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.
PrintHarissa Lentils and Cauliflower
- Yield: 2-3 1x
Ingredients
- Harissa
- 2 clove garlic
- 1 roasted red bell pepper*
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 3 tablespoons adobo sauce
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Juice from one lime
- ⅓ cup cilantro
- Lentils
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ small red onion
- 2 cups small cauliflower florets
- ½ cup red lentils
- 1 cup stewed tomatoes
- 1-2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, pulse garlic until minced. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until harissa is well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-low. Add onion and sauté until translucent, 6-7 minutes. Add cauliflower and continue to cook for another 5-6 minutes. Stir in lentils, stewed tomatoes, ¾ cup of the harissa, and 1 cup vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and let cook until lentils are tender, 20-24 minutes.
- Serve over grains.
Notes
*To roast a bell pepper, stick under a broiler, rotating occasionally until pepper is soft and charred.
Katy says
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 😉
Joanne (eats well with others) says
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!
Shelly West says
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.
Katie @ Whole Nourishment says
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!
Dishing Up The Dirt says
I'm on a huge harissa kick right now. These lentils sound perfect!
Juliette says
Enjoy your birthday and have a great weekend!
Donna says
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!)
hannah says
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!
erin says
Hey Hannah- yes, usually is something pre-jarred. You could use canned died tomatoes as well!
Tereza says
Beautiful recipe! Thank you for sharing xx
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Katie @ Whole Nourishment says
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!
erin says
So glad you liked it (and good call on the more peppers!)
Jan Ashby says
I enjoy lentils - and also like/appreciate recipes with Sea salt. Thank u for the wonderful recipes!
Julie says
Sounds yummy. Question....what is Harissa? And what do you do with the 1/4 you didn't use in the recipe?
erin says
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!)
Julie Flannigan says
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
Kim D says
Lentil noob here: do you mean dry lentils, or do you soak them before adding them to everything?
Thank you!
erin says
I use dry lentils, no need to soak!
Eileen says
I just discovered you on Pinterest and have already made this recipe twice in two weeks. LOVE IT! So glad I found your website.
Sara says
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!
Billy says
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.