Coconut and Berries

Healthy, Vegan Recipes by Emma Potts

Red Lentil & Root Vegetable Tagine:

R is for…Red Lentils!

I hope everyone’s still enjoying the A-Z series. We’re coming to the end of Vegan MoFo now. Sob Sad smile but you’ve probably realized that I’m not going to get to the end of the alphabet by Sunday…I’ve been posting every weekday which will only take me to T by Friday. I’m having a lot of fun with it though, so, if you don’t mind, I’m going to keep going through to Z (though I might skip X unless anyone has any ideas for me!). I’ll try and post over the weekend and wrap up by the middle of next week but that might not be possible.

Back to the topic of the day…red lentils!

Red Lentil & Root Vegetable Tagine

Red lentils are a little different to their green, brown and black friends in that they don’t hold their shape at all when cooked. This lends them well to curries, stews, soups and similar dishes where they work to thicken up and add body to whatever it may be. The only red lentil recipe I’ve got up on the blog so far is my Sweet Potato, Spinach & Coconut Dahl but I’m sure that will soon change with the arrival of the colder weather when I start to crave those comforting dishes mentioned.

I’ve been sitting on this recipe for far too long and it’s something I’ve made numerous variations of over time. A flavourful, fragrant Moroccan tagine with root vegetables and red lentils.

Red Lentil & Root Vegetable Tagine

I mix up the vegetables every time I make it, this time I was delighted to be able to use both the squash and courgettes from my garden. I recommend a combination of hard, root veg and something green like courgettes or green beans. But it really is up to you.

It’s just occurred to me that this is another sweet and savoury dish, like yesterday’s recipe, so I hope there aren’t too many haters out there!

Tagine has to have fruit in it though. The sweet dried fruits are lovely with the spices and make this dish that bit more special. Just like the vegetables, you can also use whatever dried fruits you have to hand. This time I used a combination of dried apricots and dried figs but have used both prunes and golden raisins in the past with good results.

Red Lentil & Root Vegetable Tagine

Red Lentil & Root Vegetable Tagine:

Get creative with this dish and use whatever vegetables and dried fruits sound good to you.

1/2T Oil
1 Medium onion, diced
1 Large clove of garlic, minced
1” pc ginger, minced
1/2T Cinnamon
1t Cumin
1t Ground coriander
1-2t Harissa (optional if you like a bit of heat- or try 1/2t Chili Flakes)
1/2t Salt
1/3C Red lentils
1 1/2C Vegetable broth
1 x 400g/14oz Can of chopped tomatoes
1 1/2C Cubed squash (I prefer large chunks)
1 Large carrot, chopped into large chunks
2 Medium courgettes, chopped into large chunks
1/2C Dried fruit (I used a mixture of unsulphured dried apricots and dried figs)
1T Lemon juice
Chopped fresh parsley to serve

This needs to simmer for approximately one hour. You can either do this on the stovetop or in the oven.

If using the latter method, preheat the oven to 180C and place a large casserole dish/tagine in the oven to warm up.

In a large pan, warm the oil over medium heat and add the onion. Cook for a few minutes until softened and add the garlic, ginger, spices and salt. Cook for a further minute for spices to toast. Add lentils, broth and tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Add hard vegetables like squash and carrots and stir to coat in sauce.

Transfer mixture to the warmed dish from the oven if using this method and add the dried fruit to the mix. Cover and return to the oven. Check on it every now and again and give it a stir to prevent sticking.
After about 45 minutes add softer vegetables like courgettes or green beans and return to oven again to finish cooking. Mine usually takes around 1 hour total. You want your vegetables to be cooked through and fairly soft, but not collapsing.

Remove from the oven and stir through lemon juice.

I served this with quinoa (of course!) topped with toasted, chopped almonds and plenty of parsley.

Serves 4

PRINT RECIPE HERE

Red Lentil & Root Vegetable Tagine

I didn’t do a link-love yesterday so you get extra today.

