This work-week began on Sunday with a quick-trip to DC for a meeting.
Upside: I am already home!
Downside: this morning’s breakfast was luke-warm hotel oatmeal.
Buuuutttt… for the first time EVER room service brought me the PB I requested!! Thank you, Marriott. 🙂
_______________________________________________________________________________
When I head out of town, I take note of all of the items I don’t want to let go bad. Then I try to use them all. It’s my own Top Chef Challenge. Bring it, Gail Simmons!
I needed to devour some rosemary, cilantro, red pepper, butternut squash, and bok choy. A little random, but that’s never stopped me before! Necessity is the mother of invention.
Enter: a rockstar lentil dish.
After the Arabian Nights-themed Underground Supper Club, I was feelin’ Eastern-inspired. Spices commonly used in this region are a great compliment to roasted veggies, so I was eyeing that butternut squash.
I was going to saute the red pepper, but those are great roasted too… so in it went with the squash. The bok choy almost got roasted too, but that seemed a bit risky.
I’m not going to lie – this turned out 100x better than I could have ever hoped. I wasn’t even thinking about using it for the blog until I tasted it. Then I was all:
“Crap. Now I have to attempt to photograph brown food again.”
Often people are leery of adding mint. I was too… but DO NOT skip it. The little bit I used brought out the spices and mint goes really well with cilantro.
The toasted cashews were an afterthought, but if you have them on had I’d say don’t skip that either. The nutty taste with the mint and cilantro… file under: things that make you go mmmm!
____________________________________________________________________________
Roasted Butternut Red Pepper Lentils
- 3 C butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 1 C red pepper, chopped
- 2 T fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 T ground cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 C black or green lentils
- 2.5 C water
- 1/2 C yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bunch bok choy, roughly chopped
- 1/4 C cilantro, minced
- 1 T mint, minced
- 1 T red wine vinegar
- S+P and EVOO, to taste
- 1/4 C toasted cashews
For the Butternut-Red Pepper Roast:
Toss squash and red pepper cubes with rosemary, olive oil, cumin, coriander, turmeric, red pepper flakes, and salt. Spread the mixture across a foil-lined baking sheet and roast 15 mins. Flip pieces and roast for an additional 10-15 mins, until tender. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
For the Lentils:
Meanwhile, soak lentils for 10 mins in a small bowl, then rinse and drain. Cook lentils in boiling, well-salted water just until tender but firm, ~20 mins. Optional: rinse with cold water, then drain and cool. I prefer to leave mine a tad hard and transfer t a bowl without rinsing.
For the Onions and Bok Choy:
In a shallow pot, saute onions in a bit of olive oil over med-high until translucent (~4-5 mins). Add garlic and bok choy and saute for an additional 4-5 mins, until bok choy begins to wilt. Transfer to a plate and let cool.
For the Cashews:
As the butternut mix is cooling, place cashews in the over for 3-4 mins, toss and allow to toast another couple of mins until beginning to brown. Watch them carefully!
Combine lentils, squash mix, bok choy mix, vinegar, and additional olive oil (if needed). Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Garnish with cilantro, mint, and cashews.
Divide among 2-4 plates (would make a filling meal for 2) and enjoy!
It looks like a lot of steps, but I promise it goes by quickly because you’re doing them all simultaneously.
***
Traveling early in the week makes me feel like it should be Thursday or Friday already.
Is anyone going to the Healthy Living Summit in August? I’m in the market for a roomie if you’re looking!
Does your spell check recognize “bok choy?” Mine doesn’t.
Lee says
I really wanted to go to the HLS but we’re already going to DC in August and Las Vegas in the beginning of Sept so I figured I probably shouldn’t buy another plane ticket!
Claire @ Live and Love to Eat says
Beautiful (and creative) dish!
Tiff @ Love Sweat and Beers says
Anything with butternut squash is good in my book, though I’m sure it’s even more wonderful all spiced up
purabi naha says
The dish looks gorgeous and delishh and the addition of cashews is a great idea!
Laura says
Thank you and Welcome! 🙂
Callie {Rawxy} says
Oh my gosh – that looks awesome! I have an infatuation with butternut squash and quite regularly forget that I can get them out of season. Hmmm, now I’m thinking squash for dinner… Soooo good!
Laura says
Same here! I went a little overboard with the squash in Whole Paycheck when I realized. Ha!
Sarah @ The Smart Kitchen says
I am the SAME way when going on a trip. I have to use up EVERYTHING that could potentially go bad…or bring it with me. This often makes for some interesting airplane ‘eats.’ 🙂 It was crazy when I was moving and had to use up not only what was perishable, but also everything in the pantry AND freezer. Now THAT was a challenge.
I’m loving this dish, and the element of “wow, that was so much better than I thought it would be” surprise. And definitely ALWAYS add mint. 🙂
Heather @ Girlyeverafter says
I love lentils in any way, what a great dish! With classes on the weekends my plans for weekend trips are on hold for the next YEAR! Such a bummer I really wanted to go, but I hope you have a great time!
Mark Ward says
Glad I’m not the only one that isn’t afraid to mix anything and everything. Yesterday it was a combo of salmon patty, egg foo yung, rice, and a salsa I made up. It was actually very good.
Laura says
I read your combo and thought “YUMMY!”
ActFastChef says
I love lentils too! What a really pretty dish! I also forget that butternut is available in the summer. I really think of that as an autumn/winter veggie.
Ari@ThE DiVa DiSh says
I love that first picture!
And those all like all my favorite things on a salad 🙂
Laura says
Thank you! Cheers to brown pics.
Allie says
I have been doing that top chef challenge in an effort to clean out my family’s pantry. I found little bugs in our barley yesterday. hahah.. it was scary!
Marriot hotels are AWESOME!