Eats: Sweet Potato, Lentil and Kale Dal

I thought I'd test the waters with a cooking post. I've had tons of requests for recipe posts and videos but with any 'new feature' I'm always a bit hesitant. I did write a post about avocado on toast a few weeks ago, but it never made it to publishing. It was partly extolling the virtues of avocados for your skin, hair and nails but really it was just very obvious instructions (the mashed avocado goes on top of the toast if you were wondering. Although if you drop it on the floor I don't suppose that matters. Salt, lime and crushed chillies are always a good idea too). So here's a 'proper' recipe for something somewhat more complicated.

I thought I'd start with something warming, healthy and vegan. I'm not vegan or even vegetarian myself. I've had a few questions as I avoid dairy, but I try to only eat meat when I know where it's come from and that it's good quality. This means it's also blimmin' expensive, so it's a once a week or less kind of affair. That said, this should satisfy even the most ardent cow-eater.

I made this recipe up though there are a few similar recipes floating around that inspired me (one by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall springs to mind). Kale is in season now and full of vitamin K (which helps wounds heal), A (which strengthens the immune system) and C (maintains connective tissues). Bizzarely it even contains a bit of Omega 3 which is awesome for skin, but it is a bit bitter so if you aren't a fan, or can't get hold of it, you can replace it with spinach.

This will easily serve 6 hungry people, so you may want to cut it in half, although it freezes well!

You will need:
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
2 tablespoons (fresh) ginger, finely diced 
3 cloves garlic, finely diced 
2 onions, diced
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1.5 litres water

1 stock cube (I used Kallo Organic Chicken stock, but use veggie to make this totally vegan)

3 cups dried red split lentils (about 1lb or 450g)
3 tablespoons curry powder
1 400ml can light coconut milk

3 tomatoes, deseeded and diced (you can leave the seeds in if you like, but cut down the water a little)

1tbsp salt

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (optional, but a whole tablespoon only made it slightly warm. Try dried chillies if you're a badass.)

1 bag/head kale, washed and sliced

Put a tablespoon of oil in the largest pan you have. I used olive oil, but vegetable or even coconut is fine. Over a medium heat, fry the cumin, mustard seeds, ginger and garlic until the mustard seeds start to pop. Add the onions and heat until they start to become translucent (about 2 minutes).

Next add the sweet potatoes and coat with the spices, then add the lentils, tomatoes, water, stock cube, curry powder and coconut milk. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and allow to simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until the liquid has decreased by about a fifth and the sweet potato is soft. Next add the kale, I used a whole 200g bag. It will wilt almost immediately but continue to cook on a low heat for 5 minutes to make sure any woody stems are soft.

You could serve this with naan bread but it's more than filling enough by itself. I drizzled mine with a little fat free yoghurt in an attempt to make it look more appetising (food stylists have nothing to worry about!), but it's not necessary as it's not too spicy at all. I'd love to know if you try this...or if you'd like more recipe posts?!