This work-week began on Sunday with a quick-trip to DC for a meeting.

Upside: I am already home!

Downside: this morning’s breakfast was luke-warm hotel oatmeal.

Buuuutttt… for the first time EVER room service brought me the PB I requested!!  Thank you, Marriott.  🙂

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When I head out of town, I take note of all of the items I don’t want to let go bad.  Then I try to use them all.  It’s my own Top Chef Challenge.  Bring it, Gail Simmons!

I needed to devour some rosemary, cilantro, red pepper, butternut squash, and bok choy.  A little random, but that’s never stopped me before!  Necessity is the mother of invention.

Enter: a rockstar lentil dish.

After the Arabian Nights-themed Underground Supper Club, I was feelin’ Eastern-inspired.  Spices commonly used in this region are a great compliment to roasted veggies, so I was eyeing that butternut squash.

I was going to saute the red pepper, but those are great roasted too… so in it went with the squash.  The bok choy almost got roasted too, but that seemed a bit risky.

I’m not going to lie – this turned out 100x better than I could have ever hoped.  I wasn’t even thinking about using it for the blog until I tasted it.  Then I was all:

“Crap.  Now I have to attempt to photograph brown food again.”

Often people are leery of adding mint.  I was too… but DO NOT skip it.  The little bit I used brought out the spices and mint goes really well with cilantro.

The toasted cashews were an afterthought, but if you have them on had I’d say don’t skip that either.  The nutty taste with the mint and cilantro… file under: things that make you go mmmm!

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Roasted Butternut Red Pepper Lentils

• 3 C butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 C red pepper, chopped
• 2 T fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T ground cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• 1 C black or green lentils
• 2.5 C water

• 1/2 C yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch bok choy, roughly chopped

• 1/4 C cilantro, minced
• 1 T mint, minced
• 1 T red wine vinegar
• S+P and EVOO, to taste
• 1/4 C toasted cashews

For the Butternut-Red Pepper Roast:

Toss squash and red pepper cubes with rosemary, olive oil, cumin, coriander, turmeric, red pepper flakes, and salt. Spread the mixture across a foil-lined baking sheet and roast 15 mins.  Flip pieces and roast for an additional 10-15 mins, until tender.  Remove from oven and let cool slightly.

For the Lentils:

Meanwhile, soak lentils for 10 mins in a small bowl, then rinse and drain.  Cook lentils in boiling, well-salted water just until tender but firm, ~20 mins.  Optional: rinse with cold water, then drain and cool.  I prefer to leave mine a tad hard and transfer t a bowl without rinsing.

For the Onions and Bok Choy:

In a shallow pot, saute onions in a bit of olive oil over med-high until translucent (~4-5 mins).  Add garlic and bok choy and saute for an additional 4-5 mins, until bok choy begins to wilt.  Transfer to a plate and let cool.

For the Cashews:

As the butternut mix is cooling, place cashews in the over for 3-4 mins, toss and allow to toast another couple of mins until beginning to brown.  Watch them carefully!

Combine lentils, squash mix, bok choy mix, vinegar, and additional olive oil (if needed).  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Garnish with cilantro, mint, and cashews.

Divide among 2-4 plates (would make a filling meal for 2) and enjoy!

It looks like a lot of steps, but I promise it goes by quickly because you’re doing them all simultaneously.

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Traveling early in the week makes me feel like it should be Thursday or Friday already.

Is anyone going to the Healthy Living Summit in August? I’m in the market for a roomie if you’re looking!

Does your spell check recognize “bok choy?” Mine doesn’t.