Culinary Guides

This is the kind of hearty, one-pot dinner we lean on at the end of winter. Lentils and sweet potatoes simmer with warm curry spices, then get a big handful of mustard greens or mizuna stirred in at the finish. Topped with cilantro, crushed hazelnuts, and yogurt, it eats like a celebration of the longer days ahead.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons ghee (or unsalted butter)
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 tablespoon yellow curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 to 5 cups vegetable broth, as needed
• 2 pounds sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 cups dried green or Du Puy lentils
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 pound mustard greens or mizuna (or any leafy green)
• 1/3 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup roasted and finely chopped hazelnuts
• Whole-fat plain yogurt, for serving
• Squeeze of fresh lime juice (optional)

Directions

Build the base

1. Heat the ghee in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and ginger and cook about 1 minute, until fragrant.
3. Stir in the curry powder, allspice, red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper and cook 1 minute, stirring, to release the spices.

Simmer

1. Stir in 4 cups vegetable broth, scraping up any browned bits. Add the sweet potatoes, lentils, and bay leaf.
2. Bring to a low boil, then reduce to medium, partially cover, and simmer about 25 minutes, adding up to 1 cup more broth if it looks dry.
3. Stir in the mustard greens and dried apricots and cook another 10 minutes, until the lentils are tender and the greens have wilted.

Finish

1. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper. Divide among bowls and top with cilantro, chopped hazelnuts, a dollop of yogurt, and a squeeze of lime.

Grower's tip: Both mustard greens and mizuna are quick, cool-weather crops that bolt fast in heat. Cut the leaves young for the mildest flavor and sow them in early spring or fall; a late-winter dish like this is the perfect use for the first tender greens of the season.

This only gets better the next day as the flavors settle, and it reheats well.

The greens that finish this pot are among the fastest things you can grow. Sow mustard greens, mizuna, and a few cilantro plants for the topping and you will have them within weeks.