I am trying to get ahead of the game and make the transition to fewer animal-based sources of protein, before the government starts tracking our household carbon footprint and taxing us accordingly (just joking--kinda--a little)...
Anyways, I make a really awesome lentil soup, but it is getting old. What else can I do with lentils? Got any favorite recipes??
My recipe (which can also be cooked with some chicken breast tenders for a VERY hearty meal)
2 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 small carrots, thinly sliced
3 large stalks of celery, thinly sliced
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp curry
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups of red lentils, rinsed
3 tsp tomato paste
6 cups of chicken broth, veggie broth, or water
Heat EVOO over medium in large pot. Add carrots, celery, onion & garlic & spices and cook (covered) for 15 min, or until softened. Raise heat to high and add rinsed and drained lentils, tomato paste, and broth (or water) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook partially covered for 30 minutes. Remove from heat (optional-and puree soup in food processor or with immersion blender). Serve.
If you are going to add chicken, place the raw chicken directly on the lentils & it will be cooked to perfection in 30 min--you can then either shred the chicken & return it to the pot, or keep it intact and serve along side the soup,
I make a cold lentil salad.
I add chopped tomatoes, parsley and onions with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a little salt and pepper.
Especially good when you have fresh from the garden tomatoes in the summer.
They're good for making tacos...make a "mush" out of them and substitute them for the taco meat. Still use taco seasoning in them, etc, and all your toppings.
I do lentils in the slow cooker - dump in a pound or so, a diced onion, two diced carrots, a few cloves of chopped garlic and a tablespoon of tomato paste. Then pour in enough water to cover the lentils plus an extra inch. Or use chicken broth or veggie broth. Cook on low until the water is absorbed. Season with whatever you want - I add pepper, tabasco, and a splash of red wine vinegar and that's all we need. Then I serve over rice.
Wats your lentils recipe if you dont mind I love lentils myself just never learned my mothers recipe. :-/
I usally make a 5bean soup
Lentils, navy beans, pinto beans, liver beans, chick peas and I add a broth. My ex mother in law adds bratwurst. Highly delisious. You can aslo buy a pack in the dry beans section and its called 15 beans soup I think something in that area. It has lentils too.
I don't cook the lentils my self, I buy them in a can and I add banana!
This is something my grand ma'a mother did for her and she did to my mom and my mom to me, and I give them to my kids, we all love the convination!
Of course, I am the first one on just buy the lentils on can =*(
This recipe is really good and easy to make: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/tasty-lentil-tacos/detail.aspx. I substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.
This was the first lentil recipe I ever made and I loved it! So good! I used broth instead of V8. They have a few other lentil recipes on Taste of Home also.
I make this recipe from my old nanny. My three year old LOVES it and it super easy. All stuff is approximate. I use these trader joe's pre-cooked lentils because it makes it something I can whip out in approximately 3 minutes:
sautee some onion in olive oil (if you are stuck for time or lazy, you can just add onion powder to the lentils. It is almost as good)
Add some garlic at the end of the process (or garlic powder)
Add lentils and a little salt.
Sautee for about a minute
Add about 1/3 C water, and simmer for about another 2-3 minutes (until water is mostly absorbed and lentils are soft and hot).
Serve.
I also got a great lentil-cheese loaf recipe from the daily scramble recently. If you are interested PM me and I'll dig out the recipe for you.
Yuk, yuk, yuk on Lentil Soup.
Oh Sorry, you were looking for ideas....
I used to eat a lot of Lentil Soup when I was a single parent and $$ was tight....and I'm just not fond of it anymore....
But, here's my favorite 2 things:
For boring, brown Lentils, soak and cook and add to orzo pasta salad with whatever veggies and dressing you're into at that moment. This is especially good with curry powder, apples and celery.
For orange lentils, add to any rice dish. If cooking brown rice, then add the lentils the last 20 minutes. If cooking white rice, also add the last 20 minutes only. If cooked 30 minutes, they become too mushy. Also, plan ahead with your water and add enough in the beginning of the recipe.
I cut up an onion, a few tomatoes, and a jalapeno( I take out the veins and seeds) and cook it in a little bit of oil (just so it wont stick to the pan) until they are soft, then add in lentils, salt, and water and boil until the lentils are soft.
