Red Lentil and Squash Curry Stew

Leftovers are the best.

A “free”, delicious meal without the work? I’ll take it.

Unless of course you don’t know what to do with the leftovers and they die a slow death in the fridge. One day you walk into the kitchen gasping, “What IS that smell!?” only to open the fridge and find those leftovers, shoved to the back of the fridge to die.

My casserole now needs a hair cut and the black beans have morphed into stink bombs.

It happens to the best of us.

I vowed to use up my roasted squash leftover from my Butternut Mac ‘n Cheeze recipe! Last night, I found a recipe for a Red Lentil Squash Curry on Martha and used that as my inspiration for this stew. With my butternut already roasted this meal came together in about 25 minutes.

Leftovers turned into a new recipe? Even better.

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Red Lentil and Squash Curry Stew

Inspired by Martha.

Yield: ~4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp good quality curry powder (or more to taste)
• 1 carton broth (4 cups) I used low-sodium
• 1 cup red lentils
• 3 cups cooked butternut squash
• 1 cup greens of choice
• Fresh grated ginger, to taste (optional)
• Kosher salt & black pepper, to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp salt)

1. In a large pot, add EVOO and chopped onion and minced garlic. Sautee for about 5 minutes over low-medium heat.

2. Stir in curry powder and cook another couple minutes. Add broth and lentils and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes.

3. Stir in cooked butternut squash and greens of choice. Cook over medium heat for about 5-8 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and add some freshly grated ginger to taste.

Note: If you have uncooked butternut to use, check out Martha’s recipe for cooking instructions.

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You start by sautéing a sweet onion and a few cloves of minced garlic. After about 5 minutes or so, add in your curry powder. 

Next comes 1 container of broth. If you are using a low-sodium broth like I did, you will need to add more salt and vice versa.

In goes 1 cup of red lentils.

Cook this mixture over medium heat for about 10 minutes until it thickens up.

Now stir in your cooked butternut and some greens if you’d like. I simply used what was leftover from my Butternut Mac ‘n Cheeze recipe. If you have uncooked butternut to use, check out Martha’s recipe for cooking instructions.

Cook another 5 minutes and serve!

A quick, stick-to-your-bones stew with a kick of heat.

And that 5-minute cheeze sauce recipe I promised you? It’s still in my test kitchen. There’s a chance it could die there.