Red Lentil Dal with Butternut Squash, Chickpeas, and Spinach

I am sneaking in an April post and almost on the last day! Master Gardener season is heating up and I’ve been busy. This year I have 4 interns, am doing my normal Community Gardens gigs and I have joined the leadership team as the chair-elect of Community Programs; it’s going to be an interesting year!

I’ve started my seeds; onions, leeks, celery, cucumber, eggplant, peppers (sweet and spicy), and flowers; lots of flowers. At last count, there were 140 zinnias of various shapes, colors, and sizes. I’ve also planted blue flax, cosmos, nasturtiums, violas, columbine, morning glories, sage, rosemary, and thyme. 

Yesterday Dan and I took a straw bale gardening class in Minneapolis taught by a fellow Master Gardener - we are now the proud owners of 2 straw bales and we are in the process of conditioning them for our eggplant and peppers - more to come! 

We've been to a couple of new restaurants (new to us); Hai Hai in Minneapolis, and Pink Ivy in Hopkins, and we took a cooking class at the Arb where we learned that Shashukah comes in many forms - all delicious. 

I have been cooking. We hosted Easter this year for Dan’s family and last week a college friend of Dan’s and her family joined us for dinner. Truth be told, we ordered Indian food from our local favorite place but I did make a red lentil dal with butternut squash, chickpeas, and spinach that was tasty. 

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil (or use cooking spray)
1 onion finely diced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground coriander
3 garlic cloves grated
1 tbsp fresh ginger finely grated
1 cup butternut squash peeled and cubed
4 cups hot vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups red lentils rinsed
14 oz can chickpeas drained and rinsed

1 can diced tomatoes 
1/4 cup coconut cream
3 cups loosely packed) spinach leaves
fresh cilantro to garnish
pinch red chilli flakes to garnish

Instructions:

Heat the olive oil in a large casserole and sauté the onion for 5 minutes over medium-low heat.

Stir in the spices, salt, garlic, ginger and butternut squash.

Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a rolling simmer.

Add in the red lentils – they tend to become a solid mass once you rinse them so break them up with a spoon.

Add the chickpeas and tomatoes and simmer, partially covered for 15 minutes until the curry has thickened and squash is tender.

Mix in the spinach until it wilts, then stir in the coconut cream. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and a pinch of red chili flakes. 

Thanks for stopping by!