November is upon us and that means Thanksgiving is just under three weeks away and the holiday season has unofficially started.  I love thinking about the food, traditions and decorations to come in the weeks ahead.  This year will be quite different indeed, and soon I’ll start testing some recipes to see what will work for our first Thanksgiving abroad.  First though, I want to share this Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato & Lentil Curry.  It’s delicious and the whole family loves it.  It’s warm, lightly spiced with curry, cumin, turmeric, and ginger and chock-full of really satisfying ingredients.  Not to mention it’s vegetarian/ vegan friendly…It’s exactly what should accompany a cozy, November night spent at home.

During the week, many of our meals have become meatless here in Istanbul.  With dishes like this curry, that’s easy to accomplish and still make everyone happy.  My littles happily scrape their bowls clean, which let’s be honest, isn’t always an easy task.  This is especially true for my one-and-a-half-year-old who’s a bit more picky than her brother was at this age.  Luckily for me, she’s a big fan of lentils though.  And Mr. T.  will eat almost anything that has sweet potato in it.  The slight sweetness from the apple in this sure doesn’t hurt either.

They like to add a dollop of yogurt to their bowls while I enjoy that it has no cream or coconut milk.  Don’t get me wrong though, I do love a good coconut-based curry.  We serve ours with some cilantro brown rice, but a good basmati would be nice too (a harder to come by ingredient here.)  A generous sprinkling of more fresh cilantro on top and a little lemon juice  finishes the dish off just right.  And since I keep things generally really low on the heat for the munchkins, some red pepper flakes and cayenne is how my husband tops his.

5 from 1 vote

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Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato & Lentil Curry

This curry is warm, lightly spiced with cumin, turmeric, and ginger and chock-full of really satisfying ingredients.  Not to mention it's vegetarian/ vegan friendly...It's perfect for meatless Mondays or any cozy night spent at home.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp coconut oil (or extra virgin olive oil)
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 3 small carrots, sliced small
• 1/2 cup green lentils, rinsed
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 4 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
• 3 cups butternut squash, cubed
• 1 cup sweet potato, cubed
• 1 apple, peeled, cored & diced
• 1 1/2 cups baby spinach (or about 1 c frozen, thawed & drained)

For Garnish:

• Fresh, chopped cilantro
• lemon or lime wedges
• red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over a medium-low flame, then add the onions and saute 3-4 minutes until translucent.  Add the garlic & ginger and saute a minute or so more until fragrant.

2. Add the tomato paste, curry, cumin, and turmeric and continue to stir about a minute more.

3. Then add the lentils, salt/pepper, and broth and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down, put the lid on, and simmer 15 minutes.

4. Now add the butternut squash, sweet potato, and carrots, put the lid back on and simmer about 15 minutes more until almost fork-tender.  Then add the apples and cook 5 minutes more.  (Add a little more broth or water if needed.)

5. Season to taste with salt & pepper and stir in the spinach.  Garnish as desired and enjoy.