One New Vegetarian Dish a Month - Red Lentil Dal with Rice

Oopsie, looks like I forgot to make a vegetarian dinner in September! To my credit, I did actually have a couple memorable vegetarian lunches using portobello mushrooms that could easily be made for dinner -- 1. I topped two tostadas with smashed black beans, sautéed portobello mushrooms, lettuce and hot sauce and 2. I filled a flour tortilla with black beans, cheese, sautéed portobello mushrooms, jalapenos, lettuce, and hot sauce for a similar, but much more filling version.

For our vegetarian dinner this month I made lentils and rice, which I have been craving for weeks. With the cold weather and rain we've had in London lately, something about a steamy bowl of lentils and rice is so comforting and satisfying despite the lack of meat. I absolutely love cooked spinach - on it's own, in soups, stews, dips, and in this case, in lentils. I would usually accompany the lentils and rice with some sliced cucumber and tomato, but I didn't have any on hand. Instead you can try the full recipe from Cooking Light Magazine, which serves it with coriander flatbread and carrot salad. That recipe is HERE.

I only followed the actual Red Lentil Dal recipe below because I didn't want to bother with the extra carbs from flatbread (plus I don't think it's needed) and I was just wasn't feeling the carrot salad at the time.

Red Lentil Dal with Rice

Ingredients:

5 cups water, divided
3/4 cup dried small red lentils
1 tablespoon canola oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
2 serrano chiles, minced - I can't get serranos here so I used red chiles which are popular in the UK
2 ounces spinach (about 4 cups loosely packed) - I used even more than this because I love it!
Hot cooked rice (brown or white)

Instructions:

Combine 3 cups water and lentils in a bowl. Let stand 20 minutes; drain. After lentils have soaked now is a good time to cook your rice then proceed with making the lentils. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil; swirl to coat. Add the chopped onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add ginger and next 6 ingredients (through serranos/red chiles); sauté for 30 seconds. Add lentils and remaining 2 cups water to pan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 23 minutes. Stir occasionally  Stir in spinach; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts.

Serve over rice and enjoy!