Lentils are so great.  One of the few types of legumes (such a fun word) that can be prepared, start to finish...with side dishes, in far less than an hour.  No soaking, no draining and no cooking for days.  This is something you can freeze, so make a single or double batch and throw leftovers into a tightly covered container for one of those nights when lengthy meal drawn-out preparation is not an option. 

Now, daal is delicious, but it is very brown, so make sure that you serve it with some color.  If you can't decide what to do, think of it as a visual composition.  What colors look good with brown?  Come up your own answers, but as examples: red (tomatoes, peppers), purple (red onion), white (eggplant) and most definitely green (cilantro, leafy greens).  That all sounds pretty hokey, I know, but pretty food tastes better. 

Other than that, serve over a whole grain or with some flat, indian style whole grain bread. 

Prep Time:  10 minutes
Cooking Time:  35 minutes
Yield: 4-5 Servings
Ingredients:
5 ½ Cups Water
1 Cup Brown Lentils
1 Tbsp Curry Powder
1 Sweet Potato or Yam, washed but not peeled, cut into chunks
1 Medium-sized Brown Potato, prepared in the same way
Juice of ½ or 1 Lemon, to taste
Sea Salt, to taste

Directions:
Combine liquid, lentils and curry powder in a large pot and bring mixture to a boil.  Turn down to a medium-low flame, mostly cover pot, and let simmer for about 15 minutes.  Add potatoes, stir, and cover completely.  Let simmer for an additional 15 minutes.  At the end, if lentils are too soupy for your taste, let them simmer with the lid off for a few minutes.  If too dry, stir in water.  Squeeze in lemon juice, stir, add sea salt to taste, and serve.