Curried Red Lentils and Collards

Our Monday night dinner was some curried red lentils, a whole grain roll, and salad.  This sort of thing is a pretty typical dinner in our house because it's quick and quite filling. My significant other can be a picky eater sometimes, but I'll give him this: he loves leafy greens and legumes. So when I keep it simple, it's pretty easy to get a healthy meal into him. We love collards both raw and cooked, so I often use them as an ingredient in a mixed green salad. This time, we had them both ways:  in the salad as well as some lightly sauteed to top the lentils.

This is really basic food, and  of course is very flexible and easy to adjust to varying tastes...here is an approximate recipe of  what I threw it together...

Makes roughly 6 servings:

3 cups dry red lentils
3 carrots, diced fine
3 celery ribs, chopped fine
1 large onion, diced fine
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
handful fresh parsley, finely chopped (~ 1 cup chopped)
1 generous tablespoon tomato paste
8 - 10 cups veggie broth, or water, or some combo thereof (amount depends on whether you like it soupy or stew-like)
2 bay leaves
pinch of red chili flakes
1 teaspoon dry ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 generous tablespoon of  your preferred curry powder(or more to taste)
a bit of oil or water for sauteeing
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups fresh collards, cut chiffonade style
toasted cumin seeds

Sweat off the red chili flakes, onion, garlic, carrot, celery, parsley, and bay leaves in a little oil or water until it becomes a little tender, add in the cumin, coriander, and curry and continue to saute for another couple of minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine. Add the red lentils and water/veggie broth, bring to a simmer and then reduce heat and allow to simmer gently for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding water/broth as necessary to create the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top with some lightly sauteed collards and toasted cumin seeds.

A squeeze of fresh lemon juice and some diced fresh tomatoes would be nice additions too.


Have a happy week everyone.