BY
First of all, I know Sara mentioned Monday’s post in her post on Wednesday, but I just wanted to thank all of you so much for your sweet thoughts and also for opening your hearts and sharing similar stories. So many of you mentioned that because there were so many comments, I probably wouldn’t see what you wrote, but I promise, I read every single one, some of them more than once. I wish I could respond to all of them personally, but please know that I read and appreciated everything you guys had to say more than I can express.
So this recipe is kind of almost too good to be true. I found it on Weight Watchers a few months ago and it quickly became one of my very favorite meals–it’s hearty and delicious and forgiving and quick and easy and unbelievably low fat and calories and once you track down the lentils and all the spices, you can make it again and again with very little effort.
One thing I discovered is that Weight Watchers gives this 6 points, but when I calculate it one my own, it comes in much lower than that. One factor is that they say it serves 6, but those would be huge, belly-ache-inducing servings, so I calculated it for 8, and even then, those servings would be quite large. But the numbers still didn’t add up. Using the nutritional info from the bag of lentils, and calculating it with 8 servings, it comes in around 2 points and under 90 calories. I told you it was almost too good to be true.
You’ll need lentils (red ones, if you can find them–check the “natural” section of your grocery store, although your cheapest bet will be in the bulk bins or a Middle Eastern market), an onion, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, spinach (fresh or frozen), a 15-ounce can of tomatoes, cilantro, and lemon or lime juice.
Plus a bunch of spices. These can be kind of a pain to track down, but once you have them, you can make this over and over again with practically zero effort. You’ll need mustard seed, ground coriander, ground cumin, and curry powder or paste. I prefer the paste, even if it’s Thai and not Indian.
Place the lentils in the pot of a slow cooker…
And then add the spices, broth, garlic, onions, and ginger,
spinach,
and tomatoes.
Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-7 hours. You can also bring it to a boil in a large stock pot and then cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour. When the lentils are done cooking, stir in a handful of chopped cilantro and the juice of 1/2 a lime or lemon. Ladle it into bowls (I like it over rice cooked with onions, garlic, and chicken broth) and enjoy!
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For 8 Servings:
Calories: 87.3
Fat: .6
Carbs: 15.7
Fiber: 5.7
Protein: 6.6
Weight Watcher Points: 2
Indian-Spiced Slow-Cooker Lentils
Recipe lightly adapted from Weight Watchers
Ingredients: 2 cups red lentils (if you can find them…check the bulk bins or a Middle Eastern market)
10 ounces spinach (fresh and chopped or frozen and thawed)
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you want to go vegetarian/vegan)
1 tablespoon curry powder or paste (I prefer curry paste)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon or lime
Handful of chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish if desired
Instructions: Combine all ingredients except for the lemon (or lime) juice and cilantro in the pot of a slow cooker. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-7 hours (or bring to a boil on the stove top and then simmer, covered, on low for 1 hour). Before serving, add the lemon juice and cilantro. This is delicious served over rice. Weight Watchers says this makes 6 servings, but I’d say it’s closer to 8-10.
For 8 Servings:
Calories: 87.3
Fat: .6
Carbs: 15.7
Fiber: 5.7
Protein: 6.6
Weight Watcher Points: 2
This looks and sounds delicious! I have everything on hand except red curry paste, so I’m going to give it a go with green. 🙂 Thanks in advance for tonight’s dinner!
This looks so good! Thanks for keeping it easy on us!
I don’t see it listed as one of the steps but it’s important to rinse lentils really well before you cook them. This recipe looks yummy!
This is great! I have all the ingredients… We eat a LOT of curries, and a lot of your recipes and I was just saying to my husband ” I wonder if the OBB girls don’t like curries since there aren’t a lot of those kinds of recipes”. Also LOVE having the nutritional info on the recipe! Please keep that up! I’ve been recording the nutritional info for my cookbook as I go through the recipes this time around.
This recipe looks delicious and I will be making it soon. I love it that you found it in a Weight Watchers cookbook. I found 2 Weight Watchers cookbooks at our Church’s Picnic. One is the daily recipes and one is the cookbook with recipes for entertaining. I love both of these books!! Neither has a recipe like this one and since my husband is diabetic, I love new recipes that are good for him to eat. He is the kind of guy who thinks if he hasn’t had red meat and potatoes, then he hasn’t eaten. So I always try to find something that will satisfy that hunger for the things he can have only in limited quantities. Thanks for sharing this recipe!!
