Spiced Lentils with Carrots

Spiced Lentils with Carrots

from budgetbytes.com
50 min

Ingredients

  • 1 yellow onion
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
  • 4 carrots (about 2 cups chopped)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
  • 1 cup brown lentils
  • 3 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots or raisins*
  • 3 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 Tbsp chopped parsley (optional)

Directions

  1. 1

    Dice the onion, mince the garlic, grate the ginger, and peel and dice the carrots.

  2. 2

    Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and olive oil to a deep skillet. Sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent (about five minutes).

  3. 3

    Add the diced carrots, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, and crushed red pepper to the skillet. Continue to sauté for about two minutes more.

  4. 4

    Next, add the uncooked lentils, tomato paste, raisins or chopped apricots, and broth to the skillet. Stir until the tomato paste has dissolved into the broth. Place a lid on the skillet and turn the heat up to high.

  5. 5

    Allow the broth to come to a full boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low and let the lentils simmer in the broth with the lid on for 30 minutes, stirring only occasionally.

  6. 6

    After 30 minutes the lentils and carrots should be very tender. Give the lentils a taste and add salt or pepper if needed (this will depend on the salt content of your broth, I did not add any).

  7. 7

    Serve the spiced lentils with crusty bread for dipping, or over a bed of polenta or mashed potatoes. Top with chopped fresh parsley if desired.