As promised, today I am sharing with you the fruits of my labor, making Curried Lentil Squash and Apple Stew from Chloe's Kitchen by Chloe Coscarelli. Chloe's Kitchen is the cookbook for the month of October for the #VegCookbookClub.
The recipe takes about an hour from start to finish, but most of that time is spent by two different periods of 25 minutes simmering the stew. The actual prep is some minimal chopping (and you'll see that I found a couple of key ways to cheat and save time and effort). The ingredients are exceedingly simple...I bet you could make this right now.
When you're done you may want to serve it with rice, as I did, quinoa, or...as my S.O. prefers, somewhat weirdly...over bread. That's how he thinks stew should be eaten.
Who am I to argue?
I also like that this is basically a one-pot recipe, so the clean-up isn't too intensive...knife, cutting board, measuring cup, pot, spoon. Easy peasy.
You start by sauteeing up an onion and a carrot in a pot with olive oil:
You add some salt, minced garlic (I use the frozen cubes) and curry powder. I skipped the ginger, because I'm not a ginger fan. You stir it up and cook it up and then add lentils, vegetable broth and tomato paste. once it comes ot a boil, you cover it and simmer for the first 25 minute period. I replaced some of the broth with just water because I think too much vegetable broth brings an overpowering flavor and saltiness to a dish.
After that first 25 minutes you add a chopped up apple and chopped up butternut squash. It is at this point that I confess that I cheated a bit by using pre-cut butternut squash (and pre washed/packaged spinach for the last part of the recipe). Yes, I know, it's not the most eco-friendly, but that is what I did.
Also, with the second picture, you can see the new holder I got for my iPad for the kitchen. Actually the aforementioned bread-loving S.O. got it for me. it is awesome.
After the second 25-minute simmering period, you stir in the entire package of spinach pictured above and stir until the spinach is wilted, which doesn't take long.
You can add a bit more seasoning to taste, but this was pretty much perfectly done for me. And it make enough for several meals.
Easy, hearty, ready to make with supplies I usually have in the kitchen. Total win.
This dish looks great but I have to say I'm drawn to the ipad and the holder. What a great idea. I have been looking at all of my cookbooks piling up and don't want to get rid of any but getting a digital copy sounds great. Look what I learned during Vegan MoFo! Thanks for the idea.
Posted by: Galen | 11/01/2012 at 10:00 AM
Sorry for the delay in posting your comment. I was traveling and I moderate comments because there's SO MUCH SPAM.
Yes, I love my holder, and I think that's as good a thing to learn form Vegan MoFo as any :)
Posted by: Elisa Camahort | 11/18/2012 at 12:21 PM