Hot Curried Lentils

Hi, Farley here.

Getting cold here.  Today it is very windy and the temperature is a mere 68.  Sounds hot to many of you I'm sure but in Sacramento the weather is taking a real turn to even lower temps and rain in a day or two with snow in the Sierras.  That is always my signal to make something spicy.  So off the top of my head I made a very tasty Hot Curried Lentils.  It's just a variation of many dal type soups I like to make.  But this time I had a new unopened jar of Penzeys Spices, Hot Curry Powder (and many other spices) I shipped back from Wisconsin during my trip there a few weeks ago.  Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

3 cups red lentils rinsed
1 container of Pico De Gallo Salsa (consists of chopped tomatoes, jalapeño pepper, cilantro and onion)
4 ribs of celery sliced
1 large yellow bell pepper diced
2 TBS Penzeys Hot Curry Powder
1 tsp Penzeys Cumin Powder
pinch of Penzeys Cayenne Pepper
6 cups of water (more if it is sticking)
1/2 cup Zinfandel wine or other red wine

Place everything into a slow cooker, heat on "high" for 3 hours or more.

Note:  Any brand of spices are fine, I just love the big flavors of Penzeys.

We served this over our usual greens of spinach and romaine, brown rice with steamed green beans and cauliflower.  I prefer to just enjoy the dal with the cauliflower.  Bob liked it with all the above items.  Anyway you enjoy it, it will warm you all the way through, give you leftovers and the satisfaction of eating something truly healthy.  Freezes well too.

 My first bowl of this curry had a lot of cauliflower...this was all that was left when I had my second bowl and thought to take a photo. The sweetness of the barely steamed cauliflower is a great companion to the heat of the curry.  This is one time that I don't need to add Tobasco!

Bob's bowl with the works.  This is a very filling meal.  Bob also added walnuts as a topper.


I would serve this for a dinner party and add separate bowls of chopped green onions, chopped walnuts and golden raisins for guests to add as toppings.