Palak and Lentil Balls

An Iron Rich Meal Not to Miss

How has your week been? We went camping last week. It is the only thing I know that really gets me to relax and the absence of Wi-Fi makes it even more relaxing. I took along dinners that had already been frozen so the only prep I had to do was to reheat the dinners and make a salad for lunch. It was super luxurious.

After the short camping trip was over the first thing I thought to do when I got home was to look in the fridge to see what I could cook for dinner. There were 3 bunches of kale left over from a job I had done before going camping so I cooked us up some Palak (spinach curry) and made some lentil balls based on a recipe of Vegan Richa’s.

The two dishes went together so well and I really felt like it was one great big iron boost. The kale and the sesame seeds, both rich in iron with a boost of extra protein in the creamy cashew curry and lots of squeezes of lemon to help absorb the iron. I was elated to have left overs because I was able to eat it all over again the next night and as curries tend to do, it tasted even better. Serve it with some rice or millet for a complete protein.

Palak and Lentil Balls

Lentil balls

½ cup red split lentils rinsed very well
2 cups filtered boiling water
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/3 tsp cardamom powder
1/3 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp turmeric
2 cloves garlic minced
1 onion finely diced
1 ½ cups grated carrots
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Garnish

2 tomatoes cut in wedges

In a saucepan add ¼ cup of the water and all the spices onion and garlic and simmer for 5 minutes or so. Then add the lentils and the rest of the water. Simmer for 10 minutes then add the carrot. Simmer for a further 10 minutes or until the lentils are fully cooked and most of the water has been soaked up. Take off the heat and stir in the chia seeds and sesame seeds and place in the fridge for ½ and hour to cool. Roll into balls and place on a baking paper lined tray and bake for 30 minutes or until crisp on the outside.

Palak

2 bunches of greens spinach, silverbeet or kale
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 onions diced fine
2 tomatoes diced small
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp coriander ground
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp garam masala
½ cup cashews

Destalk the kale. If using silverbeet or spinach you can use all the stalks. Wash well and roughly chop. Place the spinach, tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger and coriander in a saucepan and place ½ to 1 cup water, just so the greens don’t stick to the bottom of the saucepan. Bring to a boil, add the garam masala and tumeric and then simmer until the greens have wilted and are cooked. Using a hand held blender, blend all of the greens and spices etc until it forms a puree. In a blender blend the cashews with ½ cup filtered water and stir into the palak. This will thicken the curry. If your curry is a little runny keep it on a simmer until the cashews thicken to your liking.

Serve with rice and place the lentil balls on top with some tomato wedges.

Foundation Module Dates

For those of you who may have missed last week’s blog here are the dates for the foundation course of The Vegan Chef and Lifestyle Training. Remembering the foundation module is for everyone.

May 18th to 20th 2017 (full)
July 20th to 22nd 2017 (6 places left)
August 3rd to 5th 2017 (6 places left)
September 28th to 31st 2017 (6 places left)

If you know people who would benefit from more ideas on how to obtain an iron rich diet please do tell them about my blog page so they can sign up and receive the free iron rich ebook.

Have a great week everyone. Next week’s recipe is fermented nut cheese, can’t wait to share this recipe with you.

With love and gratitude
Veet