BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Vegetarian Any great lentil recipes?

After the editor chat last night, I thought more about lentils. Do you have any great lentil recipes? I read about the red lentil stew, and that sounds delish.

But I was wondering what else can be done with lentils other than soups or stews.

From the Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Cookbook by Nava Atlas

Lentil and Feta Cheese Salad

1 cup green or brown lentils
3 med. firm flavorful tomatoes or 5 to 6 plum tomatoes, diced
4-6 oz, feta cheese, crumbled
2-3 scallions, minced
1/2 cup natural low-fat vinaigrette

rinse and check lentils. combine in a saucepan with 3 cups water and bring to simmer. Cover and simmer gently until well done, but firm - about 30 minutes. check frequently toward the end to avoid over cooking. Drain excess water and rinse until cooled.

combine lentils with remaining ingredients in a serving bowl. serve and once or fridge until needed.

I also have a recipe for lentil meat loaf, though I haven't tried it and a lentil and spinach curry which I also haven't tried yet.

This one I haven't done for awhile, but my notes say that it was good!

Lentils & Zucchini (not sure where it's from)

1/2 cup lentils
2.5 cups water
1/2 tsp turmeric
3 T margarine
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 - 1/2" piece of ginger
1 green chili, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
salt
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin seeds

Place lentils, water and turmeric in pot over medium heat and bring to a boil.
Continue cooking, removing the froth from the top from time to time.

In a separate pot, heat half the margarine. Saute onion and garlic until golden. Stir in ginger, chile, and zucchini. Mix and cook for five minutes

Transfer lentils to the zucchini mixture. Stir in salt and garam masala. Half cover the pot, lower the heat and cook 15 minutes.

Toss the cumin seeds in the remaining margarine and heat until they sizzle and change color. (Apparently, I didn't do this step)

Serve lentils hot with cumin seeds.

I think you can use them in burgers & lentil loaf (a meatloafy type thing).

Hey Lori!

Okay, I've got a bunch of red lentil recipes, the unfortunate part of these in particular is that I never measure with them. I always go by the look and feel, so I'll be breaking them down into ratios in the near future.

Try this one on for size though:

Soak up your red lentils [appr. 2 cups]
drain 'em

crumble 1lb of extra firm organic tofu and saute that in some olive oil with brown onions, seasonings and sea salt until firm and flavorful

heat a large skillet and add your olive oil, diced brown onions and salt
saute until translucent add your seasonings and lentils
fold everything into the onions and simmer until lentils turn almost yellow.

grate some soy cheese appr. 1/2 - 1lb

cube some potatoes, season and parboil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl combine all finished ingredients and pack into greased and lined [with parchment paper] baking dish [preferably a loaf pan]. Bake for 30 - 45 minutes and remove from oven let cool until it sets then invert onto garnished serving tray.

Cut and serve. It should be tasty and meaty.

Ifound this on the web, sounded good. Haven't tried it yet but will very soon.


Simple Lentil Loaf
Vegetarian Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked lentils
1 cup quick oatmeal
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups tomato sauce
1-1/2 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. Mix thoroughly and press mixture into a lightly oiled loaf pan. Bake 50 minutes or until done.

Nutrition information per serving:
Calories: 235
Fat: 1.9g
7 percent calories from fat
Cholesterol: 0mg
Protein: 13.8g
Carbohydrate: 43.8g
Fiber: 13.2g
Sodium: 745mg
Dietary Exchanges: Vegetable: 2.0, Bread: 2.2

I love this cookbook for its creative, quick, and healthy recipes!