Easy Vegetarian Dahl

So what’s better than a nice hearty dahl on a chilling evening? One that doesn’t take forever to make! Let’s start out with the ingredients…

1 medium onion chopped
2 leeks chopped
2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 ground cumin
1 tsp. Ground Ginger or small knob of fresh peeled and minced
250g dried red lentils, rinsed
1 can coconut milk
Salt to taste
Red chilis to taste…fresh or flakes

In a nice heavy pot, fry up leek and onion in some EVOO. Once the leek and onion are shiny and transparent add in the spices along with the garlic. Once spices are incorporated, add rinsed lentils and about 1/2 cup water. Next add in your coconut milk and chilis. Bring to boil and then turn heat down to simmer for 20-25 mins. Salt to taste and viola! I also fed this to my 10 month old who LOVED it! (hence why I don’t salt food till the end)

Thanks to Pallavi Damera for the beautiful photo, licensed through creative commons! x

Allergy/Vegan Friendly Food at Greenbelt

So here I am again at the Greenbelt Festival and what a contrast to 2 years ago! It seems that people are starting to recognise a need for wheat/gluten free food as well as using fresh quality ingredients that make eating vegetarian/vegan so much easier!

Festivals have always posed a problem for me when searching for something to eat, and I found that if I couldn’t bring my own food that I was eating only plain jacket potatoes or plain chips which doesn’t make for the healthiest of meals over time. Even at a festival as eco-conscious as Greenbelt, I’ve had a hard time in the past. Enter places like Thunder Dragon, Food from Bhutan, the Mash Shack, and even Nuts is offering some delicious gluten/wheat free apple ginger cake this year.

I spoke to the lovely Roger from Thunder Dragon where I’ve eaten almost every meal since arriving on site. There are so many things that I can eat on the menu! A lovely green Thai curry, chickpea curry, beautiful rice with black mustard seeds in, a daal that is to die for, and they even do very nice nachos with proper cheese instead of that cheese sauce that seems so popular at festivals and is a real no no for celiacs and wheat free patrons. It’s great to see that through great recipes and using fresh ingredients that all kinds of special diets can be accommodated.

So head over there and have some nice food before you’re leave the festival. Thunder Dragon is located right next to the Performance Cafe and they’re open till midnight tonight. See you there!