FRUITS AND VEGGIES MONDAY{} CREAMY COCONUT LENTIL CURRY AND NAAN BREAD

Hello #fruitsandveggiesmonday friends, I am back to share my latest vegan dish. Thanks to @lenasveganliving for creating this competition and thanks to @plantstoplanks for hosting. Together they are a dynamite team.

Today I went out of my comfort zone to create this dish. This is the first time that I have cooked lentils, let alone, in a curry sauce with coconut milk. I bought a bag of lentils to make my husband some Lentil Soup about a month ago. I ran across this recipe yesterday when I was trying to figure out what to cook for #fruitsandveggiesmonday. I had most of the ingredients already and only had to get some coconut milk, cherry tomatoes, ginger, and some fresh cilantro.

I found the curry recipe on "The Endless Meals" and saved it to Pinterest. https://www.theendlessmeal.com/creamy-coconut-lentil-curry/

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon each: cumin seeds and coriander seeds
1 head of garlic, chopped (10–12cloves)
1 – 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons ginger, chopped
1 tablespoon turmeric
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 cup dried brown lentils
Optional: 1-2 teaspoons cayenne powder
1 – 15-ounce can coconut milk
A few handfuls of cherry tomatoes
1 cup chopped cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS
Heat the coconut oil in a large pot or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cumin and coriander seeds and toast until they start to brown, about 45 seconds. Add the garlic to the pot and let it brown, about 2 minutes. I used cumin and coriander powder instead of the seeds. My husband said no seeds in the curry.

Add the can of crushed tomatoes, ginger, turmeric, and sea salt to the pot and cook, stirring the pot a few times, for 5 minutes. My tomatoes were diced, so I put them in my Nutri Bullet and got tomato sauce.

Add the lentils and, if using, the cayenne powder, and 3 cups of water to the pot and bring it to a boil.

Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and let it simmer for 35-40 minutes, or until the lentils are soft. Stir the pot a few times to prevent the lentils from sticking to the bottom. If the curry starts to look dry, add an extra 1/2 – 1 cup of water.

Once the lentils are soft, add the coconut milk and cherry tomatoes and bring the pot back to a simmer.

Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the cilantro.

The recipe for the Naan Bread was on Pinterest by Paleo Grubs. https://paleogrubs.com/paleo-garlic-naan-bread-quick-easy-recipe

Ingredients
3/4 cup arrowroot starch
3 tablespoon coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Flax seed egg substitute
1 cup full fat coconut milk
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Directions
Combine arrowroot starch, coconut flour and salt in a medium bowl and mix to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk flax seed egg substitute with coconut milk, then add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until well incorporated. Allow to sit on the counter top for 5-10 minutes for the batter to thicken.

Heat a 9” pan over medium-low heat and add a little bit of oil to it, then spoon about 1/3 cup of batter into the pan and cook on each side for 2-3 minutes.

Sprinkle with fresh or roasted garlic and drizzle with olive oil; serve warm. (I skipped this part)

For the Turmeric Rice, I cooked two bags of instant rice. Then I added a little olive oil, season all, and turmeric to the pot then added the rice and stirred to mix.

I was amazed at how good this curry tasted. It was a little spicy, although I only added 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, the taste was great. The Turmeric Rice I made set off the curry as did the Naan Bread. My husband loved the Naan Bread and he usually doesn't eat bread with dinner. He complimented me several times on tonight's dinner.

This meal was a winner and I will be cooking this again.
Bon Appetite!!!