In a push to try and be as conscious of healthy eating as possible, I have been focusing my families dinners around the whole foods plant based lifestyle. Whole foods eating is free from anything processed and that includes oils and sugar, sounds like a challenge? Well, it wasn’t as bad as I thought and what resulted was delicious as a bonus.

I love a good cooking challenge so taking away a few common ingredients can certainly throw a wrench into dinner unless you know a few hacks!

1. You can avoid oil completely and cook your onions and garlic in water, who knew?
2. Did you know cinnamon is naturally sweet and can give your dish a hint of sweetness when you are craving a sugar fix?
3. Combining tomatoes with cinnamon only brings out the sweetness of the tomato and creates a lovely ethnic flavour.

I was so pleased I wrote down this recipe when I created it because all six of my children loved it and asked for seconds! If you’re a parent you’ll appreciate a dinner that gets approval from all of the kids. Someone always has a complaint, but not this time!

I’d love to hear some of your whole food plant based hacks in the comments!

Natasha xoxo

Moroccan Spiced Lentils

Whole Foods Plant Based                Serves 6              Prep time: 10 minutes      Cook time: 30 minutes

Oil Free        Vegan      Gluten Free       Sugar Free

Ingredients

• 1 Medium Red Onion
• 2 Garlic Cloves Crushed
• 1/4 Cup of Water (for cooking the onion and garlic in)
• 1Tsp Paprika
• 1/2 Tsp Cumin
• 1/2 Tsp Ginger
• 1 Tsp Cinnamon
• 1 Tsp Sea Salt
• 2 Tsp Salted Lemon Skins (optional, often used in Moroccan cooking)
• 1 Can Diced Tomatoes (Large size, 796 ml)
• 1 1/2 Cup Red Lentils
• 1 1/2 Cup Water

Method

• Dice onion and crush garlic.
• Add 1/4 Cup water to pot with garlic and onion, cook on medium / high heat until onions are clear in colour.
• Add Spices and salt and mix.
• Add diced tomatoes, red lentils, and water. Stir.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cook for 30 minutes until the lentils have absorbed the water.
• Serve over jasmine rice and garnish with lemon and dill.
• Enjoy!