30 Minute Green Lentil Curry (Vegan + Freezer Friendly)
HI! It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?! Maintaining a food blog has definitely been more work than I first realized. I consciously made the decision to take a break during busy season and our trip to Southeast Asia, and life has gotten away from me for a bit! But I’m back! I hope to bring you guys more time-saving meal prep recipes and guides, including some meals and travel stories from the trip, so stay tuned.
While I work on my next round of meal prep, I’ve been pulling together some of my quickest and easiest weeknight dinners, including this green lentil curry. Southeast Asia was a bit lacking in veggies and variety, and I definitely noticed the change in my body (my hair was less shiny and my nails became so thin!) I always feel SO clean and healthy after a plant based meal, and adding sweet potato and spinach to this curry helped pack in some extra vitamins.
Pulling together this curry is so simple! A quick chop of shallots, ginger, and garlic gets sautéed with lots and lots of yummy spices. Add the lentils and simmer in coconut milk until tender. Stir in some spinach at the end to squeeze in an extra serving of veggies.
I love the spice levels in this curry – it’s bold and flavorful, without being too spicy hot. I think our trip to Southeast Asia definitely impacted my palate. Before the trip, I was very cautious, usually ordering everything with mild spice. But on our trip, I tried to eat things as the locals do, or as they were intended to be made. This meant a LOT of extra drinking water at some meals, but ultimately I really enjoyed the adventure and the depth of flavor in most of the meals we had. For those of you feeling adventurous, add more chili flakes to bring the heat!
I served mine with cauli rice and naan on the side. How will you serve yours?!
30 Minute Green Lentil Curry (Vegan + Freezer Friendly)
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Coconut oil
- 1 tbsp Minced garlic
- 1 tbsp Minced ginger
- 1 Shallot (minced)
- 1/4 cup Green curry paste
- 2 8.5 oz cans Coconut milk (I use one low fat and one full fat)
- 3 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tbsp Curry powder
- 1 cup green lentils (rinsed and drained)
- 1 cup fresh spinach (washed)
- 1 pinch sugar (to taste)
- 1 tsp lime juice (to taste)
- 1 tsp chili flakes or Sriracha sauce (to taste)
Instructions
Prep
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Heat the coconut oil over medium high heat until hot. Add ginger, garlic, and shallot. Saute 1-2 minutes or until garlic is golden brown and shallot is translucent.
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Stir in turmeric, curry powder, green curry paste, and lentils. Saute 1 minute, then stir in coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then simmer ~15 minutes (or whatever the package instructions for your lentils says!). Stir in spinach and remove from heat.
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Taste and adjust flavor as needed using sugar, lime juice, and/or chili flakes.
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Serve over cauli rice or with a side of naan. Garnish with lime wedges and cilantro.
Freeze
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Let cool, then portion evenly into containers. Refrigerate then freeze. To thaw, place in refrigerator overnight, then microwave at one minute intervals, stirring after each interval, until heated through.