I made this dish last week when I was doing a lot of running around. I was out of the house most nights and did not spend a lot of time cooking, opting for days of adventure and fun instead of looking through cupboards for dinner. It was fine with me at the time, but now I’m paying for it in the worst way. I’m sick. My voice is gone and despite all the sunshine Vancouver has had in the last week, I couldn’t go out and enjoy any of it!
So despite that this meal is hearty, nutritious and good for you, it still didn’t save me from the flu — but don’t let that be a deterrent in any way. I certainly don’t hold a grudge and I’ll be making this meal again as it was a simple dinner to prepare and it filled the kitchen with a wonderful aroma. When my husband walked in the door, he wanted to know what we’d be eating since it smelled so great. Lucky for us, this meal not only smelled amazing but it tasted better.
The wonderful thing about stews is that they are easy to mess with. Don’t have chard? Try spinach or kale instead. I think some diced butternut squash or yams would lend a touch of sweetness to this dish that would really take this dish up a notch. Quick, easy and packing a wallop of flavour, it makes a great meal alongside a bowl of brown rice.
Recipe adapted from Epicurious.
curried red lentil stew with chickpeas and rainbow chard
2 T olive oil
1 large onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 heaping T of a medium-spiced curry paste
1/2 t dried red chili flakes
5 1/2 c vegetable broth
2 c red lentils
1 large bunch of rainbow chard, tough stalks removed, coarsely chopped
1 can chickpeas, rinsed & drainedIn a large pot, heat oil and saute onion and garlic until soft, about 5 minutes. Mix in curry paste and dried chilies and stir until well blended. Add broth and chard and bring to a boil. Add lentils and turn down heat to a simmer, adding the chickpeas to the mix. Cover and stir occasionally until lentils are tender, about 15 minutes. Serve over brown rice and top with yogurt, if desired.
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The curry looks great, I’ll have to give it a go. I hope you’ll get over your flew soon.
haha! curry in a hurry! you should totally try to market instant curries like a curry version of cup o noodles and call it that
Thanks for this awesome recipe Kickpleat! I’m making this on Sunday and hubbie and I will be brown
bagging this meal to work along with rice. It will probably be enough food keep us going until Wednesday. When the food is that good, why not make it last? 😀
thanks sylvie!
connie, it’s totally been taken. i’m not going to get rich on that one!
bijoux, this makes a perfect brown bag lunch. we ate this for days afterwards and i never got sick of it once!
tania, i love patak’s curry pastes. balti and garam masala are my 2 favorites by patak.
oh my goodness gracious, that curry dish looks BEYOND magnificent and comforting – do you have any portions left for VeggieGirl??? ;0)
This looks so good; I can only imagine how wonderful it must smell! Do you have a particular brand of curry paste you’d recommend?
I hope you feel better soon!
yummy looking curry! rainbow chard is so gorgeous, i think we’re going to give growing it a shot next year.
101 cookbooks also just posted a chickpea stew/soup, and it reminded me of limited my use of chickpeas is; it’s pretty much hummus, and… hummus.
Update: I made the “curry in hurry” today and followed your recipe exactly, except that i did not have any chard on hand so I used baby spinach instead (I added it towards the end of the cooking process so that it would wilt slightly).
After the food had cooled off a bit I sampled the concoction and wow!! was it ever tasty and aromatic and had a bit of a kick to it too. Who needs air freshner in the house…I’d be so happy to smell this fragrant food in my home on a regular basis…we also made some brown rice to extend the meal for our work lunches…thanks a bunch for making my Sunday meal prep a breeze!!!
veggiegirl, sorry, all gone 😉
michelle, i’d love to be able to grow chard. good luck with it!
yay, glad you made this, bijoux!
This sounds just wonderful. I love all the ingredients you’re using here and love the Patak’s curry pastes too.
kayln, thanks for stopping by! yes, the patak’s curry pastes are pretty delish!
nbm, awesome! glad you made a batch of this stew and loved it.
I’ll chime in on the “made it, it’s good” chorus. In fact, after eating it myself Saturday, I BROUGHT it to my chorus (big party after concert) and it was much appreciated.
My roommate made this on Monday, and it was so good I made some last night. It’s amazing, and I loved seeing my boyfriend eat “a bowl of nutrition”, as it happens so rarely.
lydia, glad you and even your bf enjoyed this dish!
my husband and i made this last night and we couldn’t be happier. we took your advice and added a finely diced sweet potato, about 1.5 cups, to the stew. it’s delicious!
anon, glad it worked well with the sweet potatoes!
i added some dried cherries because i had them — delicious!