Saved by Spinach Seitan Curry

Excessive hunger drives me to eat some rather strange things: a whole bag of Trader Joe’s sweet potato chips, a bag of Garretts caramel/cheddar mixed popcorn, multiple peanut butter snickers, greasy hamburgers with fried egg on top… I get a bit desperate when there’s nothing to eat in my fridge and my stomach starts to growling. It’s sad, and its scary. And no one should have to endure such pain. 

Therefore, at about 3 pm this afternoon, just as I was beginning to feel a bit whoosy and delirious, I decided to save myself from myself. I had to get in the kitchen and grab a damn skillet before things turned serious! A quick scan of my fridge led me to a package of premade curry sieten, an expired pound of tofu and a cupboard full of miscellanous items like artichoke salad, peanut butter-filled pretzels and dried black-eyed peas. Curry it is.

In just under 20 minutes, I ate the most delicious lentil curry I’ve ever had the pleasure of making. To make matters even more delightful, it was easy and contains things we (well, some of us) already have in our cupboards. Bon apetit, hungry monsters!

Spinach Seitan curry

What I Used

2 cups red lentils

3 cups broth

1 cup water

1 red onion, sliced

2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp asafetida

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp coriander

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1 can diced tomatoes

q tsp liquid smoke

6 tsp curry paste (I realized that I didn’t have any curry powder at the last minute)

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp sea salt

Optional

handful of spinach (Mine was frozen)

1 package of seitan

What I Did

1. I melted one tablespoon of coconut oil in a Dutch oven, and sauteed the onion until it was carmelized, about 15 minutes.

2. While the onions were cooking, I mied all the spices together and, once the onions were tender, mixed them into the pot. I let this cook for a couple of minutes, and then added the garlic, cooking for another couple of minutes. 

3. Add the tomatoes, curry paste and liquid smoke, cook for a couple of minutes, then add the lentils, broth and water. Cover and cook for about 15-20 minutes.

4. If you’re using them, add the seitan, cook for another 10 minutes or so, then add spinach and butter. 

You can eat this with rice or naan or really whatever you’d like. I just ate mine with a spoon.

Enjoy!