Recipe: Spinach Dahl

Sometimes that big bag of spinach you bought at Costco just didn’t seem so big until you got it home, and realized it doesn’t even fit in your crisper. What were you thinking, Popeye?  Sometimes you want something easy, inexpensive, nutritious, and different.  Maybe you’ve just had some dental work and want something easy to chew.  I have an answer for you: Spinach Dahl, an east Indian dish made with lentils, spinach, and a few easy-to-find spices.

This dish is a veritable powerhouse of nutrition, especially for women, whose folate and iron requirements are especially important. Lentils are a very rich source of protein and fiber, as well as minerals – iron, folate, phosphorous, potassium, and manganese. Cooked spinach is chock full of vitamin A, iron, folate, vitamin K, vitamin C, and manganese. Chili powder and turmeric are both anti-inflammatory, with turmeric boasting of many other health-promoting properties as well, from weight loss to boosting the body’s own natural healing abilities. Garam masala, another common indian spice, is actually a mixture of several spices (including cardamom, nutmeg, and cinnamon), which also have various health benefits.

We all know that George was the best Beatle, right?

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups lentils
3 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 pound spinach, rinsed and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil, to saute onions and spices in
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 cup coconut milk. If you don’t have any, you can use soy milk, even vanilla soy works well.
1-2 tablespoon lemon juice
fresh ground pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Rinse lentils and soak for 20 minutes.
2. In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil and stir in salt, lentils, turmeric and chili powder. Cover and
return to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the spinach and cook 5 minutes, or until
lentils are soft. Add more water if necessary.  OR you can be lazy like me and just put the lentils in a pot and cook them for 30 minutes or so.
3. In a small saucepan over medium heat, add oil and saute onions with cumin and mustard seeds, stirring often.
Cook until onions are transparent, and then combine with lentils. Stir in garam masala and coconut milk and cook until heated through.

This is great served with Naan Bread (Good Earth on Riverdale Rd carries it), which I didn’t have any of, for this picture.