Lentils – Dinner under Ten Bucks
January 14, 2009
As some of you may have noticed, I’ve been losing some steam. I can easily live without meat, but I’m really missing my dairy and wheat.
I wanted to try something new for dinner and Meghan suggested dahl.
Suddenly, I remembered that I had a really easy recipe from my aunt and I’m going to share it with you.
One onion chopped.
Two tomatoes chopped.
One to two cloves of garlic chopped
One tsp. each of cumin, chile and turmeric.
4 ounces of red lentils rinsed
1.5-2 cups of vegetable stock (or water).
I put all of the ingredients into my slow cooker and let it simmer until the lentils appeared swollen (about one hour). The prep time is about 10 minutes.
Entry Filed under: 12 Grain Program, Diet Rehab, Eat Like Me, Food, Health, Meghan Telpner, Recipes, Vegetarian. Tags: cheap dinner, Dahl, easy dinner, lentils.
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1.
Jen | January 14, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Mmm, I’ve been thinking about dahl lately – I think I’ll try your recipe tonight!
Way back when, I had a roommate from Pakistan who quite honestly lived on dahl and white rice (every single day for dinner and sometimes lunch). While I don’t recommend following suit, I do recommend his method of preparation if you want to expand your dahl repertoire
Cook rinsed red lentils in boiling salted water until they completely fall apart and form a mush that is not too thick (it should be just thin enough to pour from a spoon – if not, add a bit more water). When the lentils are cooked, turn the heat down to the lowest setting.
In a small frying pan, heat 1-2 tbsp of sunflower oil or other oil with a high smoke point. Add a spoonful of cumin, turmeric, ground coriander, garam masala, and chili pepper if you’re craving heat – or if these aren’t on-hand, use a store-bought curry powder – and start frying. After a few seconds, add 3-4 chopped cloves of garlic (my roommate actually tossed them in whole). Fry just until the garlic is soft, taking care not to burn the spices. Pour into the cooked dahl – love that sizzle! – and stir. You can eat it right away, or let the flavours mingle a bit longer.
To serve, spoon a generous amount over your choice of starch and veg. Rice is classic, and it’s quite nice with steamed broccoli. But my all-time favourite is with potatoes and cauliflower – both pan fried until they’re golden and a bit crispy. If frying is off the menu, I think roast potatoes and cauliflower would also be good. Sprinkle some fresh cilantro (coriander) on top if you have it, and serve with sliced tomato for freshness. What’s nice about this type of meal is that it gets you away from the “one-pot” approach, which is convenient and satisfying but can sometimes get to feel boring if you do it every day.
2.
Liz | January 14, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Jen: this sounds great! I love the thought of hot curry over cauliflower and potato!
3.
Breanna | January 15, 2009 at 8:19 am
Mmmm Jen, I think I’m going to make that tonight!