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
Rinse
the lentils in a pot, draining off most of the water. Add the 4 cups water, and
bring the pot to a slow boil, stirring frequently. Add water as needed to keep
the mixture soupy. Red lentils break down and become pale yellow colored and tender
in 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, peel
and seed the butternut and cut it into 1/2-inch cubes. (Measure it you as
you cut it, and keep the
remainder of butternut for another use.) Peel and finely dice the onion.
Heat a frying
pan. Add the oil (plus butter if used) and the onion. Fry until onion begins
to
soften, Then add the cut
butternut and part of the salt, all the pepper and cinnamon.
Stir and fry over low heat, until butternut
becomes tender, 10-15 minutes.
When both
lentils and butternut are tender, combine them in the lentil pot. Add water as
needed to the desired level of
thickness – moderately thick for a side vegetable dish,
soupy for a soup or
stew. Add salt as needed
to the desired taste. Simmer a few minutes
and remove from the heat. Taste one
final time and add a little
salt if needed.
Sprinkle with a
little finely minced parsley when serving.
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