Dining In - Curried Lentil, Squash and Apple Stew

Curried Lentil, Squash, and Apple Stew - Chloe's Kitchen

This hearty, colorful stew would be great during the fall, but worked just as well as an entree for the end of winter, too! I was in the mood for a "Chloe recipe" and cracked open Chloe's Kitchen to see what I had left to test, as there are few recipes that have gone untouched. You can find this recipe and others in Chloe's Kitchen (buy your copy here). The protein and fiber from the lentils make this dish both filling and satisfying. I loved the sweetness of the butternut squash and apples, and with a decent amount, possibly too much, salt it was a great combination. My boyfriend and I enjoyed this as a full meal, eating a larger portion, though the recipe says it will feed 6 as a smaller bowl. 

I would make this again! The prep was easy enough and once you've got your ingredients thrown together in the pot you can leave it to cook; this was pretty low maintenance in my opinion. Allow at least an hour for the cooking process. 

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, large, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
3 cloves of garlic, diced
1 teaspoon ginger, grated and diced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt (I might cut back next time because the vegetable broth adds a lot of salt already)
1/2 cup lentils, dry
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 1/2 cups fresh butternut squash cubed
1 apple, diced, skin on
5 ounces fresh baby spinach

Precut Butternut Squash

After prepping your vegetables (I cheated and bought precut butternut squash, see photo), begin by heating the olive oil in a large pot on medium-high heat. Add onions and carrots and cook until they soften.

Next add to the pot the garlic, ginger curry, salt, stir and cook for a few more minutes.

Onions, Carrots, Garlic, Ginger, Curry Powder and Salt Cooking in Large Pot

Add in dry lentils, vegetable broth and tomato paste. Stir again and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes. 

Add in butternut squash and apples, stir, cover again and cook for an additional 25 minutes on the same heat setting. Check that the vegetables are tender then remove from heat and add in fresh spinach. Stir together so the spinach is heated and wilted. That is the last step! 

Serve warm.

Before the last step, adding in spinach next!