Red lentil recipes I like the look of:

Curry Cashew Red Lentil Burgers

Creamy Red Pepper Lentil Lasagna

Spiced Red Lentil Pancakes

Red Lentil, Lemon & Rosemary Orecchiette

Mellow Lentil “Sniffle” Soup

Enough to keep you busy there?

Let me know your thoughts on the A-Z. If you’re getting bored of it please say so!

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Comments

  2. love the a-z theme - I too thought xanthum gum - not that I have used it myself - love red lentils - they are good in lentil soups - I think I have an embarrassing amount of soups with red lentils on my blog - perhaps a favourite is a sweet potato and red lentil soup which is so smooth and velvety when pureed

    • Hmmm, xanthan gum was the only thing which sprung to mind for me too but I don’t really consider it a food, more of a food additive so I think I’ll miss it…
      You can never have too many red lentil soups in my opinion :)

  5. xanthum gum and xylitol are two ingredients that i have come across but have to admit not used. So you may not miss out the letter x :) Been enjoying your posts for vegan mofo

    • I thought of xanthan gum but hadn’t considered xylitol. I don’t think of either as real foods though so I still don’t have anything for X…Never mind.
      So pleased you’ve been enjoying the MoFo series.

  6. I love red lentils. One of my favorite quick at-home lunches is a pot of red lentils with whatever spice blend strikes my fancy. Add in diced tomatoes or chickpeas and things get super crazy!

    And I like the A-Z theme!

  7. I’ve been loving your vegan mofo theme and I definitely love this red lentil recipe. I’m a total sucker for red lentils! I can’t wait to cook up a batch of this goodness :)

    • Ah, so much pressure now to come up with an X post…! Thanks for sharing the lists, although I’m still not sure there’s anything I can use.
      A fellow Moroccan food lover :) The spices and sweetness are simply delicious aren’t they?

  9. I love red lentils! As you say, they’re so versatile and super cheap too. I buy huge bags from the World Food aisle at Tesco and soon get through them. At the moment, I’m loving making red lentil based soups - tomato & red lentil, curried red lentil - and dals. I never thought of putting them in tagines. Definitely must give that a try! I love the sound of all the recipes you’ve linked to. I can’t wait to check them out.
    Definitely finish your alphabet challenge. We’re loving it 😀

  11. Hi Emma fellow Vegan Mofo’er!
    The meals I’ve seen from you so far look totally scrumptious - I’m hoping you’ll open a restaurant at some point so I can sample some of them 😉
    Have liked Coconut and Berries on Facebook :) You can find me as “Candida Diet Plan” - would be great to connect.
    Take care,
    Sandra

    • Hi Sandra, thanks for stopping by and for your sweet comment. Just read your story and it sounds so awful what you had to go through. Fantastic that you’re back to full health now and can help other sufferers.

  12. I have been enjoying your A-Z series, it is one of the most clever VeganMoFo themes I’ve ever came across this year! Yay for Red Lentils, there was a jar of dried red lentils left by a previous tenant, and I used it to make Lentil Bolognese on Pasta with loads of dried chili peppers. It was okay, but I think I prefer fresh tomatoes over packaged tomato sauce. The Red Lentil & Root Vegetable Tagine is perfect for the season here in Buenos Aires, especially with lots of dried lentils & squash here.

  13. My mum and I are going to make this for our family Christmas party on Saturday. Because of me we always have to bring the veggie option! We usually make a veggie curry but I think my meat loving family are missing a curry with meat so they asked us to bring something different. This looks perfect :)

Trackbacks

  1. […] Don’t be put off by the prunes! I know so many people associate them with their grannies, but, even if you don’t eat them normally ( I personally love them, as a snack instead of dried apricots or dates, or stewed with a cinnamon stick and orange slices) I promise they work in this dish and add a lovely richness and little bursts of sweetness, almost like in a tagine. […]

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