Stewed Lentils & Tomatoes

I made this virtuous-seeming vegetarian dish for dinner to atone for a day spent gorging on cake. It tasted anything but penance-y, though: this is really yummy, with a nice stick-to-your-ribs quality which often seems to be lacking in vegetarian dishes.

The recipe below is slightly adapted from the one I found at smittenkitchen.com, which adapted it from Barefoot Contessa at Home.

Ingredients

~2 tablespoons good olive oil


2 cups large-diced onions (~2 onions)


2 cups large-diced carrots (3 to 4 carrots)


4 cloves-worth minced garlic


1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes


1 cup French green lentils

2 cups water

1 vegetable boullion cube


2 teaspoons mild curry powder


2/3 teaspoon dried thyme


1.5 teaspoons salt


1/4 teaspoon pepper


1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

To make

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or medium stockpot. Add the onions and the carrots and cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. Add the garlic and cook for one minute more.

Add the tomatoes, lentils, water, boullion cube, curry powder, thyme, salt and pepper to the pot. Break up the tomatoes as much as possible using the wooden spoon.

Raise the heat to bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer covered for about 40 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Check occasionally to be sure the liquid is still simmering. Remove from the heat and allow the lentils to sit covered for another 10 minutes. Add the vinegar, season to taste and serve hot.

Red Lentil Soup

Made this last night for dinner. I'm on a bit of a lentil kick lately, mostly because I've got loads of them in my cupboard that I want to use up (among other dried goods - stay tuned for a recipe incorporating barley in the near future!) I slightly modified the recipe found here. I like this one because I happened to have almost all the components sitting in my cupboard or fridge already - just needed to pop out and buy an onion.

Ingredients:
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 3/4 cups split red lentils
7 1/2 cups water
a chicken bouillon packet
salt and pepper
1 tsp cumin
~2 tablespoons lemon juice (from a bottle, cuz I had some in the fridge)

To make:
1. Put the onion bits, lentils, water, bouillon, and a little salt and pepper in a large pot. Simmer 1/2 hour, or until the lentils have disintegrated.
2. Stir in cumin and lemon juice and adjust seasoning to taste.

As usual, I ate this with a couple slices of whole wheat sourdough toast. And there's loads of it, so I'll be eating it for lunch all week.

Brown Lentil Soup w/Rosemary

This easy, inexpensive soup is perfect for lunch, and smells really good as it cooks.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion
3 carrots
3 celery stalks
1 cup of dried brown lentils, rinsed
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried rosemary (or 1 tbs. minced fresh rosemary)
1 tsp red wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Preparation:
1. Cut up the veggies. Chop up the onion, thinly slice the carrots and celery.
2. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.
3. Add the veggies to the pot, heating for a few minutes (and stirring often) until softened a bit.
4. Add 4 cups of water, plus the lentils, the bay leaf, the rosemary, and the red wine vinegar. Bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for ~ a half hour, until lentils are tender.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste. Discard bay leaf.

Enjoy with crusty bread or toast.