Red Lentil Cauliflower Curry

Sometimes after a few days of festive eating, think the holidays, birthdays, and whatever celebration days, we all need to get back to a little basic. And what better than some plant based comfort food. I love lentils, they are a super food, and they are also versatile and delicious. This particular dish pairs lentils with cauliflower. Cauliflower is such a light flavorful vegetable, and can be cooked so many ways. Putting it with the lentils lightens this dish. So here we have red lentil cauliflower curry

All good soups, stews start with an aromatic base. The French call it Mirepoix (please read Mirepoix: The Building Block for the Best Soups and Stews) in Cajun cooking it’s the Holy Trinity. And in this recipe we’ll use onion, jalapeño and garlic. Now when people say jalapeño, most think hot. Well, that’s not the case. The heat from a jalapeño is in the seeds and the webbing, we’re going to remove those. Everything needs to be chopped up fine.

By definition the aromatic base is precisely that, aromatic. It’s the soul of the dish, the aroma and the taste. The secret is to sauté without caramelizing. Keep the heat medium low, stirring occasionally. Keep the lid on, allow vegetables to release their aromas. When the others in the house start commenting on the wonderful smells you know you’re doing it right.

I love cauliflower, it’s so versatile, I think I mentioned that. You can steam it, mash it (goes great in mashed potatoes), grill it, bake it (topped with Parmesan). Here, it gets added to a curry. The idea is to have small bite size pieces of cauliflower. The little florets are a perfect size, I usually just nip them off with a sharp knife. You can just cut up the cauliflower small, just don’t include too much of the stems.

This touches on a really good topic. If you’re like me and eat a lot of veggies, you can save what you usually discard, like cauliflower and broccoli stems and potato peelings, they make a great base for a vegetable stock. Save them in the freezer. When you have enough, make some vegetable stock. Put them in the slow cooker for a while with herbs and seasoning, and you’ll have some really good stock.

Speaking of stock, lets talk about that for a minute. There are lots of choices, and, most depend on dietary concerns. I usually use low sodium chicken broth, but you can use regular if you like, the salt content does affect the flavor. If you’re vegan, use vegetable stock. The choice is yours

When the aromatics are cooked, about 15 mins, the onions should be soft and opaque. Add the seasonings. Let them heat for a few minutes to release all of their flavors. Now add the lentils and cauliflower. The idea is to get all the flavors from the aromatics and spices onto the cauliflower and lentils. So stir everything together and get everything coated.

Now add the tomatoes and stock. Raise the heat high, stirring well, bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, and cover, stirring occasionally. The lentils will need about 30 to 40 mins to cook, you’ll want them a little mushy. This really adds a creamy texture to the dish. When they’re cooked, add the coconut milk, give it about 5 mins to warm and mix.

So here you have red lentil cauliflower curry, I serve over white rice with warm Na’an bread on the side. Please enjoy, and, thank you for trying the dish