Lentils!

kerosene · 08-27-2007, 11:29 AM

I have discovered a newfound love for lentils. Having cooked dishes with this ingredient, I know of their beany good qualities, but last night, I let them roam bare in my kitchen, along my small plates and pieces of toast...my, my, were they tasty!

Does anyone have any good lentil recipes?

08-27-2007, 03:33 PM

Mhajedra (sp)! Basically a lentils with onion rice olive oil butter and a few other things, then with feta Kalamata olives tomatoes, pita or flat bread (I make a sandwich with), it has the best dressing in the world.
Basically, Olive oil 3pts, 2pts lemon juice, generous pinches paprika, garlic salt, blk pepper, and some dry muster, a bit of sugar.

Urbane Guerrilla · 08-27-2007, 10:56 PM

Our local health-food chain offers a bulk lentil soup mix. Goes well with a good slug of leftover rice, btw, which went into tonight's soup. The soup was pretty bland until it got about 3/4 tsp of herbes de Provence which perked it right up. Slice in some hot links to reinforce, and it's soup!

kerosene · 08-27-2007, 11:45 PM

Nice! I will try those!

elSicomoro · 08-27-2007, 11:59 PM

Misir alicha...an Ethopian dish: lentils cooked in various spices. Delicious!

jinx · 08-28-2007, 11:41 AM

I love lentil burgers, with good bread, mustard, and sprouts. Mmmmm

Happy Monkey · 08-28-2007, 02:40 PM

In fact, if you play "Maybe I'm Amazed" backwards, you'll hear a recipe for a really ripping lentil soup.

kerosene · 08-31-2007, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jinx

I love lentil burgers, with good bread, mustard, and sprouts. Mmmmm

I made these last night. We had them with home made bread and ketchup. My husband liked them so much that he claimed he will never eat another hamburger again. I then alerted him that it might be difficult to get a lentil burger with bacon and blue cheese, so he is thinking that over.
I did have to modify, a bit. When I mixed everything together, it was not sticky enough to form a patty without falling apart, so I added an egg and it worked pretty well. (I guess I de-veganized them) They were awesome, though. We will definitely be making them again. Thank you, jinx!

BigV · 08-31-2007, 11:07 AM

They have their own festival, y'know. The lentils, that is.

And at their website, there are recipes.

Quote:

The following recipes were tasted by 400 festival-goers on August 18th at Reaney Park, and they are posted for you in winning order below:

Fabulous Lentil Mushroom Poppers
Linhda Sagen of Pullman, Washington

Brown Lentil, Chicken & Andouille Jambalaya
Judy Armstrong of Prairieville, Louisiana

Cheesy Lentil & Double Olive Nachos
Nancy Dentler of Greensboro, NC

kerosene · 08-31-2007, 11:24 AM

They deserve a festival! Perhaps they even deserve their own food group. Grains, Dairy, Meat, Lentils, Fruits, Veggies, etc...

kerosene · 08-31-2007, 11:51 AM

Sorry to double post, but I thought this recipe is worth sharing. I have made it twice, now and it is quite yummy.

Vegetable Moussaka

1/2 cup of Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
4 Celery stalks, chopped
1 Garlic clove, finely chopped
14oz Can of chopped tomatoes
10 1/2 Canned green lentils (I used dried ones that I simmered for 20 minutes)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 large eggplant, sliced
Salt and pepper

Sauce Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter
Scant 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups of milk
Pinch of fresh nutmeg
1 Egg
1/2 Cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the celery, garlic, tomatoes, lentils, and their can juices, and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat and cover, letting simmer gently stirring occasionally for 15 minutes, or until the mixture thickens.

Meanwhile, heat a little of the remaining oil in a large, heavy bottom skillet. Add the eggplant slices in batches if necessary, adding more oil as necessary (eggplant soaks up a lot of oil!) Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Layer an ovenproof dish with the lentil/tomato mixture, and the eggplant slices, ending with the layer of eggplant.

To make the sauce, put butter, flour, and milk in a sauce pan over medium low heat, and bring to a boil. Be sure to whisk constantly, or the milk will get scorched! Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Remove from the heat, let cool slightly, then beat in the egg. Pour the sauce over the casserole and sprinkle on the parmesan cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until golden on top. Serve immediately.

