Lentil Curry

Lentils. I have to confess that the thought of eating lentils has never filled me with glee. Mostly I find them bland and vaguely repulsive – suitable only for vegans who have already sold their taste buds to the devil in exchange for a sallow, unhealthy appearance. 

But, people argue passionately, they are so high in fiber and protein! And nutrients! 

To which I reply with an emphatic, “whatever.” Because no matter how excruciatingly healthy something is, I’m not going to actually eat it unless it tastes good.

This story has a point (and a recipe) somewhere, I’m pretty sure.

I’ve had a bag of green lentils in my pantry for about six months. My sister gave me a sausage and lentil soup recipe that I’ve been meaning to try but as it is summer here in the US, I’m not in a raging hurry to fix soup for dinner.

Instead, I stumbled upon a lentil curry recipe that I had at least half of the ingredients for. And Oh.My.Gosh you guys. This is amazeballs. You can find the actual recipe here (which I imagine is pretty good). The following recipe is what I actually did.

I guess the moral of this story is, don’t judge a food by its terrible vegans.

And the other moral would be, go easy on the cayenne or you’ll kill your children mouths.

And the final moral goes a little something like: seriously, make this and get it in your face asap!

LENTIL CURRY

Serves 8

1 bag (about 2 ½ cups) lentils, rinsed well

1 medium onion, diced

3 T butter (or oil)

1 ½ T garam masala

2 generous T cumin

A few good shakes of cayenne pepper (next time I will do one gentle shake)

1 T minced garlic

1 t sea salt

1 can tomato sauce

1 can coconut milk

Cilantro/coriander leaves for garnishing

Rice for serving

1. Cook lentils according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2. Melt butter in large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for a few minutes until fragrant and golden. Add all the spices (garam masala, cumin, cayenne, garlic and salt) and stir fry for 1-2 minutes (add a little vegetable oil if it looks too dry). Add the tomato sauce, stir and simmer until smooth.
3. Add the lentils and the coconut milk. Stir to combine and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro.

As with all curries, it is even better the next day!

Crock Pot Freezer Meals Part 2

Here are a few more of my favorite crock pot freezer meals (click here for part 1) 

CHEESY CHICKEN

In crock pot or zip lock add:
- 2lbs boneless skinless chicken (thighs, breasts, or combo)
- 2 (10.5oz) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 (10.5oz) can condensed cheddar cheese soup
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder


Cook time: 8  to 10 hours LOW

Serving suggestion: over rice or noodles.

Optional variety: add a little spice or frozen broccoli...can garnish with shredded cheese.







SAUSAGE LENTIL SOUP

Brown:
- 12 to 14 oz sliced kielbasa sausage
- 1 onion diced
-  3 garlic cloves minced (can use more or less to taste.  Sometimes when I'm in a hurry I just use garlic powder)

Add browned meat mixture to crock pot or zip lock along with:
- 2 cups lentils
- 2 carrots (peeled and diced)
- 15 oz can diced tomatoes

Season with favorite Italian spices (I use parsley, oregano, and basil)

Day of cooking: add 2 quarts of water to crock pot.  (can use less if you want it less soupy)

Cook time: 4 to 5 hours HIGH or 8 to 10 hours LOW

Serving suggestion: fresh bread or rice

Serves: 6


SAUSAGE AND BEAN SUPPER

Brown:
- 1lb sausage (can use ground turkey and season)
- 1 onion diced

Drain meat and add to crock pot or zip lock along with:
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1.5 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1 can rotel
- 1 can butter beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

Cook time: 4 to 8 hours LOW

Serving suggestion: shredded cheese over rice

Serves: 4 to 6

Sloppy Lentils (Crockpot)

Most Americans have eaten them... Camp food... Busy weeknight meal... Birthday party meal...

..::Sloppy Joes::..

Here is a much healthier version that tastes JUST like sloppy joes.

My 10 year old daughter, who has a selective palette, LOVES these. 

When I made them recently, she ate them as leftovers two days in a row! :) 

HERE is a little write up on lentils...many reasons why we love them around here! 

I serve these with homemade wheat buns.

