Creamy Coconut Lentils and Fresh Spring Rolls

         Sorry its been so long since I've posted a recipe, I have been extremely busy since I started high school at Great Oak a few months ago.  So far freshman year is going pretty good, but I found the time one night to experiment and combine a bunch of recipes I found on Pinterest, and I ended up with a very warm, hearty dish perfect for a cool fall night. This is what I came up with:

Creamy Coconut Lentils and Fresh Spring Rolls:

 Ingredients:

   Lentils:

• 1 cup dry lentils
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 half head shredded cabbage
• 1 small acorn squash
• 1 1/2 cans coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 tablespoons sliced basil

   Spring Rolls:

• 6 rice paper wrappers (I used circular)
• 1 bell pepper
• 1/2 cup dry sticky/sushi rice
• 12 basil leaves
• 2 carrots
• 2 cucumbers
• 12 slices pre cooked chicken breasts 
• sweet chili sauce

   Peanut Sauce:

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sweet chili sauce

  Instructions:

1. Place lentils in a pot and cover in water, let come to a boil, cover and cook for about 45 minutes or until lentils are soft:
   
2. In another pot, saute the shredded cabbage in olive oil with salt and pepper.  When cabbage softens, remove from pan and set aside. 
3. Cube the acorn squash and place in the same pan the cabbage was cooked in with more olive oil: 
   
4. Pour all coconut milk over squash and simmer for about 30 minutes until squash is soft:
   
5. Add cabbage and cooked lentils to the squash as wells as cayenne and any extra salt or pepper to taste, top with basil to serve:
   
6. While the squash and lentils are cooking, boil the rice according to package instructions and let it cool:
   
7. To build the spring rolls, shred carrots and cucumbers and slice bell pepper.  Fill a pie pan with water and soak one wrapper at a time according to package instructions:
   
8. Layer chicken, cucumber, carrot, rice, and sweet chili sauce on a rice paper wrapper and fold the top and bottom over the ends of the veggies and roll tightly over the filling:
   
9. To make the peanut sauce, simply whisk everything together and taste.  If its too salty, add more sesame oil, if its not salty enough, add more soy sauce:
   
10. Enjoy!