Recipe: Lentil and Vegetable Coconut-Almond Curry
Cooking a comforting, healthy dinner with wholesome ingredients for your family is a win-win for all, but the last thing you probably want to do on a busy Monday — especially now that we’re all back to school and back to life — is to stress about what to make for dinner. This wholesome, easy curry is chock full of tasty veggies and lentils, and it’s a perfect addition for your Meatless Monday rotation. With a creamy coconut sauce thickened with rich and nutty almond butter to really make it sing, it’ll bring everyone to the dinner table and keep them there even after a long day of work or school.
The best dinners are simple and made with recognizable ingredients, but we all know that taste is what makes a dish a hit. With a few pantry spices, sweet potatoes, earthy lentils, and a swirl of baby spinach at the end, this vegetarian curry is rich and satisfying since it’s thickened with JUSTIN’S® Classic Almond Butter, which is made of naturally delicious ingredients that you can feel good about serving. The addition of the almond butter also gives it a deeper, more savory flavor, plus an extra hit of protein!
This curry is so good it can make any average Monday exciting, but it can also be made ahead and enjoyed all week long. All you need to do is cook up some extra rice to soak up all that delicious sauce.
Lentil and Vegetable Coconut-Almond Curry
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 45 minutes to 53 minutes
Serves 6-8
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
For the curry:
- 2 tablespoons
coconut or vegetable oil
- 1
medium yellow onion, diced
- 1
medium sweet potato, peeled and diced small (about 2 cups)
- 3
cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon
minced fresh ginger
- 2 cups
dried red lentils, sorted and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon
garam masala
- ½ teaspoon
ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon
kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups
low-sodium vegetable broth (32 ounces)
- 1
(28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1
(13.5- to 15.5-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk, well-shaken
- ¼ cup
JUSTIN'S® Classic Almond Butter
- 3 cups
packed baby spinach (about 3 ounces)
For serving:
Cooked basmati rice
Chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Lime wedges
Instructions
Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onion, sweet potato, garlic, and ginger, and cook until the onions soften and become translucent and the sweet potatoes brighten in color, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the lentils, garam masala, turmeric, salt, and pepper and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Pour in the broth and crushed tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils and sweet potatoes are tender, 35 to 40 minutes.
Place the coconut milk and JUSTIN'S® Classic Almond Butter in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Stir the coconut-almond butter mixture into the curry, cover, and cook for 5 minutes to warm through. Add the spinach and stir until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve over cooked basmati rice with chopped fresh cilantro and lime wedges.
