This is a complete meal in one dish, filled with plant-based protein! The combination of carrots and curry is sweet and tangy and the carrot juice gives it a slight creaminess! Yum! It’s superb right off the stove but I also love to make it ahead and have it ready to go in the fridge for a cold lunch over mixed greens.
I have a cooking class video here!
Carrot Lentil Curry
Author: Catherine Katz
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, peeled, coarsely chopped
- 2 tsp mild curry powder
- 4-5 medium carrots, rinsed and sliced (about 3 cups)
- 1½ cups raw French lentils
- ½ cup raw quinoa
- 2 cups organic 100% carrot juice
- 1 cup water
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Sauté chopped onion in olive oil, let it sizzle for a few seconds and stir in the curry powder.
- Add the sliced carrots, stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- Add the lentils and quinoa to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon to coat well with the olive oil for another couple minutes.
- Pour carrot juice, water and salt into the pan and continue to cook covered for about 20 minutes (so that the liquid is mostly soaked up and the lentils and quinoa are just tender--you may have to add a little water depending on the type of lentils you use).
- Turn off the heat and keep covered for another 10 minutes.
- Drizzle with a few drops of olive oil when ready to serve. You can serve hot or cold for lunch.
On this particular occasion, I added roasted turnips to it and it was fantastic!
Hi Catherine, I’m making this right now – it’s bubbling on the stove top! I had a lot of carrots and it’s a great way to make a complete nutritious meal with them. I’ll be indulging in this soon! Thanks for the recipe! Julie
Yay Julie!! it’s always such an honor to hear such positive feedback from you! I love this recipe and I love that you love it too! 🙂
Delicious!!
I was looking for an addition to my winter rotation and this was sooo good! I also plan on serving it cold in the summer!
YAY Cathy!! and right on with serving it cold in the summer, it is also superb!! 🙂
Made this tonight. Very yummy! I needed a little more curry powder (we like spicy), but very good!. What would you serve with this in a “company” meal?
Jan, so glad to hear it! Absolutely would serve it in a “company” meal with a great big mixed greens salad, filled with veggies in a little vinaigrette, nice crusty bread and a little wine! 🙂
Hi Catherine, another great dish. I purchased the French lentils from Stew Leonard’s and I had to cook them for an hour and twenty minutes. They were just to hard to serve my little one. Are they supposed to be so hard or did I do something wrong? Next time I think that I will purchase the Bob’s Red Mills lentils. Thanks as always for your great recipes !
Hi Iris! I have no idea why that happened! It shouldn’t take that long for the lentils to cook and they should be nice and tender, not hard. I use the little French lentils with the directions I specify in the recipe and have never had a problem. Bob’s red mills is always worth trying/ Please let me know how it goes next time you try OK?:)
Madame,
“An old favorite of the Katz family…”c’est aussi pour moi une de mes favorites…depuis longtemps… dès que que vous avez eu la générosité de la partager.
Pour moi, cette recette est toujours d’actualité…..
Elle a le mérite de plaire à tous les invités…
Elle peut se servir chaude ou froide…
La recette en elle même, (autant que l’on suive avec fiabilité,) les ingredients, les quantités, les épices, l’incorporation de jus de carotte, la cuisson…. me donne toujours la certitude d’une “réussite”auprès de mes convives. Que demander de plus!!!. Merci Madame.
ahhh Madame Natta, ça me fait tant plaisir de vous l’entendre dire! J’adore! Merci mille fois à vous! 🙂
Catherine, this was so delicious! I added cubed celery root so with the onions and carrots it was like a curried mirepoix in the background. I love your commitment to excellence and health.
Judith (la tante)
Wow Judith, ma tante, so good to see your name in my inbox! That made me so happy!!! I love that you loved it and added your touch to it, sounds superb!!! 🙂 🙂
Hi Catherine,
Another one of your beautiful creations that I will definitely be trying! Also, I’m thrilled Figuerita has entered her reproductive years-ha!! You will not believe how delectable the well ripened fruit will taste! (You’ll know its ready to pick when the fruit begins to hang down and “droop”) Next year will be amazing! :)))
hi Catherine! in three words : de li cious ! thanks from Martine de France
Thanks Catherine for posting this recipe. It was very easy to make, and it was really good.
You are so welcome Ken! 🙂
Do you have nutritional information available. I cook for someone on a restricted diet. If I have nutritional info (fats, carbs, calories, etc), I can allocate portion size accordingly.
Hi Tiffany, I choose not to in this particular website for reasons I specify here: https://cuisinicity.com/calories-in-calories-out-but-dont-obsess/ I hope this helps!
Couldn’t find carrot juice at my supermarket and won’t have time to look for it before the potluck I will be attending. Any suggestions? I was thinking orange juice, but I don’t think that will go with the curry…
Oh my goodness Michelle, I couldn’t tell you. I have made it with a carrot-orange juice (100%) and the taste and texture was still wonderful but I think the carrot juice part of it is important because it gives it that creaminess that makes this dish so delicious.Not sure what would happen if you did away with the carrot juice altogether.
