Miso Week Recipe 1: Red Lentils and Kale

Welcome to MISO WEEK on the blog.  There are 4 recipes coming to you this week with the wonderful and subtle flavor of miso in them.  If you don't have miso, don't worry.  You can still make some of these dishes without the special ingredient.  The only reason I set out to have a miso week on the blog anyway was because I had a bit of it, but wanted to figure out different ways to use it other than just salad dressing.  So essentially, you get to benefit from my searching for great recipes that use this Asian ingredient.  (You can find miso in any Asian market, or in Whole Foods, or sometimes even in "normal" markets in the Asian section.  Light colored miso is probably the most versatile.)

This dish was simple delicious.  It was full of flavor without being bold.  It was nicely balanced and comforting.  We enjoyed it on a dreary, cold, and wet night, and maybe that made it taste better -- but I'm pretty sure it would taste great on any night.

I love that this meal involves kale.  There are so many recipes out there including the power-green in meals, but some of them, sadly, just don't work well for us.  This one, though, oh wow -- it was a great compliment to the other ingredients.  If you and your family aren't kale fans, just use spinach in place of it.

As for the miso -- we thought it really made this dish.  It would still be a great dish without it, but it's really wonderful with it, so if you can, go out and get some, and then make this dinner and eat it with a small salad with the Miso Mirin dressing!  YUM!

Original recipe is found here.  I tweaked the preparation of the meal quite a bit, just to save time.  If it seems like too many steps, just go with the original recipe's way of doing things.

Red Lentils and Kale 
serves 4-6

• 1 cup dry red lentils + 2 cups broth
• 4 cups chopped sweet potatoes
• 1 cup chopped red onion
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 TBLS minced garlic
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, with juice
• 1 cup broth
• 3 packed cups de-stemmed and chopped kale (bite sized pieces) 
• 1 TBLS light colored miso
• salt and pepper to taste (but taste first!!)

-- Cook the lentils with the broth in a rice cooker

-- Meanwhile, chop and cook the sweet potatoes.  Heat in the microwave 7-8 minutes until just fork tender.

-- When lentils and potatoes are done, saute the onion, garlic, and celery in a large sauce pan until tender.

-- Add the tomatoes, broth, cooked lentils and sweet potatoes and bring to a boil, reduce heat to lowand simmer a couple minutes.

-- Add the miso, and stir to combine.  Add the kale and stir until wilted -- 3-4 minutes.

TIME TIP: Cook lentils and potatoes earlier in the day for this meal to come together in a cinch!