And no, I’m not talking about the rare and invasive tropical skin disease that starts at your toes and turns your entire body Pink within hours of catching it (wait, isn’t that what happened to Pinkalicious when she ate too many pink cupcakes? Was she in the tropics or am I reading too many children’s books for my own good?), I’m talking about an amazingly delicious vegetarian recipe I cooked up the other night from one of my all time favorite vegetarian cookbooks; Beyond the Moon by Ginny Callon.
No I am not a vegetarian, nor do I plan to become one; I just love a hunk of dead animal on my plate that much, but I have tried to incorporate vegetarian cuisine into our family meal night because, despite the fact that I love animal protein, it just feels healthier to me to take a break every now and then from meat and enjoy a good plant based meal. And trust me when I tell you, you won’t miss it in this recipe. Or in any of her recipes for that matter. I have worn through this cookbook and the majority of her meals are A.mazing. There’s a smoked mozzarella, tomato, basil pasta that is To.Die.For. You should see how messy that page is in the book. And I always say, a messed up cookbook is a true sign that it’s worth the money you spent on it.
But let’s get back to the topic at hand. The rotis. She suggests this meal be used as a filling for tortillas or scooped up with some Indian Naan bread. We had neither of these in our house the night I made it, so we used some homemade sourdough starter french bread that I had concocted the night before. Everyone scooped and shoveled until there was nothing left to show for it except a smile and a bigger belly. This meal was a hit in our home and I’m sure it will be in yours as well! Here’s what you’ll need to make your own batch of this vegetarian goodness.
Ingredients Needed:
2 Cups of Dried Lentils (I used Precooked Lentils)
2 Cups of Cubed Unpeeled Potatoes
2 Tbsp of Canola Oil
1 Large Onion, Chopped
5 Large Garlic Cloves, Minced
11/2 Tbsp of Fresh Ginger, Minced
1 Cup of Diced Carrots
1/2 tsp of Cumin
11/2 tsp of Salt
2 tsp of Curry Powder
1 tsp of Ground Coriander
1/8 to 1/4 tsp of Cayenne Pepper
1 Medium Tomato, Chopped (I used halved grape tomatoes)
1 Cup of Fresh or Frozen Peas (I used Edamame)
2 Cups (8 Oz) of Grated Cheddar Cheese<
Flat Bread of Tortillas for scooping and rolling
Optional: Plain Yogurt or Chutney for Garnish
Start off by cooking up your lentils. If you are using dried lentils, add them to your pan along with 4 cups of water, bring your water to a boil and then add the lentils, reduce your heat to medium low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, add in your potatoes and cook until the lentils and potatoes are tender and the water has evaporated, about 10 minutes more.
If you are using cooked lentils like I did you’ll add both the potatoes and the lentils to the pan along with 1 cup of water. Cook them covered on medium high temperature for 5 minutes and then uncovered for 5 minutes more or until the water is evaporated and the potatoes are cooked through.
In a separate pan, heat up your oil over medium heat. Saute your onion, garlic, ginger, carrots, and cumin until the onion is tender; about 3 to 4 minutes.
Yep, I realize that picture is missing the carrot, so here’s another with it all cooking up deliciously, carrot not to be left out this time.
Next you’ll want to stir in the salt, curry powder, coriander and cayenne. See the picture above once more for reference. The dish doesn’t claim to be pretty, but trust me, your kitchen should be smelling delicious right about now.
Stir it all up and cook for a couple minutes to incorporate the spices and then reduce your heat to low and add in your tomatoes, peas/edamame, cheddar, and the potato/lentil mixture.
Stir the whole pile of goodness up and give it a few minutes to let the cheese melt and the dinner heat up.
And that’s all there is to it! Serve it up with tortillas for rolling or bread for scooping and you’ve got yourself a delicious, filling vegetarian dish that even my kids ate with reckless abandon. In honesty, I will tell you that when they first saw it they were a touch afraid of the crazy dish mommy had concocted for them. But once I bribed them to try a bite, they discovered they shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover and Alex even made it all the way to dessert by cleaning his plate entirely.
