For this dish at the recently reopened Riverpark in the New York City neighborhood of Kips Bay, executive chef German Villatoro and chef de cuisine Kishen Jagmohan developed this side dish for which lentils are stewed with carrot, onion, celery, and ginger and then topped with a shawarma spice blend of paprika, salt, garlic, turmeric, coriander, allspice, and black pepper. Then they’re finished with coconut milk and spinach.
Separately, acorn squash is steamed plain and then seasoned with salt and the shawarma spices. Once those spices “soak in,” the squash is fried to bring out the spices’ flavor and give the squash a crunchy texture. That’s mixed with rice cauliflower that has been cooked with dried apricot, scallion, parsley, salt, and lemon. Finally it’s finished with mint, parsley, cilantro, and preserved lemon zest
Price: $32