Curried Lentils and Chickpeas

It's Meatless Monday.  I've fallen into a rut lately (just life and stuff) and have been resorting to old favorites like Goat Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Portobellos, Frittatas, Lentil and Pasta Soup, and even just scrambled eggs with toast (GF crackers for me) for Monday dinners.  Today I was feeling a bit feisty, so I thought I'd make something new.  Well, new to me.  I was jonesing for something curry, and this totally hit the spot.  And it's easy, too.  Yay!

Curried Lentils and Chickpeas


Ingredients:

• 1 cup dried chickpeas
• 3/4 cup dried lentils
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 2 cups water
• salt & pepper to taste
• hot pepper sauce to taste (optional)

Directions:

• Rinse chickpeas and lentils in running water, then soak in separate bowls overnight.
• In a medium pot, sauté the onion and garlic in coconut oil over medium heat for a few minutes until soft and fragrant.
• Drain the chickpeas and lentils and add to the pot.  Add the curry and cumin powders.  Stir over medium heat for a minute.
• Add the water and salt & pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer, cover and cook for about 30 minutes until the chickpeas and lentils are tender. Adjust salt and pepper as needed, and add hot pepper sauce (optional).  Serve over brown rice (or with whole wheat naan if you're not gluten-free).

Tonight I served this with a side of simple roasted cauliflower.  I'm a happy camper.