Sundae · 10-25-2007, 04:42 PM

Just out of interest - are you supposed to eat the skins?
I've been using lentils on and off for the past 10 years and have always felt too foolish to ask anyone irl.

The red lentils don't need soaking, but the skins sometimes float to the top with the froth that needs to be skimmed off. And the green lentils I have at the moment are soaked overnight, and the skins of the topmost layer also float to the top and escape down the sink when I drain them to add fresh water (too lazy to use a sieve, see?) Same with the brown and yellow from what I remember.

It's the same question with some of the pulses I eat - the instructions and the recipes make no mention of a layer of floating skins, but I get them every time (aduki/ adzuki and mung beans spring to mind)

I don't mind them, although they give a slightly mushy quality to dishes - I usually include some near raw vegetables at the end for texture anyway. And I assume they're good for you. I'm just baffled as to what the correct form is - it would be too too embarrassing to cook for someone else and have them laugh at my lentil naivety

Aliantha · 10-25-2007, 05:47 PM

i wouldn't worry too much about catching the skins SG. You can either eat them or not. They're just the outer layer which sometimes comes off when you soak them.

I make a lentil salad very simply. It only has lentils (any colour, but preferably not green for presentation), some kind of tasty lettuce (avoid iceberg or cos, not enough flavour) and fetta cheese. Put it all in a bowl and mix it up with a bit of olive oil and a splash of dressing if you want (I put a bit of salt and pepper and a squeaze of lemon or lime juice instead).

kerosene · 10-25-2007, 07:19 PM

That sounds wonderful, Ali.

Sundae, don't worry about the skins...I just leave them in. I figure they probably contribute to the fiber quantity.

Sundae · 10-26-2007, 04:16 AM

Thanks, I can now continue my lentil cooking safe in the knowledge I'm not committing a skin faux pas.

I had green lentil chilli last night. Just a low fat jar of chilli sauce as base, but added red onion, green chilli, mixed frozen veg, LOTS of green lentils, and various flavourings because the sauce is quite bland (but a jar is nearly as cheap as a tin of tomatoes so it seems silly not to).

08-27-2007, 11:29 AM	#1
kerosene Touring the facilities Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: The plains of Colorado Posts: 3,476	Lentils! I have discovered a newfound love for lentils. Having cooked dishes with this ingredient, I know of their beany good qualities, but last night, I let them roam bare in my kitchen, along my small plates and pieces of toast...my, my, were they tasty! Does anyone have any good lentil recipes?

08-27-2007, 10:56 PM	#3
Urbane Guerrilla Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Southern California Posts: 6,674	Our local health-food chain offers a bulk lentil soup mix. Goes well with a good slug of leftover rice, btw, which went into tonight's soup. The soup was pretty bland until it got about 3/4 tsp of herbes de Provence which perked it right up. Slice in some hot links to reinforce, and it's soup! __________________ Wanna stop school shootings? End Gun-Free Zones, of course.

08-28-2007, 11:41 AM	#6
jinx Come on, cat. Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: general vicinity of Philadelphia area Posts: 7,013	I love lentil burgers, with good bread, mustard, and sprouts. Mmmmm __________________ Crying won't help you, praying won't do you no good.

08-28-2007, 02:40 PM	#7
Happy Monkey I think this line's mostly filler. Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: DC Posts: 13,575	In fact, if you play "Maybe I'm Amazed" backwards, you'll hear a recipe for a really ripping lentil soup. __________________ _________________ \|...............\| We live in the nick of times. \| Len 17, Wid 3 \| \|_______________\| [pics]

10-25-2007, 04:42 PM	#12
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Just out of interest - are you supposed to eat the skins? I've been using lentils on and off for the past 10 years and have always felt too foolish to ask anyone irl. The red lentils don't need soaking, but the skins sometimes float to the top with the froth that needs to be skimmed off. And the green lentils I have at the moment are soaked overnight, and the skins of the topmost layer also float to the top and escape down the sink when I drain them to add fresh water (too lazy to use a sieve, see?) Same with the brown and yellow from what I remember. It's the same question with some of the pulses I eat - the instructions and the recipes make no mention of a layer of floating skins, but I get them every time (aduki/ adzuki and mung beans spring to mind) I don't mind them, although they give a slightly mushy quality to dishes - I usually include some near raw vegetables at the end for texture anyway. And I assume they're good for you. I'm just baffled as to what the correct form is - it would be too too embarrassing to cook for someone else and have them laugh at my lentil naivety __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

