Quick Sautéed Butternut with Red Lentils
Working with my friend Cameron, a UGA nutritional medicine major student who makes short nutrition and food Instagram videos, I figured on bringing together two of my favorite healthy ingredients. Not only did they pair particularly well, but the resulting dish seemed fully seasonal as the weather cools down.
As cooked lentils sit, they get thicker in texture. So this dish can either be a side vegetable dish with a meat or other protein, or if diluted can be a soup or stew. This time because of Cameron’s audience, I made the dish completely plant-based, using olive oil for the sautéing. But half olive oil half butter is luscious too.Split red lentils (sometimes known as Egyptian lentils) are readily available at supermarkets, Indian stores (Masoor Dal), health or whole food stores, or Ethiopian stores (Misir).
The recipe
serves six as a side dish in a dinner, or if diluted with more water can be a
stew or soup.
2 cups split red
lentils
4 cups of water,
plus more as needed
3 cups 1/2-inch
cubed butternut squash (peeled and seeded), about 1 pound
1 small onion,
finely diced
1/2 cup olive
oil or 1/4 each olive oil and butter
1 teaspoon salt,
plus more as needed
1/4 teaspoon
ground black pepper
Small pinch
ground cinnamon
Finely minced parsley for garnish