Black Lentil Stuffed Sweet Potato Boats (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Black Lentil Stuffed Sweet Potato Boats (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Holy Cow I forgot how winter just arrives at your doorstep one day and refuses to budge for five months. Today was as they say:

Colder than a well digger’s ass.

Colder than mother-in-law’s love

Colder than a witch’s tit

Usually for lunch I snack on this and that (meaning lots of nuts, dried fruit and a smoothie) but today when I got home from my walk I had the shivers. I wanted something warm in my belly so I made these black lentil stuffed sweet potato boats.

Bake up sweet potatoes until they are soft and fill the house with that caramel scent. Cook up black lentils with warming garlic, onions and garam masala and splash them  with a smidgen of balsamic vinegar to brighten their flavor.

Any lentils will work in this recipe, I’m just going through a black lentil phase. They don’t have the strong taste of green lentils and just seem to sit back and let other flavors shine. Plus doesn’t the black just make the orange of the sweet potato pop?

These lentils aren’t bland but they are not wildly spiced either. Comfort food like this shouldn’t overwhelm you with flavors. Feel free to kick it up another notch or two by adding more spices and herbs.

Scoop out your baked sweet potato and mix into the lentils. Now scoop it all back into your hollowed out sweet potato. Each bite is sweet and soft with the pop of lentils and golden curried onions.

Here are some add ons that would have brought this dish to another level had I not been too lazy to walk to the store and buy them:

Salsa

Yoghurt

Nutritional yeast

Scallions

Avocado

A squeeze of Lime

Fresh Cilantro

And now I’m sleepy and not at all shivery. So perhaps a little nap is in order. Zzzzzzzzz

Check out my new Aquafaba page!  For tips, tricks and to see all of my Aquafabulous recipes.

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Black Lentil Sweet Potato Boats (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

50 mins

Total Time

1 hr

 

A hearty satisfying winter lunch or dinner. Soft baked sweet potatoes split and piled with lightly curried black lentils and brightened with a  splash of balsamic vinegar.

Course: Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: 2 people

Ingredients

• 1 cup black lentils
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 3 cups veggie broth
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 large onion, sliced

Instructions

1. Heat your oven to 375. Pierce both sweet potatoes with a fork and place on a pan in the oven. Allow to bake 50-55 minutes until tender. 

2. Heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pan until hot and add your garlic, garam masala and sliced onion. Lower heat to medium and and cook 5 minutes stirring often. 

3. Add you lentils and broth and bring to a boil. Lower your heat and simmer partly covered for 35 - 40 minutes until the lentils are tender. Stir in the vinegar. 

4. Once the sweet potatoes and cool enough to handle split them down the middle and scoop as much of their flesh as you can with out destroying their structural integrity.  Chop up the part you scooped out and stir into the lentils. 

5. Scoop the lentil mixture into the sweet potatoes mounding over the top. Feel free to return them to the oven to reheat them if they need. I personally add a squirt of hot sauce to mine. Yum!