Ready in 1 hour, this cozy dish of harissa coconut lentils with kale and roasted sweet potatoes is a flavorful and easy vegan dinner. It’s made with simple ingredients, like shallots, tomato paste, vegetable stock, coconut milk, spices, French lentils, kale, and whole sweet potatoes. You simmer the harissa coconut lentils on the stove while the sweet potatoes bake in the oven. Once combined, the spicy and creamy stew mingles beautifully with the mellow and hearty sweet potatoes. Finish with chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lemon or lime!
I love the combination of spicy and sweet flavors, and that’s what this easy recipe is all about. Prepared harissa in a jar brings all the heat and depth to a simple lentil and kale stew. I recommend the Zwita brand, Mina or New York Shuk. These brands also carry harissa of varying spice levels! Of course, you can make your own as well, and there’s plenty of recipes online for that.
About harissa:
- Harissa is a blend of chili peppers, salt, spices, and oil (amongst other ingredients that can vary regionally) of Tunisian origin.
- The paste is used in stews, curries, marinades, and as a condiment. It is also commonly seen in Libya, Algeria, and Morocco.
- This thorough breakdown of harissa’s history on the Zwita website is fascinating if you’d like to read more.
I like using coconut milk as part of the lentil and kale mixture’s liquid base. It helps to mellow out the bracing harissa and of course makes the finished texture quite lush and creamy. It’s also naturally dairy-free. We cut the kale super fine so that it integrates seamlessly. The end result is not quite a stew and not quite a sauce–somewhere in the middle!
The slightly thick texture is perfect for spooning into/on top of baked sweet potatoes. For being light on ingredients, this is probably the fanciest stuffed sweet potato I’ve ever made, and I make them a lot! I like to bake sweet potatoes for a full hour on a foil-lined baking sheet. This gives you more than enough time to get the harissa coconut lentils bubbling away in time for it all to come together..
I recommend a shallow bowl or deep plate for serving. I finish my stuffed sweet potatoes with chopped cilantro, but parsley or even fresh mint would be nice here. A squeeze of lemon or lime is also so satisfying with the spice and rich coconut flavors. Fans of this recipe will also love my ginger sweet potato coconut milk stew with lentils & kale as well as this roasted cauliflower in coconut tomato sauce with lentils.
Harissa Coconut Lentils with Kale & Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Harissa coconut lentils with finely chopped kale and roasted sweet potatoes is a hearty and extra flavorful vegan dinner. Ready in 1 hour with simple cooking methods.
Servings 4 -6
Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large shallot, fine dice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¾ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¾ teaspoon caraway seeds
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons harissa
- 1 cup French lentils
- 1 ½ cups vegetable stock
- 1 can (400 ml) full fat coconut milk
- 2 cups finely sliced kale (1 small bunch)
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- lemon or lime wedges, optional
Notes
- I usually buy harissa and recommend the Zwita brand, Mina or New York Shuk. Of course you can also make your own! There’s lots of recipes online.
- I think the spicy flavor profile of the stew works perfectly when stuffed into roasted sweet potatoes. Of course, you could simply serve it with rice, couscous, or even crusty bread.
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 400°F. Prick some holes in the sweet potatoes with a fork. Line a baking sheet with foil and set the sweet potatoes on top. Bake for 1 hour or until soft.
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While sweet potatoes are baking, make the harissa coconut lentils. Place a large saucepan or medium braiser over medium heat. Once it’s hot, pour in the olive oil and swirl it around. Add the shallots and sauté until soft and translucent, about 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, coriander, and caraway and stir for 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste and harissa and cook it out for 1 minute. Then, add the lentils and stir again.
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Pour in the vegetable stock and coconut milk and stir. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the lentils to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and simmer until lentils are just starting to get soft and the liquid has reduced by about a third, roughly 25 minutes.
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Add the kale to the harissa coconut lentils and continue to stir/simmer until it’s wilted. Taste the lentil and kale mixture for seasoning and adjust if necessary (more salt, pepper, harissa for extra spice etc). Keep warm.
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Pull the sweet potatoes from the oven. To serve, take one sweet potato per person and split it open in a shallot bowl/deep plate. Ladle ¼ of the harissa coconut lentils into/on top of the sweet potato. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with fresh lemon/lime if you like. Enjoy!
