What you can do to lentils and veges to make them positively delicious

1. Make into some sort of curry.
2. Sugar and salt, with their powers combined, can pull off some amazing things. I find you need to use around twice as much sugar as salt. Be fairly generous.
3. Cauliflower. If there is a vegetable that tastes better in a curry I would probably not believe you.
4. Drained potatoes that you have boiled or steamed a little more than is probably necessary. Now shake em up a little, toss them about, let dry out a little, then toss into your curry.
5. In lieu of potatoes, use cooked brown rice – an excellent lazy option (see my lazy method for cooking the brown rice and lentils together in the recipe below).
6. Coconut cream. Pretty simple that one.
7. Onions. Sorry onion haters, I don’t understand you.
8. Nut butter. Just a little to help thicken and make your curry taste substantial. You don’t really taste the overt nut flavour, so even peanut butter is probably fine.

Other than that, you can use whatever lentils, curry powder, veges, or spices you like, and things should still turn out swell. Packed with flavour, rich, thick and comforting, and creamy without much actual cream. Lentil-hating boyfriends and girlfriends will marvel at your lentil-transforming abilities, and their newfound desire to eat “rabbit food.” In case you’re totally stumped for a killer vege combination, the recipe for the above (which is really just one of many, many possibilities) is below. My other favourite of all the times I’ve made this is potato, cauliflower and green peppers (plus carrot, but I could easily live without it). Basically this is perfect fridge scraps food…and also freezes and reheats beautifully.

Lazy rice & lentil cooking

Lentils can also be cooked this way on their own. Soak lentils and rice overnight. When making the curry, cook first. Add about 1.5x as much water as rice and lentil to  saucepan. Bring to rapid boil (around 7 minutes), reduce heat to lowest setting and let cook for 20 minutes. Turn off heat, let sit for at least ten minutes. Prep veg while it cooks.

Easy vege lentil “curry” with cauli & spinach

serves 3-4 (3 for dinner on its own)

Ingredients which are important are starred *

• 1 onion, large dice*
• generous handful cauliflower florets*
• 1 carrot, cut into thick batons
• 2-3 cloves garlic (or more), crushed and sliced
• about 3 cups cooked lentils and brown rice or potatoes*
• 200-400ml coconut cream (if using 200ml, the other 200ml will be water)*
• 1 heaping Tbs nut butter* (I like cashew butter)
• 1 Tbs of your favourite curry powder*
• whatever other spices you like (I usually add cumin and cinnamon)
• 1 tsp pomegranate molasses, or 3x as much lemon juice, or to taste*
• 3 Tbs sugar (or to taste)*
• 2 tsp salt (or to taste)*
• around 200g spinach

Add around 1 Tbs cooking oil to a large cast iron pan (mine’s 10″, to give you perspective), add carrots, onion, and cauliflower, and cover. Heat on high until the bottoms are browned. Add garlic and cook until fragrant but not browned. Add everything else except for the spinach, and stir until everything is well distributed. Sometimes if the timing is a little off I’ll add the cooked lentils and rice later, but it’s better the longer they’re in with everything else.

Cover and reduce heat to lowest setting. Let simmer until veg are softened slightly and almost done to your liking. Stir through spinach to wilt, and serve.

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