1 3/4 cups water
1 cup puy lentils, rinsed

1 cup chopped onion
28 oz can diced tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon (heaping) chili powder
3 tablespoons agave nectar
1 Tbsp white vinegar
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Combine all your ingredients in the crockpot. Turn on low and cook for approximately 5 hours, until lentils are tender and the mixture has thickened and absorbed most of the liquids.

Printable Recipe:

Sloppy Lentils

Note: Adapted from:
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/10/sloppy-lentils-in-the-crockpot.html

Shared HERE

Pumpkin Salad w/ Lentils and Brazillian Beef

I found these recipes in a magazine.
Of course, I changed them just a bit to suite our tastes ...

For the salad:
1 kg chopped pumpkin
3 small onions, peeled and chopped in 1/2
ground cumin
400g can lentils
dried cranberries
pepitas (pumpkin seeds), toasted
fresh lemon thyme leaves
baby rocket (arugula) leaves
lemon

Coat pumpkin and onions with olive oil then sprinkle with ground cumin. Bake on 200C for about 30 minutes ... In a bowl, make your salad. Throw together a few handfuls of rocket leaves, a few sprigs of lemon thyme leaves, a handful of dried cranberries, and the same of the toasted pepitas. Grind in the rind of a lemon and then squeeze it's juice on top. Rinse and drain the lentils, add them. When the pumpkin and onions are cooked, add them too.

Super simple and I LOVED THE TASTE of this salad !!

For the Meat:
1 kg beef rump steak chunks
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup orange juice (I used the pulpy kind)

Mix everything but the steak in a big glass bowl. Then add steak. Let marinate for a few hours. I only had about an hour last night and it was delicious even after that amount of time. You can thread these onto skewers and BBQ them but last night I just did them in a hot non stick fry pan. I pretty much just cooked one side, flipped it and cooked the other side.

Delicious. Even Alia and I, who don't generally go for steak, loved this.

Serve with lemon wedges ... but I squeezed them onto my salad rather than onto the meat ...

Rory's Rustic Ham Bone Soup

So, we had an amazing ham for Christmas dinner (I'll post that recipe later !) Rory wanted to do something with the ham bone so he searched on line, found a basic recipe and modified it ... Here is what he made. We loved it !

Ham Bone ... with about 1 cup of ham chunks that aren't good for sandwiches
½ pound (250g) dried red lentils
6 cups water
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 carrots, chopped
5 cloves garlic, a couple minced and a couple roughly chopped
1 red chili, diced
1 (420g) can of tomato puree
¼ cup canola oil
handful of roughly chopped fresh basil and parsley leaves
1 tsp garam masala
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse lentils thoroughly. Combine ingredients and bring to a boil. Then cover and simmer for 2 hours. Remove bone from soup. Pull ham off of bone and gather up big chunks that have fallen off ... chop it up and return to soup. Discard the bone.

That's it. Dead easy. You could also do it in the crock pot ... 8 to 10 hours on low.

We served it with buttered sour dough bread and Rory sprinkled a few chili flakes on top of his ...

Pumpkin Lentil Salad - UnP Version

So ... I've posted this recipe before ... but last night I made it with a couple small modifications to suit our Unprocessed Year requirements ... It was just as good. If not better ...

1 kg pumpkin ... I like kent or butternut but any that is good for roasting would be fine.

1/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice - I used my citrus juicer & small oranges ... took 30 seconds !
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp honey
2 tsp Moroccan seasoning
1/2 a red onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 can lentils
spinach and rocket mixture
feta

So .... spray your pumpkin with olive oil and roast in bite size pieces in a 200C oven - 20 minutes or so.

Make dressing by combining orange juice and 1/2 the olive oil, honey and Moroccan seasoning.

Heat remaining oil in a frying pan over med heat. Cook onion and garlic for a couple of minutes ~ until soft. Add lentils ... heat through.

In serving bowl, combine lentil mixture, pumpkin, greens, and feta. Top with dressing.

I served this with whole wheat foccacia (recipe coming tomorrow), olive oil and dukkah for dipping.

Pumpkin {Lentil} Salad

I loved this.
Rory thought it was ok.
Next time I might make him some chicken on the side, then he might like it ! :)

Here's the recipe that I modified from one I found in a magazine.

1 kg pumpkin ... I like kent or butternut but any that is good for roasting would be fine.
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp moroccan seasoning
1/2 a red onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cans lentils (I actually only use 1 can but you could use two if you like lots of lentils!)
spinach and rocket mixture
feta

So .... spray your pumpkin with olive oil and roast in bite size pieces in a 200C oven - 20 minutes or so.

Make dressing by combining orange juice and 1/2 the olive oil, sugar and moroccan seasoning.

Heat remaining oil in a frying pan over med heat. Cook onion and garlic for a couple of minutes ~ until soft. Add lentils ... heat through.

In serving bowl, combine lentil mixture, pumpkin, greens, and feta. Top with dressing.

Serve with toasted turkish bread. I did ours in the sandwich press ... topped with olive oil and dukkah.

PS ... this was great as leftovers along side
a delicious omelet cooked by the omelet master - Rory !

Lentil Soup

Aunt Kathy discovered this recipe and gave me a copy. This version includes the changes she made. It's yummy, it's hearty, it's good for you. What more can you ask?

1 16 oz. pkg dried red lentils, sorted and rinsed.
3 (14 1/2 oz each) cans chicken broth
1 6 oz pkg sliced Canadian bacon, coarsely chopped
2 med carrots, cut into 1/2" pieces (I made them much smaller)
1 med potato, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
1 med onion, chopped
1 med stalk celery, cut into 1/2" pieces (I left this out because I didn't have any)
4 cups water
1 scant tsp dried thyme leaves (I used Italian Seasoning because it includes thyme and I didn't have any straight up)
1/2 tsp salt or garlic salt
1/4 tsp pepper (note: go easy of the pepper or it will be all you can taste)

Mix all ingredients in 3 1/2 to 6 quart slow cookers.

Cover and cook on Low heat setting for 8-9 hours or High for 3-5 hours or until lentil are tender (they pretty much disappear). Stir well before serving. Serves 8.

I sprinkled a little cayenne pepper on the top of mine and it was a fabulous addition!

Ham and Lentil Soup

I got a new crock pot this summer. One that actually works!! :) I love it.
I've been using it at least once a week on thursdays because we get home from cello lessons at FIVE and I need to have dinner ready and waiting. This week I made Ham and Lentil soup. I hesitate to post this picture. Lentils just aren't very pretty! But I LOVE to eat lentils. I have another lentil recipe that I love - curry lentils over rice. I'll have to post it sometime.


1 cup dry lentils
4 cups water
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 tsp instant chicken bouillon granules
1 tsp bottled minced garlic or 2 cloves minced
1/2 tsp lemon peel finely shredded
1 cup cooked cubed ham
1/8 - 1/4 cayenne pepper
2 cups chopped fresh spinach

Sort, rinse and drain the lentils. Add everything to crock pot except for spinach and ham. Cook on low setting for about 4 hours. Stir in spinach and ham before serving. (I cooked it with the ham - it gave the ham more flavor!)
The only thing I didn't like about this soup is that there wasn't enough leftovers for lunch today :(

Tasty Lentil Tacos

I got this recipe HERE.
(I've made a few modifications though so I'll post the modified recipe here)

Ingredients:
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced ( I used 3 cloves and I finely diced rather than minced)
1 teaspoon canola oil (I used olive)
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
1 tablespoon chili powder (I didn't use this much since the kids were eating it too !)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 & 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup salsa
12 taco shells
1 & 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
1 cup chopped fresh tomato
1 & 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
6 tablespoons fat free sour cream

optional extras :
1 avocado, mashed
mild green peppers and extra onion - saute
flour tortillas

Directions:

1. In a large nonstick skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the lentils, chili powder, cumin and oregano; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Uncover; cook for 6-8 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Mash lentils slightly. ( I didn't mash - oops !! ) Stir in salsa.

2. While the lentils are cooking ... towards the end, sautee the green pepper and onion, if using.

3. Serve with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, avocado, cheese, pepper/onion mixture in either taco shells or flour tortillas.

We all liked these.
No, the lentils are not the same as ground beef ... but they are a suitable substitute.

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Want to see where I got the lovely onions and green peppers for this meal ??
From our garden !!! I picked them today and I'm so excited about it, I just had to share !


Here's what they looked like all cooked up ! Yum !!!
They were really really good !!

Dahl - Spinach and Pumpkin

I loved this !! So easy. I got it out of a free magazine that I picked up at the health food store but I ( as I do ) changed it a bit while I was cooking it !

• olive oil ( for sauteeing)
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 2 (or more !) cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp fresh ginger - grated
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 400g pumpkin ( butternut squash in the states ?) - bite sized pieces
• 3/4 cup red lentils
• 250g ( box) frozen spinach
• 1/4 cup fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped
• 3 cups water
• pinch sea salt

1. Saute onion, garlic, ginger and spices in oil 5 minutes - stir constantly. Add pumpkin, lentis, spinach, coriander, salt and water. Cover and simmer 1 hour. I set my timer and came back to stir it every 10 minutes. ( was necessary ! )
2. Serve with rice and poppadams. ( how do you spell that !!?? )
   

Lentils for Lunch

This was a very acceptable way to eat lentils !

~

The original recipe was from a Woolworths Fresh Magazine and was called Lentil Wraps. I modified it and I'm going to post my modified version.

~

3 slices multi grain bread, roughly chopped

1 tsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp turmeric

2 X 400g cans of lentils, drained, rinsed

1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped

1 egg, beaten

2 tbls multigrain flour (or whatever flour you have on hand)

Lebanese or lavash bread, to serve

(The original recipe also called for hummus and tabouli to serve, I used neither.)

1. Process bread in a food processor until breadcrumbs form. Put one cup of breadcrumbs into a large bowl.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan over med heat. Add onion and cook for 3 minutes or until soft. Add garlic, cumin and turmeric and stir until well combined. Cook for 1 minute. Cool.
3. Add lentils, coriander and onion mixture to food processor. Process til well combined. Transfer to bowl with breadcrumbs. Add egg and flour and stir until combined. Original recipe said to make 16 small patties and fry them. I just dumped the whole mixture into a med hot fry pan and cooked, turning often, til it was a bit crispy ... but not too much so.
4. If you are using the hummus, spread it on your your bread and top with tabouli and 4 lentil patties ( if you did the patties ! ) I put sliced tomatoes, fresh baby spinach and sliced red bell pepper on mine, topped that with the lentil stuff. Roll to enclose filling. Cut in half to serve.
5. That's where the original recipe stopped. I tried it but the bread was a bit dry ! So ... I got out my handy dandy sandwich press and toated that puppy ! That made all the difference ! I enjoyed this lentil lunch ! I'll be having leftovers tomorrow ....

Lentils & Veggies of the Stir Fried Variety

We had this for dinner last night. I loved it. Rory liked the flavor but isn't big on lentils. I told him we are going to acquire him a taste for them ! It was too spicy for the kids.

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Serves 4

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1 tbls sesame seeds

1 carrot, sliced

1 cup broccoli, chopped

1 cup zucchini, chopped

handful trimmed snow peas

Oil ( I used Olive)

1/2 a red bell pepper

1 tbls finely chopped garlic

1 tbls chopped peeled ginger

1/4 stp crushed chilli flakes

can of lentil ( brown or green )

3 or 4 spring onions, thinly sliced

3 tbls soy sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

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Dry toast the sesame seeds and set aside.

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Steam the carrots, broccoli, zucchini and snow peas for 5 minutes. Still want them crisp but tender. Pour into strainer and rinse with cool water so they stop cooking.

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Heat oil in fry pan (med-high heat) add red peppers. Cook for a couple minutes. Add garlic, ginger and chilli flaskes. Cook briefly ... add steamed veggies, lentils, soy and sesame oil. Cook and stir for 3 or 4 minutes til heated through.

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I served on brown rice. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on top.