Month: December 2025

Red Lentil Dal with Sweet Potato

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

Winter is here with its cold, often damp, dreary days. The world has gone crazy and I long for comfort wherever I can find it. This Red Lentil Dal with Sweet Potato is warm, filled with umami and goes down a treat. Serve it over rice or with your favorite flat bread and for a brief period you will forget that anything bad could be going on.

I came across this recipe online, but made a few changes, mostly in the cooking times. There were some leftover roasted veggies in my fridge that I refreshed in the oven and served alongside. Since I had the time (and truly, it only takes about 10 minutes) I decided to make this carrot raita using our homemade yogurt as a base.

My husband and I eat very little meat and don’t seem to miss it. Luckily, we also both love beans and lentils so getting enough protein isn’t an issue. The best cuisines if you want a more plant-based diet are South Asian and Mediterranean. And both use many similar spices so stocking your pantry is easy. I often mix Mediterranean salads with an Indian main course. The Carrot Raita was actually inspired by a Turkish recipe that I recently came across and had planned to use as part of a New Year’s Eve platter of meze. It was wonderful as an accompaniment to the Red Lentil Dal with Sweet Potato.

We have access to pretty decent naan (and I’ve also made it on occasion) but pita or even whole wheat tortillas would work. Frequently I serve dal or curry over rice, but we had enough bread so I didn’t bother this time.

Yes, this dinner is healthy but it is also really, really delicious and satisfying. It also makes terrific leftovers, so if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to bring your lunch more often to work, this is a great option. The original recipe called for sweet potato and I had some so used that, but butternut squash would work equally well and many stores sell it pre-cut, making this an incredibly easy and quick dish to make.

Give this Red Lentil Dal a try. You won’t be disappointed. I wish all of you a happy, healthy and SAFE New Year!

RECIPE

Yield: 4 to 6 servings, depending on sides

INGREDIENTS

~350 g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into smallish cubes (This turned out to be 1 large sweet potato. More is fine.)

1 Tablespoon neutral oil (I used Avocado Oil)

1 medium red or yellow onion, finely chopped

2 fat garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 small green chili, such as serrano, finely chopped (remove the seeds if you don’t like a LOT of heat)

1 Tablespoon ground cumin (I thought it seemed like a lot, but was just right)

1 Tablespoon ground coriander

1 Tablespoon Garam Masala

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

1.5 cups of red lentils, rinsed well and drained

4 cups of your favorite vegetable stock (If I don’t have my own ready, I like Better Than Bouillon)

1 can (400 ml.) full fat coconut milk

2 cups (75 gr.) baby spinach

A handful of chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the sweet potato cubes on a rimmed baking tray. Sprinkle with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Drizzle 1 Tablespoon of oil (I used Avocado) over the top and toss everything well with your hands. Place the tray in the oven and roast for about 35 to 40 minutes or until tender and just starting to nicely brown. It could be longer or shorter depending on how you cut your sweet potato.

While the potato roasts, make the dal. Heat your oil (Could be coconut, avocado or other neutral oil) in a large deep pan with a lid. Cook the onion over medium heat for about 3 to 5 minutes or until softened.

Stir in the ginger, garlic and green chili and continue cooking for an additional minute.

Add the spices and tomato paste. Cook, stirring to bloom the spices and to remove the rawness from the tomato paste (about 1 minute).

Add the red lentils and vegetable stock and stir everything well. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover the pan, and lower the heat to a simmer. Stir occasionally cooking for 20 minutes.

Add in the coconut milk and stir it through. Place the lid back on and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes. This can be done ahead and reheated if you are making it earlier in the day. Add in the baby spinach and mix it through until wilted.

Once your sweet potatoes are ready, stir 3/4 of them into the dal and save the rest to add on top when serving. (I stirred through all of my sweet potatoes because I had the extra roasted vegetables to use for serving. It’s purely an aesthetic choice, so go ahead and stir everything in if you prefer.)

Stir through half of the chopped cilantro and use the remainder for garnish. Now enjoy!

Bedazzled Brussels Sprouts

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

Lots of people serve Brussels Sprouts at Thanksgiving, but we eat them throughout the fall and winter. Once you have seen and tasted these Bedazzled Brussels Sprouts – and how easy they are to make – they will start appearing on your winter menus as well.

On these often dark and dreary winter days, we all need some cheering up. Just looking at this gorgeous arrangement makes me happy. Bedazzled Brussels Sprouts combines three readily available vegetables and turns them into an edible work of art. Roasted and brightly seasoned, the vegetables each remain ever-so-slightly crisp tender. Each of the three – Brussels Sprouts, winter squash and red onion – retains not only its shape, but its unique flavor. While complimenting one another, no single vegetable over-shadows the others.

Prep time is minimal and can be done ahead. I cut all of my vegetables one day, placed them separately in plastic bags in the fridge and cooked them 2 days later. Pomegranates are in season now and I don’t mind digging out the jeweled seeds inside. But if you are not a fan, many stores these days, sell the seeds separately. And Pomegranate Molasses is available pretty much everywhere and certainly online. If you have never tried it before, you will be in for a treat. It is sticky, fruity, tart and sweet all at the same time. It can be used on so many things – everything from fruits and vegetables, to meats and even ice cream.

This recipe originated with Ree Drummond on her Pioneer Woman blog. While I find that too many of her recipes are overly fatty, this is an exception. I did make a few minor changes to her recipe and I could also imagine making it with alternative spicing. But I admit that I fell in love with the beauty of the dish. Even as a child, I would take a book by its cover. Sometimes it was wonderful and sometimes the cover was the best part. This simple recipe is lovely AND delicious. Exact measurements are not necessary. You want about the same quantity of each vegetable.

RECIPE

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

1 small butternut squash (Other winter squashes can be used e.g. Red Kuri, Kabocha, Honeynut), peeled, seeds removed and diced to about the same size as 1/2 of the Brussels Sprouts

1 large red onion, peeled, cut in half and then cut into wedges. (While other onions would work from a flavor standpoint, the red onion’s color adds to the appearance of the final result.)

EVOO or Avocado Oil for drizzling

Kosher slat and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

1 rounded teaspoon of your favorite chili powder (You could actually use just about any spice blend you prefer or just a smoky paprika)

1/4 cup pf Pomegranate seeds

1/3 cup of Pomegranate molasses (Make sure that it has only 1 ingredient!)

DIRECTIONS

Prep all of your vegetables. If you are doing this ahead of the day you will be cooking, place each of the veg into separate bags and store in the fridge up to 3 days.

Slice off the top of the pomegranate. Then score the skin into 6 to 8 wedges. Over a bowl (And wear an apron or an old shirt, carefully pull the wedges apart. Okay, I admit that on occasion, my kitchen does look a bit like a murder scene, but it cleans up quickly! Then using your fingers, flick out the seeds, removing any white pith. Measure out what you need and set it aside. Extra seeds are wonderful on top of grapefruit or in salads or with meatballs and roasted cauliflower.

When you are ready to roast the vegetables, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Place all of the prepared vegetables on a rimmed baking sheet. Use two if necessary so as not to crowd the vegetables and to keep them in a single layer.

Liberally sprinkle, salt, pepper and the spice of choice over the vegetables. Drizzle with the oil. Using your hands, toss the vegetables and seasoning until everything is well mixed and coated.

Roast the vegetables for 25 to 35 minutes or until just tender and slightly browned. Remove the vegetables from the tray onto a serving dish and sprinkle everything with the pomegranate molasses and the seeds. Serve hot.