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Curried Sweet Potato Lentil Salad. Simple Indian spices, roasted sweet potato, earthy lentils, lime juice and a refreshing lunch bowl. Vegan Gluten-free Soy-free Nut-free Recipe. Can be made oil-free.
Lentils and sweet potato work beautifully together. Whether you want a Soup. a taco filling, Roasted whole Sweet Potatoes filled with Lentils, or a flavorful Spinach Sweet Potato Curry (use lentils instead of chickpeas).
Today’s recipe combines them again in this easy salad bowl. Sweet potatoes are roasted with garam masala/curry powder and cinnamon. Lentils are tossed with onions, tomato, cilantro, mustard oil or mustard and some garam masala and lime juice. Combine the 2 or serve in layers. Serve as a salad bowl with crackers or toasted pita. Use to fill up tacos or make quesadillas. How do you like your earthy brown lentils?
This gorgeous Spiced Sweet Potato lentil salad. Just the lentils are amazing as is! Add to any bowl or tacos or wraps. Use spices of choice. More cilantro the merrier!
Curried Sweet Potato Lentil Salad
Ingredients
Sweet Potatoes
- 1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes
- 2 tsp oil
- 1/3 tsp or more salt
- 1/2 tsp garam masala , or use curry powder of choice
- 1/3 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp or more cayenne
Lentil salad:
- 1.5 cups cooked lentils
- 1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
- 1 hot green chile, finely chopped
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- salt to taste
- 1/3 tsp garam masala
- black pepper and cayenne to taste
- 1 tsp mustard oil, or use 1 tsp olive oil and ground mustard, or prepared mustard
- 1 to 2 tsp lime juice to taste
- 3/4 cup packed chopped cilantro, or use a combination of spinach and cilantro
Instructions
- Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into small cubes. Toss in oil, salt and spices until well coated. Spread on parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees F / 220ºc for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Use chopped butternut or pumpkin or other squash for variation.
- Cook 3/4 cup dried lentils to preference, 40+ minutes in a saucepan or pressure cooker for 7 to 10 mins. Or drain and wash canned lentils and add to a bowl. (One 15 oz can will give about 1.5 cups lentils).
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Taste and adjust salt, flavor and heat.
- Assemble the bowls with a generous helping of the lentils and sweet potatoes. Add a dash of lime juice and a good dash of black pepper. Serve as a salad bowl with crackers or toasted pita
- The lentils and potatoes can be mixed together or served layered. This lentil sweet potato salad also makes great wraps or tacos. Fill up tacos and top with guacamole or tahini garlic sauce. or make quesadillas with the lentils, sweet potatoes and vegan cheese of choice.
Notes
Roast the Sweet potato on a BBQ or grill. Slice into 1/4 inch thick slices and roast 3 minutes per side. Nutritional values based on one serving
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I topped this with a simple lemon tahini dressing and it was AMAZING. Light, fresh, and filling!
I used chili pepper powder because I had no chilis. This is a great recipe to use up the pantry as I had sweet potatoes to use up and already had lentils. I am going to serve with lettuce from my friend’s garden to lighten up. Maybe even rice and I ask thought tahini would go great if I make a bowl out of it. Quick and easy with lots of flavour. Thanks for another great one!
🙂 thank you!
I was finished an ashram in millis massachusetts and they cooked this for lunch and its was so delicious. I am very excited to try many of your recipes, can’t wait.
Thats awesome!! So glad they served this.
This has all of my favorite foods! LOVE LOVE LOVE this.
This is amazing! So simple and so filling.
I’m eating this right now. So delicious! And easy to prepare; it was a great meal to make with my son. I’m relatively new to your site (two, maybe three weeks) and I have made five or six dishes already. Every one has been a hit with my omnivorous husband and a couple even with my son (junk food addicted teen rebelling against healthful-cooking parents(; ).
Thank you for consistently providing delicious, accessible vegan recipes. I really appreciate what you do.
Thank you! So glad everyone is loving the food!
This is really, really tasty! Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks!
Super excited to try this! I have all of the ingredients except Garam Masala! Curry to replace it or just leave it out? Also, I see there are many opinions about quality garam masala. Is there a trusted brand for you? Thank you.
You can use curry powder. I get whole garam masala and grind portions (1/2 cup) and store. That way the ground blend is very fragrant. I use this one https://www.amazon.com/Swad-Garam-Masala-Whole-Ounce/dp/B00IK9DH30/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1475371511&sr=8-1&keywords=whole+garam+masala
Richa, I was looking for recipes for garam masala and found one that was pretty disturbing.
The recipe stated that one must open and inspect the various seeds, pods, etc. to look for worms and or parasites that may be contained within. That is really surprising. Is that really necessary?
I hate the idea of parasites IN ANYTHING!!!! Please set my mind at ease! I want to make my own garam masala. The jars of ready made masala in stores are super expensive.
Hi Caterina,
The recipe might be from an Indian website. Depending on the storage and where you buy the spices from, people in India do inspect the spices, beans, dals, whole grains etc. The local small stores might not follow proper storage and flour beetles can thrive in the warm tropical climate easily and jump from one dry ingredient tot he other quickly in the storage area. Often the recipes also call for toasting the spices for the same reason to kill any eggs accidentally in the spices.
Flour beetles or other infestation can happen here in the US as well. I have had that happen from flours i bought the super stores. But in general this is a one off occurrence and if there is infestation, you will easily be able to see it and discard the flours or spices.
Buy organic and brands you know or if you buy from the indian store, buy packaged spices. The exported spices that are available in Indian stores in the US have a much more rigorous quality and storage requirement.
Here is my garam masala recipe https://www.veganricha.com/2016/05/garam-masala-recipe.html
This looks so delicious! We also love the lentil and sweet potato combo! A great dish for dinner 🙂
Thanks
This looks delicious! I love roasted sweet potatoes and your spice combo sounds yummy and since my daughter is always begging me to make lentils, this recipe is just perfect for us 🙂
Awesome!
Hi Richa!
Can we use black lentils for this?
Thanks!
sure. Any kind of cooked lentils will do.