Red lentils and collards

This is from week 3, oops. Better late than never. Because it was tasty, and we should definitely make again. The gist is that when you add collards to an Indian-themed lentil dish, it's hard to go wrong. And while home made Indian food is never as good as the restaurant stuff, unless you're from India, this was definitely a delicious way to eat lentils and collards.

1 onion

3-4 cloves garlic

3 tomatillos

1c red lentils

2c chicken stock

1 head collards

1 tbs grated fresh ginger*

Spices: 

Cumin

Coriander

Clove

Cardamom

Black pepper

Turmeric

*One thing that helps with ginger is if you leave it, skin-on, in your freezer. Then when you want to use some, you just microplane however much you want into your food, leaving the skin on. Super easy to grate, and also incorporates itself nicely into the food because it's grated so finely. 

Toast your spices in a dry pan, then grind them up. Toasting is important. It makes things taste better.

Cook down the onion, add the garlic and cook until toasty. Add the lentils and ginger and chicken stock and spices and get that simmering, then add the collards. Cover, and cook until the lentils have broken down and the collards and dark green and everything tastes right, stirring occasionally. Add stock or water as necessary along the way. Serve with rice.

The thing this was really missing was spice. Preferably fresh peppers. Next time!