Lush Yellow Vegetable Curry

Hey you guys!!

To continue on my comfort food season, you really gotta try out this beautiful yellow curry I made which is inspired from a few different things...

1. My new found love of lentils. Lentils are so versatile, you can add them to dishes like curry's, stews, casseroles etc to add substance and bulk them up. Or they can be the star of the show themselves, they are a great alternative to carbs like rice or pasta but are mainly packed with protein and fibre... so they are definitely the healthier choice!!!
2. My long love affair with butternut squash, it is always one of the first items on my shopping list when I don't have a fresh supply from the garden. (Shopping lists which I make, then normally forget to bring to the shops with me... although a new genius idea is to make the list, take a photo if it on your phone, and that way if you do forget it, you still have it on your phone... if you also forget your phone... just go home to bed!!) But yeah, butternut squash is one of my all time favourite veg, a great meaty alternative to chicken in this dish.
3. Aroi Asian street food restaurant in Limerick City... possibly one of my all time favourite places to eat... ever!!!

So there you have it, this curry is simple and quick to make for a great family dish, or if you have a Slow Cooker you can have it cooking safely away all day while you are at work.

Lush Yellow Vegetable Curry with Garlic Griddled Slimbos

This is such a simple recipe to make up, you can go to the bother of making your own curry paste if you like but I find that the shop bought jar works just as well here. I always use Pat The Baker "Slimbos" for making up my own garlic bread.

Serves 4:

2 tablespoons of yellow curry paste

2 onions roughly diced

1 medium butternut squash

500ml vegetable stock

200ml light coconut milk

75g red split lentils

2 yellow peppers deseeded and roughly chopped

140g frozen peas

100g bag of baby spinach

4 Slimbos of your choosing

2 fat cloves of garlic

Method:

·         Prepare the butternut squash, you can peel the skin using a good peeler or carefully slice it off with a sharp knife. Cut down lengthways through the centre and using a dessert spoon, scoop out the seeds and stringy membrane, discard. Chop the squash into bite sized cubes and set aside.

·         In a large saucepan heat the curry paste on a medium/high heat, add a little water to stop it catching.

·         Add in the onions after a few mins and cook until softened. Add the butternut squash and cook for a further 5 mins (add a splash of water from time to time if needed).

·         To this add in the stock, coconut milk and lentils and bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 mins until the lentils are tender. Add the peppers and cook for a further 8 mins.

·         Stir in the peas and add the spinach to the top, cover with a lid and allow the spinach to wilt for about 2 mins, remove the lid and gently stir the wilted spinach leaves into the curry. Take the curry off the heat and allow to stand for a few mins with the lid back on.

·         In the meantime heat a dry griddled pan up to full heat. Drizzle the Slimbos with a little olive oil on the cut side and place them face down on the hot pan, allow them to toast for 2 mins and remove them when toasted and marked with the lines of the pan. Cut a fat clove of garlic in half and run the cut side on the toasted side of the Slimbos.

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·         Once all Slimbos are toasted and flavoured, serve with the curry.