Curried Lentils with Turkey and Rice

Curried lentils with turkey and rice

I've had it to about "here" with turkey...this was a nice change of pace - a little spicy and curried flavor.  This is another "soup" recipe without too much direction but I think it's hard to screw this up...given a few hours, this all works out.

lentils boiling in water

Rinse and boil and cup or so of brown lentils in enough water to cover, until the lentils are starting to turn soft.  This took about 30 minutes in a large sauce pan.

Add some vegg.  When the water was boiled off and the lentils were soft, I add a swig of olive oil, a handful of shredded carrots and a spoonful of minced garlic.  Stirred this around until nice a fragrant.

Add a tablespoon of curry powder to the pot.

Add a can of coconut milk and stir the mixture.

I was winging this as I went along.  It didn't smell spicy so I added some salsa.

This is the flavor I had on hand but any old salsa will do for a bit of tomatoey spice flavor.

Lentils with carrots, coconut milk, garlic, and salsa.  Stir and let simmer while you have more coffee and contemplate the mess in the rest of your house.

I added a bit of fresh baby spinach since I had it on hand but it's not a necessary ingredient.

For the rice, my electric rice cooker had a nonstick coating that was starting to peel so we threw it out.  I haven't made rice in ages.  Today, I tried Thai jasmine rice in the microwave.  Stove top rice is way to messy in my opinion.  Add one cup of rice to a large microwave safe dish with 2.25 cups of water.  Cover and cook on High for 5 minutes.

After the first 5 minutes, without disturbing, cook on high for another 5 minutes.  Stir, then cover and  microwave for 3 more minutes.  Fluff, cover and set aside until needed.  There was a bit of boil-over but the results were good without hassle or stove-top mess.

For the fruit course, 2 sliced granny smith apples.

Toasted bread and tortilla chips on the side. Can't have enough carbs!

Thanksgiving Table decoration

Putting it all together - yumo

Now, have to think about dinner...still have mashed potatoes.....what do you do with all your left-overs?

Astrid