before carefully slicing.

Coconut Milk Curry

I love curry and this curry is amazing and super easy. My amazing friend SR made this Squash and Chickpea Curry. I couldn't get enough of it, it was so unbelievably delicious. She used frozen spinach instead of chard since it is much easier to come by.  Using her recipe I made this curry a couple of times and not once did I actually put in the veggies that the original recipe calls for. One time I used sweet potate, white potato and peas and tonight I did carrots and red lentils. I haven't used vegetable stock in it and I make it on the stove top and cook it for less time, and it still came out great! Ha ha I am so bad at following recipes.

Here is the original recipe from SR. (I don't know her original source.)


SQUASH AND CHICKPEA CURRY

Ingredients

2 cups (500 mL) cubed peeled butternut squash
2 cups (500 mL) diced peeled potatoes
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp (15 mL) minced gingerroot
3 tbsp (45 mL) mild curry paste
1 can light coconut milk
1 cup (250 mL) vegetable stock
1/4 cup (60 mL) natural cashew butter or peanut butter
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
2 cups (500 mL) packed shredded Swiss chard
1 cup (250 mL) frozen green peas
2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped fresh coriander

Preparation

In slow cooker, combine squash, potato and chickpeas.

In large skillet, heat oil over medium heat; fry onion, garlic and ginger, stirring occasionally, until onion is
light golden, about 7 minutes. Add curry paste; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add to slow
cooker.

Add coconut milk and stock to slow cooker; stir in cashew butter and salt. Cover and cook on low for
about 4 hours or until vegetables are tender.

Stir in Swiss chard and peas. Cover and cook on high for about 15 minutes or until Swiss chard wilts.
Sprinkle with coriander.

Pasta With Lenils & Kale

A great healthy and cheap dinner that kids should like too!

This recipe has simple ingredients, but has a few more steps than I like, but is worth it.

I used fresh kale from my garden and I used the larger, regular brown lentils and doubled the amount.

Enjoy!

Yummy Dahl & Brown Rice

One of my favorite dishes to make for dinner is an Indian inspired red lentil dish called dahl.
I usually start by making brown rice and then in a seperate sauce pan I lightly sauté chopped onion and garlic. Then add in red lentils, water & spices. I usually spice with curry powder or tumeric, salt, pepper and Ginger (fresh is best). Cook until done and serve dahl over rice. This dish is great with a scoop of sour cream or plain yogurt!

I tend to make this for dinner and then pack it up for lunches. This is a quick and easy dish. Enjoy!

Lemony Lentil Soup

Where to start, where to start?
I have so many ideas to get this blog started. So here it goes, why not start with one of my favorites!

As you will come to see lentils are one of my favorite things to cook with. They are so versatile and extremely healthy!
In a search for a new fun lentil soup I came across this Lemony Lentil Soup with Cilantro on Epicurious.com, one of my favorite recipe websites.

Epicurious is great because you can type in ingredients that you have and want to use and search for recipes with those ingredients. It is even possible to refine your search to course or dietary restrictions.

Ok so back to the soup. As you will also come to see I almost never follow recipes, I use them as guidelines to make my own scrumptious recipes. This recipe in particular is pretty easy and super quick, 2 of my favorite attributes for a recipe!
It is great recipe as is and is great with the many variations I've tried.

The following is what I've done to make it my own, not to mention, way faster!

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ground black pepper to taste
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger (fresh chopped ginger is even better!)
  
• 1 cup brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
• 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth (or 1 teaspoon seasoned salt and 3 cups of water)
  
• 3 cups water
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Saute onion in heated oil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute an other 1-2 minutes. Add salt and cook, stirring frequently, 1 minute. Add lentils, pepper, ginger, broth, and water and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until lentils are very soft, about 30 minutes. Add lemon juice and cilantro.

Try adding coconut milk for a more Thai flavor!