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Fun With Lentils |
 Peas and Lentils are healthy and tasty
with a variety of foods
Mind Your Peas and
Lentils
Lentils comes in many different colors:
red, yellow, green, and brown. Lentils and split peas enjoy a singular advantage over
other legumes: they cook-up fast and need no pre-soaking. The smaller the bean, the
smoother and creamier they cook up.
For some reason, I
have encountered vegetarians who tend to cook relatively large brown lentils into a
semi-dry brown mush resembling refried beans. Then they add gobs of stuck-together rice,
making it even stodgier. I have discovered better ways to prepare smoother
and tastier lentils.
How to Cook Them
I like lentils cooked to a more creamy
consistency. That is why I prefer the Indian style yellow lentil/dahl. When cooked it is
similar to split pea soup.
Lentils, as with
any legume, should be cooked in water. Do not add salt, oil, veggies, meat or spices until
the end. I have heard that a little baking soda and vinegar decrease gaseousness, but I
simply skim the foam until the beans are fully cooked. Another way to cut the gas is to
soak the beans for about 12 hours, but change the water before cooking.
You can use two
cups of water per cup of lentils. These proportions are based on cooking with the pot cover
on. This way, it will cook a little faster, use less energy, and perhaps retain more
vitamins.
Bring the
concoction to a boil, then turn the down the flame to medium-low. Make sure it does not
boil over during the first half hour or so of cooking. If it gets too thick, add
more water. The beans are cooked when they burst and the water turns syrupy. Only at
this point is it possible to add stuff to it.
Onion Lentils
Cook lentils as described above. Chop up
two medium onions. Several cloves of garlic and several stalks of celery (chopped up)
may also be added at the same time. In a frying pan on a low to medium heat, caramelize
the veggies (that is slow cook them with a generous amount of oil in a heavy skillet
until they begin to crisp). Then add them to the fully cooked lentils.
Add salt
and pepper. Turn off the heat and replace lid. Allow flavors to marry for 5-10 minutes.
More You Can Add
In addition to the above veggies, mushrooms (fresh
or re-hydrated) may also be added. You can add olive oil, butter, cream, or
evaporated milk. Chill. Drain or drink any excess water that forms on top as the lentils
cool and separate. The pot should not be stirred after this point. Once cooled, it can
slide out of the pot like a mold of salmon mousse. NOTE: The trick is
to cook the lentils as thick as possible while still being a little soupy.
Lentil Dahl
Cook up some Indian curry or curry paste
in butter or ghee (ghee is clarified butter). You can add a spoonful of Indian
Curry paste to the dahl.
More on the Littlest Legumes
A pot of cooked lentils and a companion
pot of rice can be cooked in about 40 minutes. If you do not mind leftovers, you can cook
extra and refrigerate them. You can use it for a number of meals over the next several days.
For each meal, add
some fresh, chopped veggies, oil, vinegar, and other condiment mixtures as you re-heat a
serving size portion. NOTE: It is not good to keep reheating
the same portion.
Plain yellow
lentil soup may be added as a filler to spaghetti carbonara or can be
added to a curried lentil lamb stew. Cooked brown lentils also work as a ground beef
substitute in tomato sauce.
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by Zachary Barowitz,
Hearts and Minds Volunteer
© Copyrights: photos by COREL, this web page and entire website © Copyright:
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http://www.heartsandminds.org/food/lentils.htm -
latest text changes February 23, 2006. |