Spinach Lentil Dal

To celebrate being back home, I actually cooked (previously, I had been living on microwave popcorn and Ramen noodles at the comedy condo).

It's called Spinach Lentil Dal.  Despite it kind of looking like barf in the picture, I promise you, it's really good!  I didn't come up with the recipe myself; nope, I stole it from the internet.  But, it's super easy, cheap and vegan, so I figured I'd share.  Here you go.    

• 1 1/2 cups dry red lentils, rinsed
• 3 cups water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 3 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 box (10 oz) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk

1. Place red lentils and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over HIGH heat; cover, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over MEDIUM heat. Add onion, tomato paste, curry powder and mustard seed. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes. 
3. Stir in spinach, coconut milk and lentils; reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.
4. Season to taste with salt and season with hot pepper sauce, if desired.
5. Serve over rice.