Sweet Potato, Spinach & Lentil Dahl

I stumbled across this recipe yesterday, just as I was thinking "oh man, I've got a bag of baby spinach in the fridge that needs using ASAP, and a kumara (sweet potato) that I've been meaning to make chips out of"... combine this with the lentils I bought for another recipe I'm going to try soon, and this recipe is a winner! :)  

It was super quick and easy to make too.  I made double the original recipe so that it would serve 4, and ate it with rice for a nice, wholesome dinner which happened to coincide with Meatless Monday!  What I've written below is the double recipe - just halve it if you want enough for two :)

INGREDIENTS

200g lentils

900mL vegetable stock (although I used chicken because we'd run out)

2 onions, finely diced

4 tomatoes, chopped

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp powdered chilli

1 large sweet potato, cut into chunks

2 handfuls baby spinach, rinsed & shredded

baby peas

rice, to serve with

METHOD

• Put all the ingredients except the sweet potato, peas and spinach in a pan
• Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 mins 
• Add the sweet potato and cook until tender (test with a fork if unsure), another 10-12 mins
• Stir in the spinach and peas, and cook for a minute until wilted
• Serve with rice

This was a good, warm dinner, very filling!    Will be perfect on a cold winter night, for those miserable nights where you get home, but can't be bothered defrosting meat and then thinking up something to do with it! :P  The kumara provided a lovely sweetness, and the peas gave a nice fresh contrast to the other flavours.  Yum! :)

Recipe Inspiration: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/96608/sweet-potato-spinach-and-lentil-dahl

[SlowCooker] Chickpea Curry

When I first heard of the grain "quinoa" (said keen-wah), I knew I wanted to try it - something different from rice, something unusual.  So then I set about finding something to serve with the quinoa that would complement it nicely.  

As I was looking for recipes including quinoa, this one for an Indian chickpea curry in the slow cooker caught my eye.  I know we've had a can of chickpeas in our pantry for ages, I have no idea why Mum bought it - we never normally eat chickpeas, and the hummus we eat is always premade.  I did have to buy another can of chickpeas so I'd have enough to make this curry, but that was no big deal.  

The other thing is, I'm lazy.  Like really lazy.  There's no way you'd get me farting around rinsing, soaking and cooking dried chickpeas.  Seriously, you have to do this like a day in advance.  I'm not THAT organised!  Therefore, I love canned chickpeas.  Much easier.  Rinse, drain, chuck it in.  BAM.

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp oil

Chickpeas, drained and ready to cook!

1 onion, diced (I used 2)

2 cloves garlic (or ~ 2 tsp crushed garlic)

1 inch ginger, peeled & grated (or 1 tsp crushed ginger)

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander (I left this out cos Mum hates it)

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

3 cups cooked chickpeas (or 2x 15oz cans)

2 cups water

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp dried chilli powder (not in the original recipe, but I felt it needed a little kick)

1/2 tsp garam masala

finely diced capsicum

finely diced carrot

diced potatoes (pre-boiled - I had some leftover potatoes that I threw in - yum!)

frozen peas

METHOD

Ready to cook.

• Rinse and drain chickpeas thoroughly before using
• Saute oil, onions, ginger and garlic for 5 mins in a small frypan
• Put this onion mixture and all other ingredients (except garam masala and peas) in crockpot
• The liquid should be just to the top of the beans; if not, add water as necessary, and also during cooking if needed
• Cook on LOW for 6 hours, stirring once during cook time
• Before serving, add garam masala, stir well, and add frozen peas 3 minutes before serving
• Serve with rice, or quinoa!

Just before serving, add peas for a dash of green!

Can't even see the quinoa underneath!

Who said you need meat for a complete meal?! :)  We had it served over quinoa, but I think it would be better over rice because it was quite saucy.  Will definitely be one to make again, maybe with more vegetables too.  The original recipe didn't call for extra vegetables, but I added some because I thought it was a bit bland and boring otherwise.  :)

Recipe Inspiration: http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes/crockpot-chickpea-curry.php