Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Raunchy Red Lentils & Potlikker

During my 26-day Adventure Cleanse Tune-Up, I'm allowed to have gluten-free cooked meals made with whole foods for dinner. Though I love my raw lunches and breakfasts on the cleanse, cooked food is where it's at for me. Nothing beats a warm bowl of soup on a cold, cold night. Luckily, this recipe for Rauchy Red Lentil Soup from vegan cookbook goddess Sarah Kramer met the criteria for an ACT-friendly dinner:

The recipe came from Kramer's 2010 Go Vegan wall calendar. Each month has one recipe and a kitschy-cute picture of Sarah. Since the January lentil recipe was cleanse-friendly, I figured the universe was trying to tell me to make this soup immediately.

And I'm glad I did. Tender red lentils meet tomato, cilantro, jalapeno, onion, and garlic in this Indian-inspired dish. And it's perfect for warmin' up on a chilly Memphis winter night.

On the side, I had a serving of Brown Rice and Collard Greens:

I made the collards using my own recipe (it's going in the cookbook, for sure!), but substituted agave for the touch of sugar in the greens to keep it cleanse-worthy. When the greens were done cookin', I poured the rich potlikker over the rice to flavor the plain grains. Potlikker is what Southerners call the liquid left after cooking greens. It contains essential vitamins and minerals that may have been cooked out of the collards, and it's damn tasty. No need to waste.

Hey testers! There's a new recipe up on the tester blog...

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

i love lentils, and ihave some red ones i got from the bulk bin at WF that i've yet to try!

Anonymous said...

I've always wondered what potlikker was.

Anonymous said...

Looks great! How do you get to the tester blog or is it by invite only? x

T said...

Pure comfort food! Yum!

Vegan Valerie said...

I'm going to have to get Sarah's calendar! Her first cookbook with friend, Tanya Barnard, saved my early vegan butt! It helped me transition into this great lifestyle of compassion. So thanks for the great review!

Love your blog! Your fun-lovin' style is infectious! :)

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

yummy those lentils look great!

The Voracious Vegan said...

Potlikker - I've never heard of that but I love it! Definitely a new word to add to my vocabulary.

Bianca this looks gloriously tasty! I love lentils any which way but you've really made something special here. SCRUMPTIOUS!

Lisa said...

i would love a bowl of those lentils right now! (Your photos are looking awesome by the way.)

Serena said...

Mmm, that looks so tasty :)
If I only had a kitchen (living in a dorm) I would try this.
I will try the raw carrot falafels this summer, for sure, though!

Chocolate-Covered Katie said...

Oh goodness, the funny title alone makes that dish sound worth trying!

Vegan In The VI said...

I think I got some antioxidants just from looking at the pictures.

Trinity (of haiku tofu) said...

Raunchy never looked so good.

Leslie Richman said...

I am looking at my calender right now! That is a great recipe!

Christine said...

Mmm, the lentils look amazing, I might have to try on a non-raw night. I'll have to ask my southern hubby if he's ever heard potlikker, that's great.

Babette said...

This is one of my favorite soup, and I've done it countless times. It is delicious AND healthy AND quick!