Curried Lentils

Several weeks ago, Mark & I spent a decadent weekend at Cannon Beach, compliments of my sister as a thank you for taking care of Tippy, her dog. We had one dinner at EVOO, the cooking school in the middle of downtown Cannon Beach. It was a lot of fun and the dinner was excellent. The chef even gave us his recipes to take home. Oh Boy! However, when I tried to make the curried lentils he served with a nice piece of halibut, crusted with hazelnuts, I realized that there were several main ingredients missing. So, with a little help from the Internet, I came up with the following.


Inspiration: A fabulous weekend at the coast
Time: 15 minutes prep and 45 to cook
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Green lentils (ok, so lentils aren't equipment, but you need these because they don't turn to mush when you cook them)
Servings: 4

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 leek, cleaned and diced
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 cup Umbrian or green lentils, picked clean and rinsed
3 cups stock (any kind)

Saute the vegetables in a heavy pot with the olive oil until aromatic and golden. Add the garlic and saute for 5 minutes more. Add the curry powder and saute until fragrant. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the lentils are cooked, about 1/2 hour.

Since we had just had halibut several nights earlier, I marinated raw shrimp in oil, mashed garlic and salt for 30 minutes, grilled them and placed them over the lentils, finishing off with chopped cilantro.