About a month back I picked up the newest cookbook, Dinner in One, from Melissa Clark. Unintentionally we end up cooking a lot of her recipes on the NYT Cooking site (here’s an easy crowd-pleaser,) and I was intrigued by the idea of only dirtying one pot/pan/dish while making dinner.
This is a fantastic, hearty vegetarian soup for fall or winter, with two important notes:
- Do not skip the garam masala. Whole Foods didn’t have this spice, and as I was in a hurry to get home, we substituted with cumin and allspice. The first batch was both insipid and a little sweet. If you can’t find the garam masala, skip on this meal until you have some.
- While you technically dirty another pan, we’d suggest browning the coconut chips on the stove top, rather than the pressure cooker.
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, for serving
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 in cubes (about 3 cups)
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 fat garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 jalapeno, seeded if you, diced
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can unsweetened full-fat coconut milk
- 1 cup red lentils, rinsed
- 5 ounces (about 5 cups, or one grocery bag) spinach
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice (we use the juice of an entire lime, and it’s wonderful)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, for serving
- Flaky sea salt, for serving
Directions
- (Optional if you don’t use a separate pan.) In the pot of an electric pressure cooker, using the saute function, toast the coconut flakes, stirring often, until they are fragrant and pale golden at the edges, 1 to 3 minutes. Transfer to plate to cool.
- Add the oil to the pot and let it heat for a few seconds. Stir in the sweet potatoes and onion, and cook until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, ginger, jalapeno, salt, garam masala, and turmeric to the pot and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the stock, coconut milk, and lentils.
- Seal the pot and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually (or you can just let the pressure release naturally if you’re not in a hurry.)
- Open the pot and stir in the spinach until just wilted, about 2 minutes. (If the soup has cooled down, you may have to turn the saute function on to heat it back up.) Stir in the lime juice and season with kosher salt to taste.
- To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle with cilantro, toasted coconut flakes and flaky sea salt to taste.
...and she can cook! 