Red Lentil Curry

Fit Girl Fare got a nice shout out on The Great Country Farms Newsletter earlier this week. The newsletter mentioned the Brussels Sprouts recipe from a few days ago! For those of you that don't know, Great Country Farms is a working farm about an hour outside of DC in Bluemont, VA. They have a great CSA program and I encourage you all to check them out!

Last week was the fourth Meatless Monday in our household. If I were cooking for just me, I would eat lentils and brown rice every Monday. I'm pretty sure if I cooked like that for all vegetarian meals, my fiancé would order Chinese food instead. However, this past week, I really wanted lentils. So I decided to make an Indian style curry with lentils, sweet potatoes, and coconut milk.

I don't have a lot of experience with Indian food. It uses some of the same ingredients as other Asian food but it is also very different. I read an article in the Washington Post not too long ago that claimed that the reason Indian food is so different from most other cuisines is because in a single dish you can have a lot of different spices that don't traditionally complement each other. According to the article, when different spices are combined like this, it creates a unique experience for your taste buds.

This curry was delicious. When he first smelled the food cooking, my fiance was convinced that the meal needed chicken. By the time he was finished with his first serving (yes, he went back for seconds!) he was convinced this was a make again meal even without the chicken.

Red Lentil Curry
Serves about 4
Prep: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

1 tbsp. coconut oil
1 onion, finely
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. curry powder
2 tsps. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup lentils (I used red lentils, you can probably use any kind you want)
1 large sweet potato, chopped into bite sized pieces
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup light coconut milk
1 cup frozen peas
Brown rice and Greek yogurt for serving

In a heavy bottomed pan or dutch oven, heat the coconut oil over medium heat. Once it is hot, add the onion. Saute for about 10 minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and all of the spices. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes - until the spices are aromatic. Add the lentils and the broth. Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. At this point the lentils should be tender. Add the peas and the coconut milk and cook for another 5 minutes until the peas are cooked through. Serve over brown rice and top with Greek yogurt.