Red Lentil Curry

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 ½ cups diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons curry powder or garam masala
• 1 20-ounce package cubed peeled butternut squash (see Tip)
• 1 cup red lentils
• 1 cup chopped fresh tomato or one 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 4 cups water
• 1 14-ounce can lite coconut milk
• 5 lime wedges
• Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, ginger and curry powder (or garam masala); cook, stirring often, until the onion is starting to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Add squash, lentils, tomato and salt; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add water. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to maintain a lively simmer; cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender and the lentils are mostly broken down, about 20 minutes.
2. Stir in coconut milk and simmer until heated through, about 1 minute. Serve with lime wedges and cilantro, if desired.

Tips

Precut butternut squash is usually sold in a 20-ounce package of large cubes (5 cups of 1- to 2-inch pieces) or in a 16-ounce package of smaller diced squash (3 cups of 1/2-inch pieces). If you can only find the smaller cubes for this recipe, you’ll need to buy two 16-ounce packages to have 5 total cups of squash and reduce the roasting time by 5 to 10 minutes. Or, you can prep your own cubes of squash from a whole, peeled and seeded butternut squash.