Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew

I wanted to share with you one more of my favorite meals from week 1 of the Whole Living 2013 Action Plan. This red lentil and sweet potato stew is so flavorful and exciting it is hard to believe that it is incredibly healthy for you. Full of fragrant spices, sweet peppers and sweet potatoes, and those wonderful red lentils, this is something I see myself making time and time again. It was one of my favorite meals of the whole cleanse. Speaking of- I completed it this past Saturday! It was a wonderful experience and something I could see myself doing once a year! That said, I did indulge in pretty much everything that was off-limits on Sunday. I probably should have eased back in to eating gluten, dairy, meat, sugar, and coffee, but I couldn't help myself!  I needed that large coffee, bacon, egg and cheese sandwich, and those chocolate stout cupcakes! I do plan on keeping up with the healthy eating most of the time however, with only occasional splurge meals.

I'll definitely be sharing a few more of my favorite meals from the Action Plan, so stay tuned!  And then, once I update you on those healthy recipes I want to share with you the recipe for the chocolate stout cupcakes I made for St. Patrick's Day (aka the BEST chocolate cupcakes in the world), and also a recipe for an awesome Buffalo Chicken Salad.

One more thing I wanted to share- my best friend (who I did this cleanse with, and whose Maid of Honor I'll be in her November wedding) just started her own blog, Living Life Brightly, and would love for you to check it out! She has a great write-up on her experience with the Whole Living Action Plan over there!

Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp coconut or extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 large onion, diced
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 1/2 cups red lentils, rinsed
6 cups cleansing broth or vegetable broth
Fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:
1. Over medium heat, heat oil in a large pot. Add cumin, turmeric and curry powder and cook about 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Add onion and a few pinches of salt, and cook about 6 minutes until tender, stirring frequently. Add garlic and ginger and cook about 2 minutes, until tender, stirring frequently. Add sweet potatoes and red bell peppers, and cook for a minute.
2. Add lentils and broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20-25 minutes until lentils are tender.Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with cilantro.

Source: Whole Living Magazine, January/February 2013

Sweet Potato Latkes

After eating the same thing for dinner three nights in a row, I really needed a change. Since I've been trying to use up what is in my pantry, and Ron has been working the last three nights, I ended up making very simple cheese and jalapeño quesadillas with rice and beans for myself for the past few nights. Very yummy, but even quesadillas get old after having the same kind three days in a row, I suppose.

So for this dinner I needed something vastly different using ingredients I had in the pantry. I had a few sweet potatoes that I really wanted to use, and so after searching through some of my favorite blogs for ideas, I came upon these sweet potato latkes on Eat, Live, Run. Just a few staple ingredients, a little mixing together, a little frying, and bam, done. I don't generally like to fry things in my kitchen, but because you only need a little bit of oil for these, that wasn't a problem. I ate them with a little bit of pure maple syrup on top and they were so satisfying! I guess you probably would normally serve these as breakfast or as a side dish to a meal, but since it was just me, I decided to just make these my main dish and eat a simple salad on the side. I will definitely be making these again! I also would love to experiment with these a bit too- I'm thinking chipotle sweet potato latkes... And I also really need to make traditional potato latkes sometime as well.

Sweet Potato Latkes

Makes about 8 latkes

Inredients:

2 small to medium sweet potatoes, peeled and shredded

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Canola oil, for frying

Maple syrup, optional

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the shredded potatoes, eggs, flour, salt and cinnamon. 

2. Add about a tbsp of canola oil to a large skillet, and heat over medium-high heat.  When hot, using wet hands, form your latkes, and place in skillet.  (This will probably take you two batches- four latkes per batch). Fry about 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown.  Repeat with remaining latkes.

3. Serve warm. Drizzle with maple syrup if desired!

Source: Eat, Live, Run