I know you said it may be too late now but just in case you do have time to go back to that health food store—often times, when they have extra carrots, in order not to waste them they have tiny bottles of carrot juice in the refrigerated section where they sell their sandwiches and such, and maybe you overlooked it?
I’ve been meaning to check back with you but keep getting distracted at the computer. I decided to pass on making this last week, but I did find carrot juice at a different supermarket and made it tonight. I went over well! I was delighted with how simple it was and will definitely make it again, albeit with a bit less curry, which I found a tad overwhelming.
And now I’ll go look for that carrot cider baked chicken recipe mentioned above so that I can use up the rest of the carrot juice, which I’m not keen to drink… 🙂
Thanks.
*It went over well.” Ugh. Hate making typos…
Excellent!!
I recently purchased an “Instant Pot” (check it out at https://instantpot.com/) and I am thinking that this recipe may be a great one to prepare in minutes in the instant pot. I can’t wait to try it!
Wow Cynthia, that sounds great! Please let me know how it goes, I would love to know! Thanks so much!
Catherine
This sounds yummy and I want to give it a try. A couple ingredient questions though: Is raw quinoa just uncooked (dry) quinoa ? Or is that something special I need to get from a health food store. (I have organic dry ready to boil.)
Also, can you elaborate more on what is a french lentil. Thank you so much.
PS- Nice pics from Hawaii, looks wonderful!
Hi Sue!
yes, raw quinoa is just uncooked dry quinoa. What you have is perfect! I like to use Bob’s Red Mills quinoa, but not necessary. Here is a picture for you:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/575897871074140340/
French lentils are these little greenish/black lentils that you will find dry at the health food store or even in the health section of most regular supermarkets. I have a picture here for you of one of the brands I find here:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/575897871074170330/
I love those because they do not get mushy and are just perfect for this dish. SO YUMMY!!! let me know if you need anything else answered. It’s my pleasure!
Thank you. It came out delicious and my kids (22, 18 & 15) liked it too….Which is VERY unusual for the 15 year old.
YAY Sue!! I am so happy to hear that!!
This recipe blows me away every time I cook it. Thank you so much for this addition to my lifestyle.
WOW!!! Dylan, the beautiful enthusiasm of your comment blew me away in turn!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I am delighted to hear that!
Made this dish today, simply wonderful flavor. I did need to add a lot more water though ,until lentils softened. Maybe French lentils are more delicate than ones I used? I happened to have a lot of carrots and put them through the juicer to make the juice. It was worth the effort. Thanks.
Thank you Jan! How lovely to be able to juice your own carrots on the spot for this dish! YUM! May I ask what type of lentils yo used so I can try this recipe again and specify the exact amount of extra water needed? I wonder if it may be because the freshly juiced carrots were more “dense” than the bottled juice I used? In any case I love that you made it work and that you loved it in the end!!
YAY John, your 15 year-old son devouring this….it doesn’t get better than that! It’s a big victory for me too!
My cooking with carrot juice experience started with Cuisinicity’s Carrot Cider Baked Chicken dish, recently. Today, I wanted to learn about eating vegan, and this recipe was a natural choice. Right now I’m listening happily to sounds of spoons clanking against the sides of bowls as my 15 year old son, in particular, devours his carrot quinoa lentils! !! Teenagers eating well, this way, is a big victory for me. Enjoying the same too. Thanks, Catherine!
that should read-my mouth literally watered looking at this.a definate must try.thanks for shareing.i haven´t cooked it yet but i know from the ingrediants i will love it so will rate it a five,lol
Karen, you are the SWEETEST!!! Thank you!!
my mouth literatered looking at this.a definate must try.thanks for shareing.i haven´t cooked it yet but i know from the ingrediants i will love it so will rate it a five,lol
Thank you so much Karen!!!
Hi Mrs. Katz. My name is Joyce. I’m excited about the food recipes you offer. I have traveled in and out of health food stores most of my life looking for ways to preserve my health. I understand the need for nutritional organic foods that taste great together.
I’m on a journey to cook vegan meals for my family and friends. I would like to purchase your cookbook if you have one. Im on my way to prepare the carrots Lentils Quinoa dish. ?
Hi Joyce!
So happy to hear from you and excited for you to bring Cuisinicity recipes to your own kitchen! I LOVE it!
I actually just have a booklet published by PBS as a special addendum to my husband’s presentation of his latest book “Disease proof”. You can access the PBS special here:
https://www.kpbs.org/news/2015/aug/07/disease-proof-dr-david-katz/
and his book here: https://www.amazon.com/Disease-Proof-David-L-Katz-M-D/dp/014218117X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1440089186&sr=1-1&keywords=disease+proof+katz
For now I am happy to just be giving all my recipes away on my website, as a way of paying it forward! I am sure there will be a comprehensive book down the line, but for now, please enjoy them right here on Cuisinicity and by all means, do not hesitate to ask me lots of questions!
To your health!
Catherine