Roasted Vegetables with Red Lentil Purée

Try googling "red lentil and cauliflower" and everything comes up curry.  Half of the recipes were Aloo Gobi with lentils and coconut milk.  I was looking for something much less soupy, and certainly without highly fattening ingredients.  I've been baking a lot lately and need to cut back on the fat somewhere.

At the same time, curry powder needs to be cut with something.  After some consideration, what I really wanted was a creamy, yet flavorful, red lentil sauce with my seasoned vegetables.  Yes, it meant getting out the food processor, but it was used and cleaned before the vegetables were done.

*3/4 C red lentils
1 single-serve container plain Greek yogurt (approx 5 oz)
olive oil
2 tsp curry powder, or to taste
1" fresh ginger, grated
*1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tb tomato paste
1 small head cauliflower
1 red onion
1/2 lb green beans
1 lb gold potatoes
salt and pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground cumin

1.  Preheat oven to 375º.  Cut potatoes and cauliflower into manageable pieces.  Peel and French cut (longways) onion.  Trim ends off beans.  Toss in a bowl with 2 Tb oil, salt, pepper, cumin, and paprika.  Spread on a lined, rimmed baking sheet and roast until the potatoes are fork-tender, 35-45 minutes depending on size.

2.  Sort and rinse lentils.  Simmer in lightly salted water for 10 minutes, until soft.  Drain.

3.  In 1 Tb oil, heat ginger, garlic, tomato paste, and curry powder until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

4.  In food processor, purée lentils, spice slurry, and yogurt.  The mixture will be the consistency of hummus.  If you prefer a thinner sauce, add water or milk.

5.  Serve roasted vegetables with purée either on top as a sauce or in a side bowl for dipping.  Rice makes a good side dish.

Difficulty rating  :)