Dal-ish

I needed a quick, light dinner tonight--got stuck in traffic on the way home and didn't feel like standing around in the kitchen half the night. So I remembered that red lentils cook up super quick. From start to finish this took me less than half an hour (no, I'm not a fan of Rachael Ray).

1/4 Vidalia onion, chopped
A heavy pinch of garlic powder (or a clove or two of fresh garlic, which would have been my preference)
1 cup red lentils
Water, to cover
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Kosher salt
Cayenne pepper (I used several good dashes)

Just sauté the onion with some garlic powder in a little bit of water, until tender and fragrant. Add the lentils and enough water to cover, then add spices/seasonings to taste. Let boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes until tender. Watch the water level, and adjust the flavors as necessary. This was not too spicy--just tingled the throat going down--and the ginger made it seem almost sweet even though it wasn't. My Indian spice mix is at home, which I would use for dal, but this had a similar flavor and was very satisfying nonetheless.



For dessert, I blended a frozen banana with a splash of soymilk and some cinnamon and nutmeg, for a very cool, ice cream-reminiscent treat. Sometime in the past month or so, I got this idea from someone else's blog, though for the life of me I cannot remember where. But I'm very grateful for it--it's so easy, and it satisfies my frozen dessert craving just like ice cream always has. So if this banana dessert was your creation, please step into the limelight--I want to give credit where it's deserved!

Update: So here's the source of my banana dessert, straight from fatfreevegan.com! I should have guessed that I got it from there!