Behold! A new category that I hope becomes a regular feature on this blog: “The Twofer.” Cook one delicious meal and reshape the leftovers into a substantially different, equally delicious meal.
This inaugural entry starts with the New York Times’s delicious Roasted Carrot and Red Lentil Ragout tweaked to make it just a little faster to prepare and vegan-friendly.
The next day, reinvent it for your family by blending the leftovers with a can of coconut milk to create a creamy Spiced Coconut Carrot Soup. Just be warned that you may need to double the recipe to ensure you have leftovers. No one at Chez Jones has a problem eating this dish in its ragout form many nights in a row and the leftovers are just as good even if they’re not blended with coconut milk.
Lentils are a cupboard staple for us but are worth buying just for this dish. Don’t worry about them gathering dust in the pantry, either. There are so many different ways to use them!
Other lentil dishes:
- Moroccan Red Lentil and Chickpea Stew
- Mulligatawny Soup
- Warm Lentil Salad with Burrata and Basil Vinaigrette
The heat in this dish can depend a lot on the freshness of the spices you use. Be sure to adjust the quantities for your palate and the age of your cayenne.
Both iterations of this dish are vegan and gluten free making for a healthy, easy series of meals you only need to cook once.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs carrots, peeled
- 5 tbs olive oil, divided
- 2 ½ tsp kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
- ½ tsp ancho chili powder
- 3/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, more or less to taste
- 1 c red lentils, rinsed and picked over
- 5 c vegetable stock
- 1 can coconut milk, optional
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450F.
Cut carrots into a 1/4" dice and toss with 3 tbs oil, 1-½ tsp salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Spread carrots on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast 10 minutes. Add onions to the carrot mixture, toss, and continue roasting until carrots are beginning to brown and onions are tender, about 15 minutes more.
Heat remaining 2 tbs oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the carrot mixture and spices and cook, stirring, for one minute.
Add the lentils and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. No not add salt yet as this will give the lentils and unpleasant texture. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until lentils begin to fall apart, about 20-25 minutes Season with remaining 1 tsp salt and adjust spices to taste.
Puree leftover ragout with 1 can coconut milk and heat.
Nutritional Information
Nutritional Information for 1 serving Ragout
Calories 439
Total Fat 18g
Saturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 12g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 981mg
Potassium 1211mg
Total Carbohydrate 54g
Dietary Fiber 20g
Sugars 11g
Protein 15g
Woman, you are pure genius! I can’t wait to try this.
All I can get in this little one-horse town is green lentils, but it so happens I’ve got some in the kitchen. Probably won’t make much difference taste-wise, just might not look quite as beautiful as yours.
Bring on the Twofers!