Before I close out this post, I want to mention that I’ll be camping in the mountains of North Carolina with the family this weekend so you won’t be seeing a new post up until Tuesday. Have no fear though, I’m guest blogging this weekend over at Stephanie’s site; The Scoop on Poop
Be sure to stop by and check it out. Spend a little time surfing around her site while you’re at it. I’m pretty sure you’ll like what you see. Have a great holiday weekend all!
I’m linking this recipe up to Cookbook Sundays over at Brenda’s Canadian Kitchen.
To me that looks good, but without the lentils haha (I'm not a fan, personally) but man, you always make me hungry every time I visit.
Have fun in NC!
Enjoy NC, and thanks so much for guest blogging at my place!! This vegan recipe looks so good I might just be able to pull it off in this meat eating household.
You have a really cute blog!! I'm looking forward to checking your recipes and maybe finding some ideas 🙂
I'm a new follower! 🙂
I'm just now realizing you're in Charlotte! I lived there for 5-1/2 years and just moved away last fall – I love finding people from Charlotte, I miss so much about it 🙂
This is so yummy and nutritious and colorful, excellent dish!
that looks incredible…I would never have thought about adding cheddar, I bet it tastes soooo good!
Lol, thanks for the link. I didn't expect to see "The Scoop on Poop" while scrolling through a recipe :p
Hi from the LBS tea party. I also love a big hunk of meat on my plate but also enjoy making vegetarian dishes every now and then. This looks good.
Wow, look at your fancy pants!!! this looks amazing. And for the record all my boys LOVE pinkalicious. So glad yours do too…
Lots of yummy love,
Alex aka Ma, What’s For Dinner
http://www.mawhats4dinner.com
ok I am a new follower!!!! We have the same blog designer 🙂 I have to know if your children ate that? I would love it if mine would.
Holly
Stopping by from SITS
That looks amazing. I was vegan for years and then vegetarian for even longer I'm not any longer but I did feel much healthier when I was. This would be a great way for me to cut out some of the animal carcasses I eat for dinner.
i am not a vegetarian by any means but this does look good, maybe even as a side dish with a big 'ol steak! have a great weekend,
anne
http://www.anniebakes.net
We do a meat free meal once or twice a week too for the same reasons. It just feels better. I refuse to give up my steak and horseradish though. This looks like a healthy dish with lots of great flavor!
Wow! I love the new look of your blog! So clean & crisp! Gorgeous… by the way, the West Indian Rotis looks divine.
I too love a chunk of animal flesh (grilled and covered with A-1), but this looks like a really nice change. I bought some edamame but have no idea what to do with it!
I so appreciate this recipe. My husband and I are always looking for new vegetarian recipes, and this looks delicious. Thank you for sharing!
I might have more luck getting my kids to like lentils with a dish like this. Sounds wonderful!
Oh Julie, that looks seriously delicious. I just love any meal that you can SCOOP! Whenever I make a vegetarian meal I’m always surprised at how much we love it. I really need to do it more often. Thank you so much for linking up to Cookbook Sundays this week. I hope you had a wonderful weekend!
That’s a great looking vegetable dish – I would love that with some nice warm naan bread. Obviously that’s a book that I need to look out for.
Sue 🙂
I made this last night as my first foray into Indian cooking. Excellent! Ate it with naan bread and oh, delicious. I’m looking to go more vegetarian and this absolutely makes me not miss meat at all. I managed to get my 5 year old to take 3 bites only, though. With bribery. Thanks so much for sharing with us!
Julie replied: — March 28th, 2012 @ 8:56 pm
Sheeijan, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It’s definitely a dish that makes vegetarian eating easier. Keep trying with the kids; it took mine a few tries and now they down it like no one’s business!