Curried Lentils with Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Remember, you know, one post ago when I showed you a soup with lentils and sweet potatoes?




















I present to you: the same ingredients, but separately, and with different spices. The soup has cumin it it. The lentils on their own are curry-style.




















I would describe this recipe, along with the Indian-style cabbage, chana masala, and curried quinoa salad, as your basic Indian food. Only a couple of spices, not too many ingredients, and it's an easy meal to put together on any given week night.

John had to bat my hand away a few times from just eating the sweet potatoes off of the baking sheet, then off of the serving plate, then out of the tupperware. I love them! And it's this time of year that I always remember. When we were planning this meal I said to John, "You know what sounds good with that lentil recipe? Sweet potatoes!" And he said, "Didn't we just eat that same exact thing?"
Well we did. And it turns out, these are two foods that bear repeating...together.


Curried Lentils with Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen.

2 big sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped to your liking, as uniform as possible.

2 tbs olive oil
1 large onion, diced in 1/4 inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup dried brown lentils, rinsed (we used red, which may have affected the cooking time)
2 cups homemade chicken or vegetable stock (or 1 can chicken broth and 1/4 cup water)
3/4 cup chopped cilantro (or more)
salt/pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread chopped potatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper (or brown sugar, if you'd like them to be more like dessert). When the oven is hot, add the potatoes and bake for 40 minutes, turning once.

While potatoes are roasting, heat oil in medium sized heavy pan, add onions, and saute 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute 1-2 minutes. Add curry powder to onion-garlic mixture and sautee about 2 minutes more.

Add lentils and stock, bring to a low simmer, then cover pan and cook until lentils are tender and liquid is absorbed. Cooking time will depend on how old the lentils are, ours probably took 10-15 minutes max. You may need to add a little water towards the end if your stove doesn't keep the simmer low enough.

When lentils are done (soft but still slightly chewy), remove from heat, and let sit covered for 5 minutes while you chop the parsley. Stir in parsley, season with salt and pepper and serve hot.