I have a quick post for you today. I'm trying to cram five days of work into three days this week so that I can celebrate my birthday properly: one day of snowboarding and one day of hanging out with my husband. We've finally got a dose of winter and in the past week the ski areas have gotten feet (FEET!) of snow. Can't pass up that opportunity to enjoy all the new snow.
I'm still talking about lunch. This meal is a typical lunch for me (inspired by this spicy red lentil and spinach dish I love so much). I'll make a big batch of grains and lentils for the week and then reheat for each meal. I love this post from The Kitchn about making harissa and while I would typically make a spicier harissa, I had a bell pepper and a half-used jar of chipotle peppers that needed to be used. If you decide to go spicier, reduce the amount of harissa you use in this dish.
Print*To roast a bell pepper, stick under a broiler, rotating occasionally until pepper is soft and charred.
Sounds like you've got a fun bday planned! We just got a nice dump of snow here the other day too. This meal looks awesome, I recently tried harissa for the first time and I was hooked. If only it were cheaper, I would douse it on everything just like Sriracha 😉
Love the spice..this would quickly become a favorite lunch around here. Happy birthday!! I hope you get some good snowy skiing in this weekend!
HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY! Props to you for taking some time for yourself and spending a few days doing what you love. We could all use a few days like that now and then.
This is totally something I would make on any given weeknight but I hadn't thought to add cauliflower to the lentils. Love it and love that you're featuring harissa. I feel it is still underused in a lot of places but it gives a great punch of flavor for very little effort. Have a fun birthday weekend!
I'm on a huge harissa kick right now. These lentils sound perfect!
Enjoy your birthday and have a great weekend!
I just love your cookbook...tomorrow morning I will try the farro breakfast. Look forward to receiving your emails with all those delicious recipes (and beautiful photographs!)
Oooo this looks delicious! What do you mean by stewed tomatoes? Is that something you can get pre-prepared in America (I'm in the UK) or is it just tomatoes you've already cooked?
thanks!
Hey Hannah- yes, usually is something pre-jarred. You could use canned died tomatoes as well!
Beautiful recipe! Thank you for sharing xx
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I just made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing. I'm always using harissa sauce but have never made my own and I absolutely love this version. I did add a few more roasted peppers (was using jarred) for the proportion of chipotles called for, because I wanted a little more sweet to balance the spice. Wonderful dish, thanks Erin!
So glad you liked it (and good call on the more peppers!)
I enjoy lentils - and also like/appreciate recipes with Sea salt. Thank u for the wonderful recipes!
[…] Harissa Lentils and Cauliflower is the perfect Meatless Monday meal. It’s also 100% exceptional for leftovers the next day. […]
Sounds yummy. Question....what is Harissa? And what do you do with the 1/4 you didn't use in the recipe?
It's a sauce/spread that is made from peppers and I save the remaining bits to use in other recipes (I have a few on my site I that uses harissa!)
I was so excited when I saw this. I love Harissa and had to try it right away.. It was awesome!! Just gave some to my friend who also loved it. I will be making this a staple in my home. Thanks
Lentil noob here: do you mean dry lentils, or do you soak them before adding them to everything?
Thank you!
I use dry lentils, no need to soak!
I just discovered you on Pinterest and have already made this recipe twice in two weeks. LOVE IT! So glad I found your website.
I made this for dinner last night and it was a huge hit! After reading the comments, I bumped up the roasted red pepper amount. And, I swapped out the cilantro for parsley--a little cilantro goes a long way with me. The parsley worked well. Served it with brown rice and a little dollop of plain greek yogurt. This will definitely go into the regular dinner rotation. Love your site--thank you for all of the delicious recipes!
This looks delicious and so healthy! I can't wait to try this at home. I have been on the prowl for more recipes that make use of harissa and this one is definitely making the cut! Thank you for sharing.