This is very similar to another lentil recipe I make, I put it over rice but could never make it without making homemade naan bread! Spread with a little garlic butter, it is SO good. You can definitely adjust the spices to make it hot or not, I don’t make it hot at all and it’s still very flavorful with the other spices in it.
This might sounds like a silly question but would it we ok to use green lentils? I have some at home and was wondering if I could use that. I’m not very familiar yet with all the kinds of lentils / difference in texture
I *imagine* they’d be totally fine–this recipe is SUPER forgiving! 🙂
Thank you! I’ll try it over the week-end. Experimenting in cooking is half the fun so… 🙂
Cool! I was wondering the same thing because I have a random bag of green lentils in my pantry and have no idea what to do with them. If it ever stops raining/snowing I’m headed to the store for the rest of the ingredients.
Actually, green lentils may taste fine but they won’t ever cook down into the rich, wonderful stew that red lentils so happily disintegrate into. Red lentils are truly worth looking for. Try Bob’s Red Mill on-line (or local if you live in the Pacific Northwest).
I GET RED LENTILS AT TRADER JOES
Well, speaking as someone who grew up in India I can say that real Indian food has neither curry powder nor paste. Most Indians in India will have no clue what you mean if you mention curry powder to them. That being said, this does look like a good recipe, although closer to Middle Eastern-style lentils (which are yummy!). I could be more nit-picky about the ingredients, but I’ll stop there because this does actually look tasty, and, like I said, sort of Middle Eastern. We’re lentils lovers in our house, so I’ll have to give this a try!
Lol, im pakistani, and i dont even own any curry
Because curry powder is a mix of many spices adopted by British cooks who loved the tastes introduced to them in India – primarily: tumeric, fenugreek, coriander, cumin. Kind of like a Garam masala without so much masala. Mix your own if you can’t find a curry mix that suits.
This might sound silly, but what do you do with the ginger? I have bought fresh ginger more than once, but I’ve ended up wasting it each time because I don’t know what to do with it. Do you guys have any tips or tricks? Also, you have mentioned that you’ve been losing weight recently so I would like to share that, with LOTS of recipes from you two, I am down 75 lbs! Please keep healthy recipes like this coming!!
Amy – When I buy fresh ginger, I peel the whole piece and then keep it in my freezer. Then, when I need it, I just grab it, grate the amount necessary and stick it back in the freezer when I’m through with it. I just store it in a freezer ziploc bag.
I do the same thing with my ginger! Peeling, then freezing, it makes grating SO easy, plus the ginger doesn’t go to waste if you forget about it in the fridge! 😀
I PEEL IT AND PUT IT IN A ZIP LOC BAG AND FREEZE IT UNTIL I NEED IT. ALWAYS GRATE IT FROZEN; IT IS SO MUCH EASIER. IT WILL LAST A LONG TIME IN THE FREEZER.
Amy you can put the fresh ginger in a ziplock Baggie at put it in the freezer. Then when you need it just take it out (no thawing) use a peeler to take off the skin on the area you think you will need and the grate what you need with a fine grater or micro plane. I use ginger just on occasion so I just break off a smaller piece of ginger at the store or if you ask your produce manager they will cut you a piece. Hope this helps.
Personally I break off about exactly what I need while at the store and do not buy the whole ridiculously large pieces they have set out. I think quite a few people do this because you can see the breaks on the ginger.
However, if you’re not comfortable doing that you can put your remaining ginger in a ziploc baggie and close it up and pop it into the freezer and it will last you a good long time and be ready for you whenever you next need some ginger. HTH!
Personally, I enjoy a few thin slices of ginger in my green tea. I also enjoy mixing it with cucumber slices and carbonated water, so I have a healthy fizzy alternative to soda. It also goes great if you are doing a stir fry.
Store it in the freezer. It lasts a lot longer.
Looks delicious! Is it spicy? My mom is crazy for lentils but cannot handle any spiciness whatsoever.
The cayenne adds the heat, so you could either omit it or cut way back on it.