I've made a couple meals for myself in the weeks since my first post, and thus I'm forced to go back in time, if you will, to recreate these dinners for your blog-reading enjoyment.
And now, upon examining my picture files, I deleted one set of meals. Crap!
Anyhoo, here's the one I have left.
This meal comes courtesy of a great bunch of cookbooks by The Moosewood Collective. If you like healthy, easy to prepare, global cuisine these books should be at the top of your must-read list.
I picked up all the various Indian spices from a Middle-Eastern grocery by my house. Some of the items may be unfamiliar if you're not a big Indian food eater, but if you ask your grocer, he should be able to help. I didn't have turmeric or coriander so I just subbed some curry powder instead. Also, the tamarind concentrate you can get at any Asian market.
I cooked this meal in our handy dandy wok that we picked up on the cheap from Ikea, but I ended up over-toasting the spices because the pot was too dark to see what was going on. You might want to try a stainless steel or aluminum pan instead.
Don't be intimidated by the number of ingredients. The hard part is just getting them together. The cooking is quite easy.
Serve with cooked basmati rice, some lowfat plain yogurt to cool off the tongue, and mango chutney (I used some pureed mango from Trader Joe's mixed with some chopped apple).
Lentil Sambar
adapted from "Moosewood Restaurant Lowfat Favorites"
Serves 4-6
1 cup dried lentils - simmer in boiling water until al dente, adding salt in the last couple minutes.
Chop following ingredients into bite-sized pieces:
1 onion
1 sm. head cauliflower
2 sweet potatoes
1 red bell pepper
2 t. veg oil
1 t. each mustard seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric, coriander, cinnamon
1/2 t. fenugreek seeds
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1 jalapeno, minced, seeds removed if you like a milder heat flavor
1 T. tamarind concentrate - dissolve in 1 cup hot water
1 t. salt
2-3 T. chopped cilantro
While the lentils and rice are cooking warm the oil in your pan and saute the mustard, cumin, and fenugreek seeds until they begin to pop. Stir in the the turmeric, coriander, cinnamon, and chopped chile. Saute for a minute or two to toast the spices. Add in all your chopped veggies and saute a couple minutes more. Add the tamarind liquid and salt and cover for about 10 minutes until the veggies are tender.
To finish, fold in the lentils and sprinkle some cilantro on top. Serve with your prepped accompaniments. Mmmm.
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