Spiced Collards with Lentils and Potatoes

I love how nourishing this dish is. The stewed greens are delicately seasoned with lentils, and served with oven roasted potatoes. Sometimes, I skip the oven roasted potatoes and serve the lentils over a baked potato instead. Either way it is a great combination.

Spiced Collards with Lentils and Potatoes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup lentils
1 bay leaf
2 1/2 cups water

3 large russet potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch collards, diced
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp coriander
1/8 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

Directions:

Put the lentils, bay leaf, and water in a saucepan. Bring to a low boil, cover and let simmer for 30-40 minutes. At 30 minutes start checking the lentils for doneness. You want them cooked through, but not mushy.

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Wash the potatoes and dice them into even bite-sized pieces. Use a paper towel to dry off any moisture from the cut potatoes before drizzling them with the tbsp of olive oil. Then add the seasonings which are the salt, pepper, cumin, turmeric, coriander, and garlic powder. Toss to distribute the seasonings, or just use your hands to rub the potatoes and mix it all around. Put the potatoes on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Stir the potatoes halfway through. If they are not done at the 20 minute mark, put them back in for 5-10 more minutes.

While the lentils and potatoes are cooking, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large frying pan. Add the diced onion and let it cook down for 7 minutes. You want the onions to soften up.  When the onions have soften and started to turn translucent, add the minced garlic and give that a stir. Let the garlic heat through for a minute and then add the collards. Stir in the collards* and then add the vegetable broth. The collards will begin to wilt in the moisture fairly quickly. When this happens, I like to add the spices. So in goes the pepper, cumin, turmeric, coriander, cardamom, and cloves. Stir to distribute and bloom the spices and then add the diced tomatoes with the juice. Finally, add the cooked lentils to the pan (discarding the bay leaf). If your lentils have a lot of water still left then drain them, if there is just a little moisture, no big deal just dump it all in together. Let it continue to simmer until most of the moisture is evaporated and the flavors have combined.

Taste and adjust the seasonings and then serve the collards and lentils alongside the potatoes for a hearty, warming meal.

*I like to use the whole collard leaf. Cut off the ends of the stems and then stack a few leaves on top of each other. Cut the leaves in a diagonal criss-cross pattern to get small pieces.

For six servings. Nutritional information from caloriecount.about.com

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 425 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  248 Calories from Fat  42

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  4.7g 7%

Saturated Fat  0.7g 3%

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  282mg 12%

Potassium  1152mg 33%

Total Carbohydrates  44.3g 15%

Dietary Fiber  11.3g 45%

Sugars  4.8g

Protein  9.1g

Vitamin A 44% • Vitamin C 93% Calcium 8% • Iron 16%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet