Middle Eastern Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions

Ok, this is my first time cooking this dish, but it is automatically jumping up to the top of my list of favorite recipes. It's amazing! As I mentioned in my last blog, we had this dish at Roman's, a great restaurant here in town, and we flipped out over how delicious it was, so I was excited when I saw a recipe for it in the Vegan Planet cookbook I bought last weekend. This is the first recipe I've made from Vegan Planet, and if it's an indicator of things to come, I'm delighted! What a great recipe! It was so easy to make. It takes awhile, between letting the lentils simmer, and then letting the rice cook with the lentils afterwards, but there's hardly any active prep time, and it's well worth the wait. I don't want to step on Robin's toes by posting the recipe, but I'll give you the basic idea, and then recommend that you run out to your nearest bookstore forthwith and get yourself a copy of this great cookbook!



To make this dish, your first pre-cook some lentils, and while they're cooking, saute up some diced onion (it calls for shallots, but I used an onion since I was too lazy to go to the store). Remove half the onions and set them aside, then to the rest of the onions, add in lentils, spices, rice and water, then let it simmer away until the rice is cooked. While that's cooking, you cook the reserved onions in some olive oil until they're dark brown, caramelized and crispy. The dish is served topped with the crispy onions.

Seriously, there are not enough good things I can say about this dish! It's immensely satisfying, and was even better than what we had at the restaurant. Delicious! My picture doesn't do it justice, but I hope you can get the idea. The only thing I would do differently next time would be to have much, much more crispy onions on top. We couldn't get enough of them!

My girls weren't too interested in this dish, so I boiled up extra lentils and some plain jasmine rice, and they had that for dinner. Meg ate two big plates of plain lentils and rice, and would have eaten more if we'd let her. I bought a pound of jasmine rice last week, and they've already eaten almost all of it! They can't get enough of hot, unadorned jasmine rice in a bowl. That's my girls!

Musurir Dal

Ok. So this has been a long, difficult, stressful day. I can't even begin to tell you how much I hate being gone all day long, and then fighting horrible traffic home for over an hour. YUCK. But this dinner was perfect for a night like tonight, when I'm worn out, sleepy and frazzled. It came together in a snap, with minimal effort, and was great comfort food when it was time to sit down and eat. So hooray for Musurir Dal!

I found the recipe here, and modified it slightly to work with the ingredients I had on hand.



We ate this with leftover naan and onion pickle from last night. The Musurir Dal, while delicious, tasted nothing like I expected it would from reading the recipe. For lack of a better description, it kind of tastes like a spiced up split pea soup. Wild.

And now, I'm signing off so I can veg on the couch and wait for the Vice Presidential debates to come on. I fucking hate Sarah Palin, to the point that I can hardly stand to listen to her talk, but I don't want to miss these debates, either.

Oh, and please excuse the awful photo today. Like I said...it's been a long day.

Bye!

Musurir Dal
Onion Fragrant Red Lentils

3 cups water water
1 cup red lentils
1/4 t turmeric
1/2 t salt
1/2 tsp agave nectar
2 T vegetable oil
2 bay leaves
2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1 t garam masala
2 T fresh lime or lemon juice
1 T finely chopped fresh cilantro/coriander

Bring water to boil in a pan over medium heat. Add lentils. Add turmeric and simmer, covered until lentils are tender, about 15 minutes. They should break easily when pressed between thumb and index finger. Add salt and agave nectar. Set aside, and keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium low heat. Fry bay leaves and red pepper until the pepper darkens. Add cumin seeds and fry for a few seconds. Add the onion and fry until richly browned but not burnt, 15 to 18 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in jalapeno. Add to the lentils. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat. Stir in garam masala, lime juice and cilantro.

Lentil Orzo Salad

Another new recipe!

You know, sometimes I wonder if maybe there's something wrong with me, that I have such a strong aversion to repeating recipes. Yeah, there are a few go-to recipes that I come back to, but they're few and far between, and outside of those, I really prefer to try something new than go with something tried and true. What's up with that? My friend Susan (hey, lady!) told me several years ago about a friend of hers who had been in a competition with her sister and mother, to see who could go the longest without repeating a recipe (dinner only, I think, but I'm not sure). I believe that she said the sister won, by going something like two years without any repeats. A woman after my own heart! I have a ridiculously long list of new recipes I want to try, and more are added every day. I find them on blogs, Tastespotting, in cookbooks and from friends. Given that, it almost seems silly to repeat recipes very often, because how else will I work my way through that list?

So here's one from the list! It's a salad made of lentils and orzo, with some fresh veggies and a delightfully perky curry-spiked vinaigrette. This was good enough that we ate it two nights in a row, even! It was delicious with a little french bread on the side.



Lentil Orzo Salad

4 cups cooked lentils, drained (do not overcook; you want them to hold their shape)
4 cups cooked orzo, drained and rinsed with cold water
1 medium red onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, finely diced
1 handful cilantro, chopped
2 lemons, juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp agave nectar (can substitute 2 Tbsp sugar)
1 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

In a large bowl, combine lentils, orzo, onion, bell pepper, jalapeno and cilantro. Mix gently. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour over lentil mixture and toss gently to combine. Chill before serving, if desired, or serve at room temperature.

Lentil Haystacks

We first had lentil haystacks several weeks ago, and we were instantly smitten. They're delicious, filling, fresh, and almost ridiculously inexpensive. I figured we would start to eat them all the time, but given my reluctance to repeat recipes very often, we haven't had them again until tonight. And, as with so many other things, I'm kicking myself for not having them sooner. These haystacks rock!

I love that they can be customized to each person's liking. Meg had just rice and lentils. Lydia had rice, lentils, cheese and olives. Brad had rice, lentils, cheese, salsa, onions and sour cream. I had rice, lentils, vegan monterey jack cheese, salsa, onions, olives and cilantro. Fabulous!



If you're trying to feed your family (or just yourself) on a budget, or if you're just trying to trim your grocery budget, definitely give this recipe a try!

Lentil Haystacks

1 cup dry lentils
4 cups water
4 cups hot, cooked rice (brown or white)
assorted toppings, such as cheese, red onions, sour cream, jalapenos, sliced or shredded vegetables, salsa, olives, capers, salad dressing, etc.

Combine the lentils and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 20 to 30 minutes, until lentils are tender.

Serve lentils over rice, and top with desired toppings.

Veganized Burger for a Bunch

I think I blogged my recipe for Burger for a Bunch back when I first started up this blog, and transfered all of my recipes over here. It's an incredibly old school recipe, something my mom (and her mom, I believe) have been making for ages. It's one of those awesome recipes that has a whole bunch of ingredients, but they're all things that you usually have in your kitchen, so it doesn't require a trip to the store. Gotta love that, right?

Veganizing it was really easy, although next time I think I would just leave out the vegan cheese. It just doesn't taste right, and I'd rather go without it than to have that fake cheesy flavor in it. Other things I changed were using lentils instead of ground beef, and vegannaise instead of mayo, vegan margarine instead of butter, and so forth. Easy peasy!

So yeah...not the most attractive meal, but I don't care! It's good!






Burger for a Bunch

lentil filling (below)
1/2 cup mashed potato flakes, divided
2 Tbsp. melted vegan margarine
2 cups flour
1Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup soy milk
1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise
1/2 cup shredded vegan cheddar cheese (optional)

Prepare filling as directed below; set aside.

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine 1/4 cup of the potato flakes with melted margarine; set aside.

In large mixing bowl combine remaining 1/4 cup potato flakes, flour, sugar, cream of tartar and baking soda. Cut in margarine until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk and mayonnaise; blend until a soft dough forms. Divide in half; shape into balls. Roll out one ball on floured surface to 9" circle. Place on greased cookie sheet. Spread filling to within 1/2" of edge and sprinkle with cheese. Roll out remaining dough and place on filling; seal edges with a fork. Brush with soy milk and sprinkle with reserved potato flake and butter mixture.

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 until golden brown.

This recipe may be made ahead of time. Cover and place in refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Bake 375 for 20 -25 minutes.

Lentil Filling

4 cups cooked lentils
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 cup mashed potato flakes
3/4 cup catsup
1/4 cup sweet relish
1 Tbsp. salad mustard

Saute ground beef, onion, salt and pepper until browned. Add all the remaining ingredients and blend well.

Vegan Shepherd's Pie

Oh baby! This vegan version of Shepherd's Pie rocks! I'm a big fan of traditional Shepherd's Pie, so I've been wanting to "vegetablize" it. I turned once again to my trusty lentils, and they were up to the challenge! Seriously, I'm having a bit of a love affair with lentils these days. I never cooked with them until a few weeks ago, and now I can't stop! There are just so many great things you can cook with them, and I can't get over how inexpensive they are! One little bag of lentils is enough for 2 or 3 meals, easy, and then of course there are the health benefits. So yeah, I'm smitten. Or to use the words of Charlie McKenzie in So I Married an Axe Murderer, I'm in deep smit. ; )

This was one of those "wing it" meals, made without a recipe. I pretty much just went along the lines of my regular Shepherd's Pie recipe, but I used cooked and drained lentils instead of ground beef, and vegetable stock instead of beef broth. I also threw in the leftover gravy from last night's dinner, which was nice because it had mushrooms in it. Next time I make this, I'm definitely going to add a bunch of mushrooms. I also sprinkled a little soy cheese on top, but it would be just as good without it.

Yesterday I made a monster batch of mashed potatoes, with the intention of using them in this recipe today. Normally I hate that kind of make-ahead cooking, but it made sense this time. I had a bit of a problem putting the potatoes on top of the filling. This filling didn't have the structural integrity of ground beef, plus I made more gravy than I usually do (who doesn't love gravy?), so the filling was a lot softer than normal. When I tried to spoon the potatoes on top, they sunk into the filling and displaced it towards the center, in a kind of lava cone effect. That made it pretty much impossible to make a complete seal with the potatoes, so a lot of the gravy bubbled up while it cooked, but oh well...it still tasted great. And Brad cracked me up, shouting "VOLCANO!" like the waiters at the Rainforest Cafe. hee hee hee

I should probably let you know that the filling looks pretty nasty, but that's ok, because it's covered up with potatoes fairly quickly. We jokingly referred to it as gruel because that's what it looked like, but dang, it was some tasty gruel!

Hello Kitty says "lentils kick ass!"