Baked Butternut Squash & Lentil Curry
Cosy up with this warming oven-baked butternut and lentil curry with a spiced tomato and red lentil sauce, butternut squash, and greens. A one-pan wonder of a dish where the only “hard work” is chopping up the veg. If cutting butternut is daunting, you can always buy pre-chopped butternut frozen or fresh. This dish is oil-free; garnish with nuts, seeds, yoghurt, coconut, tahini or cream to add healthy whole-ingredient fats.
Lentils are affordable and sustainable to grow, they do not require chemicals to grow well and are a moderately drought tolerant crop. Legumes fix nitrogen into the soil and help feed a healthy soil microbiome ~ nutrition begins in the soil. Lentils are nutrient-dense with fibre and plant-based protein that is gentle on the digestive system.
Spices are warming, aromatic and earthy with many food as medicine benefits; they have anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, immune-supportive and grounding properties. You can use whatever curry mix you have and love.
- Serves4-6
- Cooks in 40 - 50 mins
- Prep time 10 mins
- Plant Protein
Recipes with plant protein-rich ingredients. Examples of plant-based high protein foods include; quinoa, teff, millet, wild rice, oats, buckwheat, amaranth, sorghum, wheat, nuts, seeds, hemp seeds, peas, beans, lentils, legumes, soy, tofu & tempeh, broccoli, brussels, spinach, kale, mushrooms, nutritional yeast.
- Warming Grounding
- Anti Inflammatory
Recipes have ingredients with anti-inflammatory nutrients and avoid common inflammatory foods like sugar, gluten, dairy and processed food. A whole food diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods can help relieve symptoms of inflammation within the body. Inflammation is at the root of most disease = dis-ease.
- Oil-free Sugar-free
- Sustainable
Ingredients
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Method
Baked Butternut Squash & Red Lentil Curry
PREHEAT your oven to 400 F | 200 C
WASH all the vegetables. Peel + deseed + small dice butternut squash. Finely dice onion + celery. Finely chop or grate garlic + ginger.
ADD all base ingredients to a baking dish, mix well and spread evenly.
ADD water | broth + crushed tomatoes over base ingredients. Stir with a fork to combine and spread evenly.
TOP with diced butternut squash. Cover with a sheet pan or lid and bake for 30 mins. You can use tin foil to cover your dish, but it is not a sustainable choice.
REMOVE from oven. Mix with a fork and bake another 15 – 20 mins uncovered so the butternut browns a little. When the lentils are soft and have created a thick sauce, and the butternut is fork-tender, remove the curry from the oven.
TASTE and adjust seasoning – add more chilli or curry if you want extra spice.
SCATTER over kale | spinach, lightly fork, stir them in. Cover the dish to rest for 5 – 10mins; the residual heat will gently steam the greens.
SERVE in bowls garnished with fresh herbs, cashews, coconut chips, a dollop of yoghurt, a drizzle of coconut cream or tahini.
MAKING in advance – omit the greens. Reheat in the oven covered when ready to eat, adding the greens as above just before serving.
Serving Ideas
garnished with fresh herbs, cashews, coconut chips, nuts or seeds.
a dollop of yoghurt, a drizzle of coconut cream, cashew cream or tahini.
with Cashew Sour Cream
with Steamed Greens with Miso
with Chickpea Pancakes
with a Mixed Green salad
Roasted Cauliflower Salad
Apple, Fennel & Celeriac Salad
Chef tips + Ingredient Swaps + Ideas
CURRY SPICES – use what you have – a curry powder blend, Berbere Spice or any other curry type blend you have – adjust heat to your taste. If, like me, you love spices & heat, add max quantity. If you prefer mild, start with less & add as your taste.
SWAP BUTTERNUT use fresh or frozen pumpkin, kabocha, buttercup, acorn, yams, sweet potato, carrot, cauliflower – cooking times may vary.
ADD CREAMY COCONUT – for a creamier coconut curry add 1 can coconut milk + 2 cups water – rinse the can.
SWAP KALE use fresh or frozen spinach, kale, swiss chard, bok choy, cabbage, collards – cooking times will vary.
ADD CASHEWS for healthy fats and a great texture. Stir in with the greens or use as a garnish.
*HERBS – use freshly chopped parsley, cilantro, chives, + a little rosemary or thyme.
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