Chipotle Sweet Potatoes and Lentils with Polenta

For the first time in a few months, I finally had a full fridge.
"The ultimate first-world problem!" my friend Remy laughed, "You have fridge full of groceries and still say, 'I have nothing to eat!'"

This is the situation I faced tonight. I had leftover vegan chipotle mac n' cheese, a half cup of vegetable soup, tofu, roasted red peppers, sweet potatoes; yet I remained dissatisfied.

I reached to the back of my shelf and retrieved a container filled with leftover polenta. Scanning my groceries for what the hell I could do with polenta, inspiration struck.

With other recipes still to be perfected, I decided this was the one to debut on this blog.


Combining a few of my favorite ingredients with tried-and-true techniques resulted in absolute deliciousness. FUCKING YUM! Who said being vegan had to consist of eating sad, raw vegetables?

Chipotle Sweet Potatoes and Lentils with Polenta
1 cup black lentils
4 cups water
3 tbsp tomato paste
few dashes of hot sauce (Tapatio all the way!)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 small sweet onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 chipotle peppers, chopped
1/2 tbsp adobo sauce
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp oregano

a few pan-fried slices of polenta (left-over or from a tube)

optional: green onions, salt and pepper

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add lentils, cover and bring to a simmer. Let cook 10-15 minutes.

Warm olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add sweet potato, sauté for 5 minutes. Add onion and garlic, sauté for another 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Add in chopped chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, and spices; stir to combine.

At this point, the lentils should be almost ready. Stir in tomato paste and hot sauce, bring to a simmer. Add sweet potato sauté to lentils, stir to combine. Pan-fry polenta until golden-brown on both sides.

Top polenta with sweet potato and lentil mixture. Garnish with green onions, salt and pepper.