08-27-2007, 03:33 PM	#2
rkzenrage Guest Posts: n/a	Mhajedra (sp)! Basically a lentils with onion rice olive oil butter and a few other things, then with feta Kalamata olives tomatoes, pita or flat bread (I make a sandwich with), it has the best dressing in the world. Basically, Olive oil 3pts, 2pts lemon juice, generous pinches paprika, garlic salt, blk pepper, and some dry muster, a bit of sugar.

08-27-2007, 11:45 PM	#4
kerosene Touring the facilities Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: The plains of Colorado Posts: 3,476	Nice! I will try those!

08-27-2007, 11:59 PM	#5
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	Misir alicha...an Ethopian dish: lentils cooked in various spices. Delicious!

08-31-2007, 11:24 AM	#10
kerosene Touring the facilities Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: The plains of Colorado Posts: 3,476	They deserve a festival! Perhaps they even deserve their own food group. Grains, Dairy, Meat, Lentils, Fruits, Veggies, etc...

08-31-2007, 11:51 AM	#11
kerosene Touring the facilities Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: The plains of Colorado Posts: 3,476	Sorry to double post, but I thought this recipe is worth sharing. I have made it twice, now and it is quite yummy. Vegetable Moussaka 1/2 cup of Olive Oil 1 Onion, chopped 4 Celery stalks, chopped 1 Garlic clove, finely chopped 14oz Can of chopped tomatoes 10 1/2 Canned green lentils (I used dried ones that I simmered for 20 minutes) 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley 1 large eggplant, sliced Salt and pepper Sauce Ingredients: 2 Tbsp butter Scant 1/4 cup all purpose flour 1 1/4 cups of milk Pinch of fresh nutmeg 1 Egg 1/2 Cup freshly grated parmesan cheese Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the celery, garlic, tomatoes, lentils, and their can juices, and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat and cover, letting simmer gently stirring occasionally for 15 minutes, or until the mixture thickens. Meanwhile, heat a little of the remaining oil in a large, heavy bottom skillet. Add the eggplant slices in batches if necessary, adding more oil as necessary (eggplant soaks up a lot of oil!) Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Layer an ovenproof dish with the lentil/tomato mixture, and the eggplant slices, ending with the layer of eggplant. To make the sauce, put butter, flour, and milk in a sauce pan over medium low heat, and bring to a boil. Be sure to whisk constantly, or the milk will get scorched! Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Remove from the heat, let cool slightly, then beat in the egg. Pour the sauce over the casserole and sprinkle on the parmesan cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until golden on top. Serve immediately.

10-25-2007, 05:47 PM	#13
Aliantha trying hard to be a better person Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 16,493	i wouldn't worry too much about catching the skins SG. You can either eat them or not. They're just the outer layer which sometimes comes off when you soak them. I make a lentil salad very simply. It only has lentils (any colour, but preferably not green for presentation), some kind of tasty lettuce (avoid iceberg or cos, not enough flavour) and fetta cheese. Put it all in a bowl and mix it up with a bit of olive oil and a splash of dressing if you want (I put a bit of salt and pepper and a squeaze of lemon or lime juice instead). __________________ Kind words are the music of the world. F. W. Faber

10-25-2007, 07:19 PM	#14
kerosene Touring the facilities Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: The plains of Colorado Posts: 3,476	That sounds wonderful, Ali. Sundae, don't worry about the skins...I just leave them in. I figure they probably contribute to the fiber quantity.

10-26-2007, 04:16 AM	#15
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Thanks, I can now continue my lentil cooking safe in the knowledge I'm not committing a skin faux pas. I had green lentil chilli last night. Just a low fat jar of chilli sauce as base, but added red onion, green chilli, mixed frozen veg, LOTS of green lentils, and various flavourings because the sauce is quite bland (but a jar is nearly as cheap as a tin of tomatoes so it seems silly not to). __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

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