Let’s talk lentils. Easy and quick to cook (20-30 minutes and don’t need soaking like other beans and pulses), lentils are the short cut to more plant protein in your diet. Nutrient dense, they are also rich in fiber, folate, and other nutrients. They are low digestive gas-producers relative to other beans and pulses. I’ve heard that if you drop them into boiling water they produce less gas but I have not yet put that to the test. I also like to use a thumb-sized piece of the seaweed kombu in the water – it adds minerals and reduces gas.
Lentils absorb the flavors in which they are cooked, so what you cook them with is key to what you have in the end; tasteless mush or tasty mush. It’s all in the seasoning.
Here’s a recipe I developed over the holidays, using French green lentils, but feel free to substitute any lentil you can get your hands on.
10 min to prep
40 min to cook
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups lentils (I used French green lentils)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp ghee
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large tomato, chopped, or 1/2 c tomato sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 Tbsp cumin or curry spice
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 3-4 c water
Directions
Place chopped onion and ghee in a large pot over medium heat until the onions are soft. Add other ingredients and bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium-low and simmer 20-30 minutes until lentils are soft.
Makes about 3 cups.
Serve warm with rice, steamed vegetables, or roasted winter squash.
