Kelly Rossiter
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I've written a few times about how my husband gets anxious when I tell him we're having lentils for dinner. So I was a bit surprised when he sent me a link to a website that had an entire article featuring lentil dishes. It seemed to me like permission, of a sort. There were all kinds of interesting sounding recipes, but I wanted to try this Jamaican stew right away. My daughter was home for the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend and I thought this was something that she could easily make for herself once she was back at school. Like most university students, she is on a pretty tight budget, so finding nutritious, economical meals is always important.
One of the features of this stew is pumpkin, which is in ready and cheap supply round about this time of year, so make this dish while you can still find this soft skinned squash. Once the pumpkins are finished, you could use any kind of squash for this recipe. You can also make any vegetable additions that you like. This made a lot of stew, so when I heated up the leftovers the next day, I added some cauliflower that I had in my refrigerator.
The recipe calls for canned pumpkin, but I used fresh and roasted it. Use a pie pumpkin and cut it in quarters, drizzle it with olive oil, salt and pepper and cook at 400F for about 45 minutes or until it is tender. Then scoop out the pumpkin flesh and use as directed in the recipe below.
Jamaican Lentil Stew
1 medium onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch piece ginger, grated
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1-2 teaspoon ground cumin (adjust according to taste)
1 (13 ounce) can coconut milk
4 cups vegetable stock
4 ounces split red lentils, washed and drained
1 small sweet potato
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree, or 1 fresh pie pumpkin (see above for cooking)
1/2-1 teaspoon Thai red curry paste (optional)
black pepper, to taste
- Heat vegetable oil over medium heat in a large saucepan, add the onion and saute until transparent. Add the garlic ginger and saute another 2 minutes until fragrant; lower heat and stir constantly to avoid burning. Add the spices and saute for a minute more.
- Stir in the coconut milk, stock, lentils, sweet potato and pumpkin puree. Simmer over medium - low heat for 40 - 50 minutes or until sweet potato is soft and almost melting into the stew. Be sure to stir occasionally. Before serving, stir in the red curry paste if you are using it or adjust seasoning with black pepper.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Adapted from Recipe Zaar via Wise Bread
Related Recipes:
Add Some Lentils to Your Diet
Soup of the Week: Serve up Red Lentils and Lemon
Make a Warming Dal and Pumpkin Soup
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