Another Last Minute Supper!

Another quick and easy supper to the rescue!

Tonight, for reasons evident in my last post (namely: a whole bottle of bubble juice got spilled on the kitchen floor), supper was rather late in getting started. Once I got ready to actually get things cooking, I needed something quick, simple, healthy and yummy.

Of course I headed right over to my standby favorite site for recipes and cooking tips, and right there on the first post was tonight's delicious hero - Dahl. I definitely recommend the site to anyone looking for quick, simple, healthy and seriously delicious recipes and food ideas. Of course, I modify the recipes, as she's cooking for 2 and I'm cooking for 10. So far though, things have been so protein-heavy I haven't had to do more than double or triple the recipes to fill my tribe.

She usually has a post before the recipe (sometimes related, sometimes not so much), frequently they're educational about the food or about cooking styles. If you don't have time to read all that (did someone spill bubbles at your place too?), here's tonight's recipe, in the quantities I used for our tribe.

Dahl (Stone Soup Style with a Mango Tree Twist)

2 1# bags lentils
1 2# bag carrots
4 Tb curry powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp garlic powder OR 3 garlic cloves
6 oz fresh baby spinach
3 whole lemons
1 large tub plain yogurt
soy sauce

In a 6 qt kettle, dump the lentils and fill with water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat just enough to maintain an active simmer. Scrub and chop carrots into approximately 1/2" slices. Add carrots to simmering lentils. Stir and add curry powder, salt, and garlic. Simmer, covered, approximately 20 minutes, till carrots are fork-tender. While that's simmering, set the table and slice the lemons (halve lengthwise then slice into half-moons). Once the carrots are fork-tender, turn off the heat, stir in the spinach, and you're ready to summon your tribe.

Once I had everyone together, I demonstrated the serving process:
Dish yourself some dahl, squeeze on the juice from a lemon slice, drizzle on a little soy sauce, and plop in a few tablespoons of plain yogurt.

This one was a winner with our family. When we try a new recipe, I always ask them whether I should make it again or throw away the recipe card. This one got a unanimous "make it again" (although in the spirit of full disclosure, one sweetie piped up and said "just without the curry. or the carrots. or the lemons.") And it's good with me because it only took a few distracted minutes of my time to throw together and then I could do a quick tidy-up of the kitchen while it simmered.