Red Lentil Dal stuffed sweet potato
Plus Mel's Staples: Must-haves, essentials & more in your pantry & fridge Part 9
It’s been a busy week here for me and I almost neglected to attend to this Blog. But then again, cooking, baking, capturing photos of what I had made and then writing these blog posts are some of the most fun things that are happening these days. I could never ever postpone publishing another post. So here I am.
I hope you’ve had a great week with lots of interesting and delicious moments, dear reader!
It’s been one for me for sure. Even though being busy, I still like to make wholesome and healthy meals. Not because I feel I have to - in order to maintaining a healthy lifestyle -, but because I like to treat and nourish myself with delicious homemade food, try new recipes and just overall feel good about what I eat.
And this is absolutely possible!
Especially after a full day behind my computer I don’t really feel like having to work for my dinner with an elaborate recipe. That’s when I would make something easy, yet nourishing and filling, too, that doesn’t need a whole lot of ingredients to make it tasty.
For this week’s blog post I’m sharing a baked potato recipe with you. But not just any kind - I’m not a big fan of potatoes really, although being German…
I do love sweet potatoes in any form, sweet potato fries or baked sweet potato.
If you’re familiar with baked potato you probably know that baking a potato so it’s all soft and ready to eat, takes up to an hour. Sweet potatoes are no different.
But, while your potatoes are in the oven, you can do something else and then focus on making the Dal and everything else my recipe calls for. Don’t worry, it’s an easy one that lets you throw everything together in about half an hour.
For this week’s recipe I’ll be introducing a couple more of those staples, too.
Must-Haves in your pantry and fridge
Red lentils
A Daal or Dal/Dhal usually is made with (yellow) split peas that don’t need to be soaked and cooked for hours. With red lentils this is almost the same and they’re my go-to lentils when making Indian inspired dishes. They’re just so easy to work with.
Red Lentils
As said, red lentils are really easy to prepare. No soaking before using them, just put them in the dish you’re making and let them simmer in the juice or sauce that you’re working with, e.g. coconut milk.
For this stuffed sweet potato recipe I simplified it even more, just simmering them in water and add the other ingredients to them.
Red lentils are a healthy bet, too. They’re a great source of protein and rich in iron and other good stuff that help maintain a healthy body.
Essentials for your pantry and fridge
Sweet potato
Potatoes. Well, as mentioned, I am German, but I don’t really like potatoes. At least the usual kind that’s served with other very traditional German foods, usually a choice of cooked or fried meat and a vegetable side. That’s what I grew up with. Since becoming Vegetarian nine years ago, those traditional meals have been cut off my diet entirely.
I love to be inspired by other cultures and country cuisines, though. Hence I’m willing to try different ways of preparing potatoes. That’s when sweet potatoes were introduced to my diet.
Sweet potatoes
A little side warning, if you’re sensitive to bloating and gases, like me, pay attention to how your gut reacts to sweet potatoes. Sometimes they’d give me some intense gases, which isn’t fun, because that often comes with colicky pain. So, do watch out for that.
Other than that sweet potatoes are a lot of fun to work with in the kitchen, making sweet potato fries or wedges, baked sweet potato, in Indian Curries or use them for sweet treats in a pie for example.
Usually vegetables and fruits aren’t among my staples. But especially sweet potatoes have a very long shelf life and can be kept for several weeks before using them, hence root vegetables such as sweet potatoes are among my staples.
Red Lentil stuffed sweet potato with seasonal stir-fried vegetables
You’ll be quite surprised scrolling down to the ingredients list. This recipe sounds like there’s a lot going on, but there really isn’t.
There’s loads of stuffed sweet potato recipes out there using lentil stews or Dal and I’ve made several of these over the years. Some call for quite a list of ingredients you might not wanna gather on a weekday night and with your stomach growling for attention and food.
That’s why I came up with this easy recipe using very little ingredients that you should - given you’re reading this Blog for a little while now - have at home by now.
With the Dal, depending on how much of it you wanna put on your sweet potato - I love to add tons of it -, you’d wanna evaluate, if you need more or less for the number of people you’re feeding.
This is what you need for 2-3 servings
1 cup of red lentils
3 sweet potatoes, if you’re cooking for 3 people
1/2 cup of Tahini
2 handful or more fresh spinach
1/2 or even up to 1 lb fresh seasonal vegetables, I used Pak Choi from the garden, chopped. You can basically use any seasonal green vegetable here, such as green asparagus, zucchini, string beans, etc.
1 small white onion, finely chopped
2-3 gloves garlic, finely chopped
coconut oil
approx. 1 tsp each Cumin, Coriander, Curry powder
1/4 or 1/2 tsp Cayenne, depending on how spicy you prefer it
salt to taste
How to make the Dal stuffed sweet potato
Before starting anything else, preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (about 220 Celsius).
Prepare your sweet potatoes by carving a line on top of the potatoes with a knife. Maybe even poke the potatoes with that knife, too. This will help baking. Bake them for up to an hour until they’re really soft.
Meanwhile prepare your Dal. Give the red lentils a good rinse before using, then use slightly more water than you’d usually use, that is what the packaging may ask for it. Cook them until soft.
Add the Tahini to the lentils and cook for another 5 minutes. Add your spices and taste. Does it need more of anything? Lower the heat and let simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
While you’re Dal is simmering, fry the onion and the garlic in some coconut oil until translucent. Then add your fresh seasonal vegetables and stir-fry them for a couple minutes. Season with salt only, if any at all.
Add the fresh spinach to your Dal. Taste and add more salt or any other spices, if needed.
Once the sweet potato is done, put them on plates. Using two forks open your sweet potatoes. This should go really easy because of the line you had carved earlier. Put the Dal on top of the sweet potato, then add your stir-fried vegetables. Serve and enjoy.
