Your favorite lentil recipes

A few weeks ago, I went to Prairie Fire & had their delicious lentil appetizer (described on the menu as French lentils slow-cooked with a tomato marmalade, crumbled goat cheese and crispy shallots). More recently, I've spent 2 weeks in Morocco where I was served several delicious lentil dishes served as side dishes. Cumin, olive oil and parsley were commonly used ingredients. Most of the lentil dishes I ate trended toward a warm and "wetter" presentation (not soupy, by any means, but served in a warm sauce).

So, my fellow LTHers...care to share your favorite lentil recipes?

chgoeditor wrote:A few weeks ago, I went to Prairie Fire & had their delicious lentil appetizer (described on the menu as French lentils slow-cooked with a tomato marmalade, crumbled goat cheese and crispy shallots). More recently, I've spent 2 weeks in Morocco where I was served several delicious lentil dishes served as side dishes. Cumin, olive oil and parsley were commonly used ingredients. Most of the lentil dishes I ate trended toward a warm and "wetter" presentation (not soupy, by any means, but served in a warm sauce).

So, my fellow LTHers...care to share your favorite lentil recipes?

I actually made my first lentil dish at home, just basic aromatic broth, because of Prairie Fire. I could eat those lentils daily.

I've been fortunate that they will make them outside of dinner (they are only on the dinner menu).

They are fantastic over eggs at brunch or a salad at lunch.

I cook the daylights out of lentils, then puree them real good. I add flour, egg, salt , cumin, tumeric, za'taar, roasted garlic, lemon zest. Then I fry the "lentil cakes" in olive oil until crispy on the outside.

Can't forget lentils nestled under some fatty duck confit

Shorbet Ads (Red Lentil Soup)!

this subject is timely. I just made the Red Lentil soup from Martha Rose Shulman's "The Very Best of Recipes for Health." Great smoky flavors and you wouldn't even know it's "healthy." I got the book from the library. I always test drive them first before I buy since I have 500+ cookbooks already. This one is up for the James Beard award and I have to say, it's great. Don't have it with me now but if you want, I can post the recipe later.

EvA wrote:Shorbet Ads (Red Lentil Soup)!

This was my first thought, if only because this is the lentil preparation I've eaten most in my life. My preference is to prepare the soup with a strong lamb stock and to finish with fresh or dry mint, or with cilantro.

Perhaps even more obvious, there are any number of dal (lentil) recipes from the subcontinent, dal makhni for example.

Caramelized Onions and Lentils

8 oz of cooked lentils (usually just in some chicken broth)
2 onions, chopped
2 T. tomato paste
1 1/2 c. chicken broth
salt, pepper, and cayenne

Slowly cook the onions in 1 T. each butter and olive oil until caramelized and deep brown. Add the tomato paste and broth to the onions and cook down until about half the liquid is gone. Add lentils back to the pan and season according to taste. Heat to serving temperature.

Even my kids eat this one.

Mujaddara is another easy Middle Eastern preparation.

This is a recipe I've been making for 20 years or more. It's an Indian dish, and I love the flavor. I usually serve it with basmati rice, generally with a raita on the side to accompany it (an easy one can be made by mixing a chopped cucumber into some plain yogurt flavored with sliced green onion, a little salt, and a dash of crushed, red pepper). Yum.

Dal
1-1/2 cups lentils
1/4 cup light olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. ground cumin seeds
1/4 tsp. crushed red peppers
1/2 cup snipped coriander leaves or parsley
Lemon peel for garnish, if desired
Cover lentils with water, and soak one hour. Heat lentils and water to boiling (as noted last month, rinsing the beans between soaking and cooking can reduce gastric disturbances, if that's important to you). Cook 45 minutes, adding water if necessary. Drain lentils well.
Heat oil in 12-inch skillet. Stir in onion, salt, turmeric, cumin and red peppers, cooking over low heat until onion is tender. Put some of this mixture aside, for garnish, if desired.
Stir lentils into oil and spices. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, 20 minutes. (Watch carefully to prevent burning.) Just before it's done, stir in coriander leaves or parsley. Before serving, sprinkle with reserved onion, and garnish with strips of lemon peel, if desired. Serves 6-8.

I have also long enjoyed this recipe for a version of Egyptian Koshry:

6 ounces (1 cup) brown lentils
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbs. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup long-grain white rice
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
4 plum tomatoes (or 2 regular tomatoes), chopped
1/4 cup chopped celery leaves
1/2 cup plain yogurt (optional)

Soak the lentils in water to cover for 1 hour. Drain, place in a saucepan, cover with water by 1 inch, and bring to a boil. Add 1/2 tsp. salt, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, until just about tender.

In a large saucepan, or skillet with a lid, heat olive oil and sauté the chopped onion and garlic until it begins to color. Add the cumin and cinnamon, and stir together. Add the uncooked rice and stir to coat with oil and spices. Add 2 cups water and lentils with their cooking liquid, plus remaining 1/2 tsp. salt and the ground pepper, and stir well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, stir in tomatoes and celery leaves, cover and cook 20 to 25 minutes, or until the liquid is (mostly) absorbed. (Don’t worry if there’s a little liquid in the pan—better to have it juicy than dry.)

Beat the yogurt lightly with a fork or whisk, to make it smooth. Serve yogurt in a bowl, as a topping to be spooned over the koshry. Serves 4 to 6.

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I'm definitely making some kind of lentil dish this weekend. Any suggestions on favorite varieties? I seem to gravitate toward the black/beluga lentils.

Jamie's Italy, by Jamie Oliver has a really simple recipe for lentils. I've been using that as the basic recipe when i cook lentils.

Note: It's the one for Sausages and Green Lentils.

iahawk89 wrote:Caramelized Onions and Lentils

8 oz of cooked lentils (usually just in some chicken broth)
2 onions, chopped
2 T. tomato paste
1 1/2 c. chicken broth
salt, pepper, and cayenne

Slowly cook the onions in 1 T. each butter and olive oil until caramelized and deep brown. Add the tomato paste and broth to the onions and cook down until about half the liquid is gone. Add lentils back to the pan and season according to taste. Heat to serving temperature.

Even my kids eat this one.

Thanks to everyone for the recipe suggestions! This was the first I made and it was delicious...and quick. (Made that much quicker because I had some Trader Joe's pre-cooked lentils and homemade caramelized onions in the freezer.) It's a great recipe that could be easily adapted...I could see adding some diced ham or sausage and the seasoning could be adjusted according to other items on the menu (rosemary for a more Italian or French-inspired dish, cumin for something Indian or North African, etc.).

I love lentils and eat them in various ways... Here is one preparation I posted on many moons ago...

viewtopic.php?p=64580#p64580
Salsiccie diverse con le lenticchie
Embutidos diversos con las lentejas
Salsitxes diverses amb les llentilles
Lentils (made with a battuto and a touch of tomato) and four different kinds of sausage, namely, Riojano chorizo, morcilla (blood sausage, in this case Argentine), Catalan botifarra and Italian fennel-flavoured sausage:


Antonius