Meredith’s Ayervedic consultant gave lentils the thumbs up yesterday.
A break for me–I love all lentils.
Meredith’s not so keen, though she likes the taste—their tendency to “airify” is not so agreeable.
There’s a big glass jar of green/grey Puy-type lentils on the shelf in the larder that’s seen no action for months, so…
inspired by a recipe in Rose Elliott’s Bean Book that combines lentils and spinach (and remembering the pound plus of beautiful organic spinach in the fridge)–I gleefully took it down last night.
This and is another one pot meal–though some brown basmati rice makes for a good companion !
for 4
8oz green/grey lentils–washed thoroughly, but no need to soak them
2 celery sticks–washed
1 clove garlic–peeled
half a large onion–peeled
water to cover the lentils by an inch or a bit more
the other half of the onion–chopped
1 clove garlic–pulped with half a teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
450gms/1lb spinach–washed and drained. (Use frozen if you like–thawed and squeezed)
a couple of pinches of salt
juice of a lemon
- Put the lentils in a pan with the water and add the celery, onion and garlic.
- Bring to the boil, turn the heat to low and cook covered until the lentils are tender–try not to overcook them to mush. The time depends on the age of the lentils–about 25 minutes; check them from time to time.
- While the lentils are cooking–heat a tablespoon of oil in a sauté pan and add the chopped onion and garlic.
- Cook gently until they are soft and beginning to colour.
- Add the cumin and coriander and cook for a minute or two longer.
- Remove the celery, onion and garlic from the lentils and drain them of most of the excess liquid.
- Add the spiced onion and garlic mix and turn it all over to coat the lentils.
- While this is proceeding find time to put the spinach in a large saucepan with a couple of pinches of salt snuck in between the leaves–no extra water is needed.
- Cook on the lowest heat, covered–until it has wilted.
- Drain it of excess water but don’t squeeze it.
- Add it to the lentils and squeeze over the lemon juice
- Turn it over carefully–and serve with some rice on the side and a couple of lemon quarters on the plate.
Evidence of a change of mind!
Robin Ellis 
Robin, I am drooling! I love lentils and spinach! Incidentally, could you knock out a few low-fat recipes for those of us cutting back on the fat content …
Thank you!
🙂
Hi. Just as soaking beans overnight gets rid of the gassy properties, so too does soaking lentils. Perhaps a longer soak, say overnight, will help Meredith’s digestion. I just made the best lentil soup I’ve ever made(Using Alton Brown’s recipe) and I never once had a problem with “airification”.
Best,
Fiona
I don’t know Alton B–can you guide me to his/her recipe?
I will again offer my “solution” to then beans and airification problem – rinsing thoroughly and disposing of the bean liquid. Has worked like a charm for me!
Oh, I WORSHIP ALTON BROWN! Robin…he is a chef AND a filmmaker. He had a fabulous series on The American Food Channel called “Good Eats” It was a very witty, interesting show. He would take a subject- say: BEANS- and tell you all that you ever wanted to know about them (origin, chemical makeup, etc) and then do recipes. He’s very funny. He would often have goofy characters come in and out of his cooking escapades. I am looking up this lentil recipe as we speak. It has gotten cold over here and some nice hot soup would go down well. I love to use the crock pot for soups.
Robin- this dish looks good! I am trying to eat better carbs and I do like lentils, lima beans, etc. This is an inspiration for me! Thanks
(I am now overweight due to very bad knees, and Type 2 diabetes runs on my fathers side-YES, I know! )
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/good-eats-behind-the-scenes/index.html
Thanks for the info, Judy.
thanks Robin…. ….thanks for the lentil recipe. (that was fast.) looks easy to make too. I’ll let you know how it turns out. maryc
________________________________
My wife is not fan of lentils, so I made this over the past weekend when she was out-of-town. I was quite favorably impressed with the subtle blend of flavors. I would never have thought of spinach with lentils, but it was a nice touch. It is now in my repertory! Thanks.
Go lentils!
Grande!
Oltre ad essere stato un bravissimo attore è anche un grande chef! :-)))).