Lentil Almond Stir-Fry Recipe
A good cold-weather stir-fry recipe. Tiny potatoes, brussels sprout wedges, toasted almonds and lentils are served with a drizzle of mint and a bit of thinned-out, salted plain yogurt, and a sprinkling of chopped dates.
A warm, hearty, fill-you-up stir-fry for a cold night. There's nothing too fancy going on here, just tiny potatoes, golden brussels sprout wedges, toasted almonds and lentils tossed together in a olive oil-slicked skillet. I served it with a drizzle of mint and a bit of thinned-out, salted plain yogurt, and a sprinkling of chopped dates.
Making the mint drizzle take a bit of extra effort that you could skip if you don't have the inclination to make an extra component. Personally, I love the way the mint plays off the creamy potatoes and yogurt, but you could take the building blocks of this recipe and go in plenty of other directions that take varying degrees of effort. You might do a handful of grated Parmesan and a bit of lemon zest in place of the mint sauce and yogurt. I love the combination of lentils and goat cheese, so you could go that route (to which a handful of snipped chives would be a good finish). You could do a simple curry sauce along with the lentils, brussels sprouts, and potatoes. Lots of places to take this.
Happy New Year to everyone, and thank you for all your thoughtful comments on the last post.
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Lentil Almond Stir-Fry Recipe
I used some fun marble-sized purple potatoes in this version, but you can use whatever smaller, new potatoes you come across. Just try to avoid big, starchy potatoes here. Also, Wayne brought home packets of cooked black lentils from Trader Joe's the other day. They're great if you are in a time crunch and don't have time to cook up a fresh pot of lentils.
Mint sauce (optional)
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1/2 serrano chile pepper, de-veined and seeded
2 tablespoons olive oil
pinch of salt
a touch of sugar, or honey, or agave nectar
1 tablespoon lemon juiceextra-virgin olive oil
6 to 8 very small new potatoes, cut into 1/2 pieces
2 cups cooked brown or black lentils
12 brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt, thinned out with a bit of water, and salted with a pinch of salt
2 dates, pitted and chopped
Start by making the mint sauce. Combine the mint leaves, serrano, olive oil, salt, sugar, and lemon juice in a food processor (or blender). Give it a few pulses, just enough for the mint to break down a bit. Taste, adjust for your tastes (more serrano? salt?) - set aside.
Now cook the potatoes along with a generous splash of olive oil and pinch of salt in a large skillet over medium heat. Cover the skillet and let the potatoes cook through, this will take five minutes or so. The water in the potatoes will help steam and soften them. When the potatoes are just cooked through (not mushy or falling apart) remove the lid and give them a good toss. Turn up the heat to medium-high and stir every minute or so (a spatula helps) until the potatoes look a bit golden. Stir in the lentils, and cook until heated through. Turn the potatoes and lentils out onto a large plate and set aside.
Now cook the brussels sprouts using the same pan. Heat another splash of olive oil in the skillet over medium heat. Don't overheat the skillet, or the outsides of the brussels sprouts will cook too quickly. Place the sprouts in the pan (single-layer), sprinkle with a pinch of salt, cover, and cook for a few minutes; the bottoms of the sprouts should only show a hint of browning. Cut into or taste one of the sprouts to gauge whether they're tender throughout. If not, cover and cook for another minute or two. Once just tender, uncover, turn up the heat, and cook until the flat sides are deep brown and caramelized.
Add the lentils and potatoes back to the skillet and add most of the sliced almonds. Turn out onto a large platter and drizzle with some of the yogurt and mint sauce*. Top with the remaining almonds and the chopped dates.
Serves 2-3.
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Comments
I just made this dish for my family tonight- it was a hit! Thanks so much for the recipe, the only change I made was using brown rice instead of potato, adding some cumin and coriander. Made some anise seed Moroccan bread to go with and it was delicious!
Oh my, this looks gReAt : )! What a lovely blog. Hope you feel better and your new Year is happy and bright.
Thanks for the recipe - I have been wanting more lentil recipes lately! Happy New year and I hope you are feeling 100% better now.
What's up with this? Sarah over at postmodern feeding just posted about lentils, as did I. It must be The Post-Holiday Food Of Choice. -JJ
Those purple potatoes are beautiful! I need to get my hands on some new ingredients like Nick and this recipe looks like a great opportunity.
PS- is a serrano chile packed in a can? I'm never sure where precisely to look. I have a big variety of home-grown and dried hot peppers... I'm hoping one of those will work instead! Also, I might have to sub the almonds with some raw pumpkin seeds this time...
I'm making this tonight!! I stopped by in hopes of finding something new and exciting without any really strong flavors (post-holiday sugar/salt/fat aversions and cooking with wayyy too much garlic lately). This looks PERFECT! Warm and vegetably without being too heavy... thanks Heidi!
Those purple potatoes are gorgeous, I'll have to keep my eye out for those. Love the post, I'm on a brussels sprouts thing right now.
This sounds like one of those simple, quick, yet fabulous recipes that you'd make over and over. A great way to get legumes into the diet, too. I think I must try this one. :)
This dish looks yummy as does so much of what you make. Just wanted to let you know that I made your Macaroon Cherry Tart for New Year's Eve and it was loved by all. I used pears and dried cherries as the fruit and the gluten-free subsitiutions for the crust. My newly gluten-free friends were absolutely delighted. That's a keeper, and so exciting becasue once we have that crust, there are many of other possibilities. I'm thinking about using it to concoct some lemon bars. . .. Thanks for a wonderful blog. lisa
I LOVE lentils. This recipe looks sooo delicious and perfect for a wintry day!
this looks devinely delicious. here's to a new year of recipes and experimenting with cooking.
That mint drizzle sounds incredible - count me in!
great idea for dinner! I've just bought your book and I absolutly loved it!
great idea for dinner! I've just bought your book and I absolutly loved it!
Love lentils - would have never thought of adding mint, very nice!
The almond and sprouts combination is something I have tried, as is the mint plus new potatoes, and putting all of that together sounds great. I'd imagine that puy lentils would be particularly nice in there too. As always, it all sounds wonderfully fresh, tasty and healthy - love your site (though I have a feeling that this has been my first time to comment, but I'm sure it won't be my last!)
This recipe looks great! It looks like it would make for a good next day left-over lunch too.. which I am always looking for. I still have a brown bag full of baby purple potatoes from the harvest that I have ran out of ideas for...until now! Thanks! Happy New Year, -Christie w\ Organic Goodness
I resolved to cook with new ingredients this year, new ones that I've never used before and lentils is one of them. Plus, I've never used purple potatoes or brussels sprouts either, this would be quite a new experience! Thanks for all the great recipes you've had over the past year (since I've been following), I must admit that I didn't realize until a few months ago that your site was vegetarian, the recipes looked so good that I never missed the meat. Happy New Year!
What a wonderful-looking dish! I have to admit, I was disappointed when I tried purple potatoes before. The Unicyclist and I added them to a soup, and all the gorgeous purple boiled out, leaving them dishwater grey. Based on the picture, it looks like your way keeps that color intact! Huzzah! Anyway...mint and yogurt and goat cheese together? Plus lentils and almonds and dates? This sounds fantastic, especially since my mint plant is taking off in the garden and we still have a good harvest of dates here in Phoenix from the fall. I love the deep, sweet, salty flavor combination here. Thanks, Heidi!
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