Going Vegan, Ep. 19: Steph’s amazing Red Lentil Sweet Potato dish

My friend Steph came over for a vegan feast.  She offered to jump in the kitchen teach us how to make great vegan food.

Alan was excited.  “Teach her everything,” he said, pointing at me.  “Just lock yourselves in there and don’t come out until she knows how to cook.”

Steph’s Amazing Yam and Lentil Stew

Red Lentil Sweet Potato Da’al….ish

Steph instructs:

• Chop up one onion and some fresh ginger in a large saucepan.
• Add in two heaping tablespoons of Patak’s Mild Curry sauce; it’s great in many flavours so choose your favorite.
• Add about 2-3 cups of red lentils or brown lentils, washed and sorted; it’s all eyeballing here, folks.
• Throw in a large can of diced organic tomatoes or whole tomatoes and mash them up, but I prefer diced
• Add the same amount of water- fill the can- this is to help cook the lentils and to add more volume as they expand.
• I throw in a diced sweet potato now, too and a few dollops of tomato paste for thickening.
• Bring to a slow boil, get it simmering for at least 20 minutes so the lentils expand and the sweet potato gets cooked
• I also throw in a can of chick peas and some fresh chopped kale in the last few minutes
• Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper to taste and/or add more curry sauce….it’s that easy.

Steph says, “It makes a ton, gets better over the days, freezes like a dream and is chock full of everything- really simple and flexible- I’ve used different lentil/bean combos, too. Plus, you can add fresh baby spinach when you reheat it as well. I serve it over quinoa…yummy! And I eat it cold- I bring it to work for dinner and I never use a microwave; it tastes great cold too.”

We dig in.

It IS amazing.  This is a kick ass dinner.  Just throw it into the pot and cook her up.  We have more than enough for us plus a ton of leftovers.

“It freezes really well,” says Steph.  “Just pull it out and let it thaw when you want more.  Throw in some fresh kale or spinach leaves once it’s hot and there you go.”

After dinner, we make a new vegan brownie recipe that Steph is psyched about.  The secret ingredient is black beans, so the brownies are high in protein.  You can almost justify eating the whole pan.

Um.  Scratch the almost. I can justify it.