Tandoori Lentils and Sweet Potatoes

The trip home yesterday was uneventful.

I woke up.   Packed my bags.   Looked around the room.  Checked out of the hotel.   Grabbed a taxi.    Chatted with driver on a traffic free trip to the airport.    Checked into my flight.   Breezed through security.   Bought two magazines.   Read one magazine.   Found my seat at the back of the plane.   Ate peanuts.  Read another magazine.   Took a five minute nap.   Landed.    Called John to pick me up.   Walked outside.   Got in car.

Truly.  Uneventful.

After all of the buzz and excitement of the past couple of days, my re-entry into normal life was quite calm.  

I had a wonderful time at BlogHer Food in Atlanta.   Still digesting it all (pun intended).  

I'll share some of this with you here, but for now, will share our dinner from last night.  

Our conversation in the car ride home:

"I'm tired."

"Okay, so what do you want for dinner?"

"Don't care.   What do we have?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Bread, peanut butter and jelly, one egg."

I knew there had to be more to it.   Sure enough, my vegetable drawer still held a virtual bounty of last weeks  farmers market score.    A couple of sweet potatoes, some baby spinach.   Carrots.   Garlic.  Cilantro.  A bag of lentils that's been sitting in the back of my pantry waiting for the right day.  I started to develop a plan, inspired by Smitten Kitchen's recipe for Curried Lentils and Sweet Potatoes.

Ignore the fact that it was 90 degrees in North Carolina yesterday.   Not exactly soup weather.  I cranked the AC inside and was rewarded with some healthy and colorful comfort food, perfect for unwinding after a long weekend away.  Sweet and mildly spicy, highly flavorful.    The depth of the spices was lightened by liberal use of cilantro and sprinkling of lime.  Filling and nutritious.  Will definitely make this again.

(As a bonus, this recipe is multipurpose.   If you like soup, cook it less.  If you like stew, cook it more.  Great leftovers too.)

How was your weekend?   Has your re-entry into Monday been bearable? 

Tandoori Lentils and Sweet Potatoes  (6 - 8 servings)


Ingredients


1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 medium sized carrots, peeled, sliced
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled, diced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 Teaspoon onion powder
1 Tablespoon tandoori spice*
3 teaspoons grated ginger
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
1 bay leaf
1 cup lentils, rinsed
2 cups baby spinach, chopped
3/4 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
garnish - light sour cream, cilantro, lime juice

Preparation


Heat oil on stove in large soup pot until warm.    Add carrots and sweet potatoes and saute on medium heat until slightly softened, about 5 to 8 minutes.    Add chopped garlic and ginger and saute another minute or two until fragrant.   Stir onion powder and tandoori spice into vegetable mixture until coated.

Pour chicken broth and water into pot and stir.   Add lentils and bay leaf and bring mixture to a boil.   Cover and reduce to simmer for 30 minutes.     Add in chopped spinach, salt and pepper and stir.   Cook for another 30 - 60 minutes on low heat until you reach desired consistency.  

Remove from heat and remove bay leaf.  Serve garnished with light sour cream and liberal sprinkling of cilantro and lime juice.

*I use Penzey's Tandoori spice, which can be found online or in local retail shops.