Lentils

One of the dishes that first caught my eye when I flipped through Meatless is an intriguing twist on a very familiar dish: Lentil and Cashew Hummus (pg 19). In this version, chickpeas are replaced with lentils, and tahini is replaced with cashew butter. Cashew butter is fricken delicious, if you've never tried it. Find it. Eat it. Send me presents to thank me. Apart from the two key elements, everything else is the same as normal hummus: lemon juice, garlic, a splash of hot sauce, salt, and olive oil.

Maybe I expected too much from the cashew butter. I thought this would be sweeter and a bit more luscious. Honestly, if no one told me that it wasn't normal hummus, I would assume it was just a bland rendition of the chickpeas and tahini classic. It's not bad, but it seems like a waste of good cashew butter.

That said, CHARLIE LIKES IT. Whaaaaaat?? Kid won't eat normal hummus. Guess he's down with bland, as long as it comes on a pita chip.

Conclusion: Liked it well enough, but I prefer normal hummus. I guess I'll call this one a "Just Okay," since I'll never make it again.

Dinner tonight was Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew (pg 121). I added ground beef, because I knew this wouldn't fill Matt up, as written. Unfortunately, I wasn't working with the greatest sweet potatoes. They're not a local product, so I had to buy mine at the Commissary, which has terrible produce. God knows how old these were. I could tell as soon as I sliced them, and they were ringed with pale bands, that they wouldn't be the tastiest sweet potatoes ever. Once the stew was finished, my suspicions were confirmed. The sweet potatoes had no sweet potato flavor. I assume that greatly detracted from this recipe.

The stew is a good starting point. The only spice is one bay leaf and 1.5 teaspoons of curry powder. It needs more...something. I don't know what. I would make this again and play with it. Preferably with fresher sweet potatoes. And LOTS more spice.

Conclusion: Like it, with reservations. I really think good sweet potatoes would make a huge difference.