Recipe: Spice Market Sweet Potato and Lentil Packets

I came across this recipe in an attempt to work through the abundance of sweet potatoes I recently accumulated after the fourth of july. My mom and I grilled a bunch of veggies, and she bought too many sweet potatoes so she gave the extras to me (on a related note, grilled sweet potatoes are ridiculously good. Slice them 1/4" thick, brush them with sesame oil, and grill 10 minutes on each side. They have the consistency of sweet potato fries, but the taste is incredible).

The most difficult part of the recipe was the lentil part. First, you pretty much have free range over which kind of lentil you want to use. I went with French green lentils, but yellow or regular green lentils would work just fine. To make 1 1/2 cups cooked lentils, boil 1/2 cup dry lentils in 1 cup water. When the water begins boiling, reduce heat and simmer for roughly 20-25 minutes. To speed up the cooking time, I recommend soaking the 1/2 cup of lentils in the 1 cup of water overnight (or even for a few hours) before cooking.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups diced sweet potatoes
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup fresh green beans, sliced
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 2 Tbs sesame oil
• 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 Tbs minced fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 1/2 cups cooked lentils

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Place 4 16-inch lengths of foil on work surface. Fold foil in half from short side. Unfold. Shape corners and edges of one half into semicircular “bowl” with 1/2-inch sides. Coat insides of foil with cooking spray
• Combine sweet potato, bell pepper, green beans, and raisins in medium bowl. Add sesame oil, and toss to coat.
• Whisk together broth, ginger, garlic, and curry powder in small bowl.
• Divide sweet potato mixture among packets; top with 1/3 cup lentils. Pour 1/4 cup broth mixture over lentils, and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Fold other half of foil over ingredients, and crimp edges in overlapping folds until packets are sealed. Transfer packets to baking sheet. Bake 25 minutes.
• Open carefully - escaping air will be hot!

There's many ways to serve this dish. I recommend serving it over couscous, quinoa, or rice, depending on whether or not you eat gluten. I'm trying to lower my carb intake a little, so I'm eating it over wilted spinach.

I chose to use a mild curry powder for this recipe, and it think it worked perfectly. It didn't overpower the other flavors, so the ginger still has a strong presence. I would consider putting some cloves in there next time.