Lent brings a simplicity to my normal kitchen rhythm that I really enjoy. I try to cook meatless as much as possible throughout the six week penitential season. You can imagine that making the same things over and over again gets a little boring. So this year, after checking out a few vegetarian cookbooks from the local library as well as looking at some of the newer ones at the book store, I invested in three cookbooks to help break the meatless monatony.
The first book I purchased was the
Betty Crocker Vegetarian Cookbook. If you can't trust Betty, who can you trust?? There are lots of pictures so I know what the finished dishes are supposed to look like. The directions for each recipe are very straightforward and easy to follow and most of them take less than 45 minutes to prepare. Everything I have tried out of the book so far has been pretty tasty.
This recipe felt like a warm hug from the inside out. The curry and cumin combo was not overwhelming at all, which is a good thing being that my guys are not huge curry fans. they liked this one though. That's a win for Mama who is always trying to find ways to get more fiber and veggies into them. Top it off with a little tadziki and you're good to go.
Celebrate the Feast!
Mary
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| In the crock pot before adding the green beans... |
Curried Sweet Potato and Lentil Stew
slightly adapted from Betty Crocker Vegetarian Cookbook
Ingredients:
3 cups cubed (1 inch) peeled dark-orange sweet potatoes
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups ready to eat baby cut carrots
3/4 cup dried lentils, sorted, rinsed
2 TBS olive oil
1 TBS curry powder
1 TSP ground cumin
1/2 TSP salt
1/4 TSP pepper
1 TSP finely chopped ginger root
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 can (14 oz) vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups frozen cut green beans
1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt
Directions:
1. Spray 3-4 quart slow cooker wit cooking spray. In slow cooker, mix sweet potatoes, onion, carrots, and lentils.
2. In 8-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add curry powder, cumin, salt, pepper, ginger root and garlic. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in broth. Pour mixture into slow cooker, stir.
3. Cover. Cook on low heat for 5-6 hours.
4. Stir in green beans. Increase heat to high. Cover and cook 15 minutes longer our until green beans are crisp-tender. Serve topped with yogurt.
Labels: In the Kitchen
