by Ann Miller

Created on: November 29, 2010   Last Updated: November 30, 2010

Lentils are one of the most nutritious foods you can eat.  The additional benefit to them is they are very low in fat.  As a vegetarian I often add lentils to dishes to provide the protein I need.  This curried dish can be adapted to your own taste: if you prefer your curries to be mild just reduce the spices you add.  

To prepare butternut squash:

Wash the butternut squash under running cold water

Divide the squash into rings 2-3 inches thick

Divide the rings into halves.

Scoop out the seeds and set aside

Peel off the hard skin and set aside

Dice

Curried Lentil Stew:

Ingredients:

 1 tablespoon olive oil

 1 medium red onion, diced

 3 cloves garlic, crushed

 1-2 teaspoon cumin as per your own taste

 1-2 teaspoon dried coriander

 1-2 teaspoon ginger

 1 butternut squash, diced

 1 sweet potato, diced

6 oz of red lentils, washed and drained

1 pint vegetable stock

1 can light coconut milk

Instructions:

Prepare vegetables by cleaning, peeling and dicing.

Heat olive oil in large saucepan over low heat. To check when oil is hot enough, add one or two pieces of diced onion, when the onion begins to fry add remaining onion and cook until it is transparent

Add crushed garlic, cumin, ginger and coriander and cook for 1 minute only.

Add diced butternut squash and diced sweet potato, stir to cook the vegetables with the oil, garlic and herb mix

Cover pan with a tight lid and allow the mixture to ‘sweat’ for 5 minutes.

Add lentils, coconut milk and vegetable stock and allow the mixture to come to the boil slowly

Reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes until vegetables are soft

Serve with rice and fresh greens

To make pumpkin stock and roast pumpkin seeds:

If, like me, you like to make the very best use of everything you buy, try making stock from the skin, pulp and seeds as well as roasting the seeds for a tasty low fat snack.  Here's how:

In a small saucepan put the seeds and skin in an inch of water.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes, make sure it doesn’t dry out.

Drain through a sieve into a bowl, use the back of a wooden spoon to separate the pulp from the skin.

This can be used as stock for soup or to mix with vegetables.

To roast pumpkin seeds:

Arrange the seeds on a roasting tin,

Roast in a medium oven for 20 minutes to give a tasty snack of pumpkin seeds

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