Stewed Lentils & Tomatoes

I made this virtuous-seeming vegetarian dish for dinner to atone for a day spent gorging on cake. It tasted anything but penance-y, though: this is really yummy, with a nice stick-to-your-ribs quality which often seems to be lacking in vegetarian dishes.

The recipe below is slightly adapted from the one I found at smittenkitchen.com, which adapted it from Barefoot Contessa at Home.

Ingredients

~2 tablespoons good olive oil


2 cups large-diced onions (~2 onions)


2 cups large-diced carrots (3 to 4 carrots)


4 cloves-worth minced garlic


1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes


1 cup French green lentils

2 cups water

1 vegetable boullion cube


2 teaspoons mild curry powder


2/3 teaspoon dried thyme


1.5 teaspoons salt


1/4 teaspoon pepper


1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

To make

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or medium stockpot. Add the onions and the carrots and cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. Add the garlic and cook for one minute more.

Add the tomatoes, lentils, water, boullion cube, curry powder, thyme, salt and pepper to the pot. Break up the tomatoes as much as possible using the wooden spoon.

Raise the heat to bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer covered for about 40 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Check occasionally to be sure the liquid is still simmering. Remove from the heat and allow the lentils to sit covered for another 10 minutes. Add the vinegar, season to taste and serve hot.