Rice and Lentils (Not so Boring, I promise)

I know that rice and lentils are served all over the world, what could they have done that made me so happy?

Well, watching ALL of my children happily eat their fill of rice and lentils today, that's what. Seriously, I have been serving a variation of rice and lentils pretty often, for several years. But never, that is, never, have my kids been so willing to eat it up. And I did NOT starve them all day. I promise.

So here goes:

Rice: lazy cook's rice: Place about 1/3 of a bag or rice into a casserole dish,  add 1/4 c. ground flaxseed, 1-2 tsp olive oil (I didn't measure, sorry) and 1/4 tsp salt. Pour in water to cover and then some. Cover the dish and bake at 425 for at least an hour (probably an hour and a quarter). This worked REALLY well with the Whole Grain Round Rice I found on sale somewhere.

Lentils: 1 onion, diced, 1 clove garlic, diced, 1/2 red pepper, diced, 1 small tomato, diced. Heat olive oil in pan and add all those diced goodies. Cook till beginning to brown (don't forget to stir). Add 1/2 kg lentils (sorted, rinsed, you know the drill!), 200g tomato paste, about 4-6 cups of water, salt, cayenne pepper, and some parsley (that was an impulse. but it worked). Stir well, and bring to a boil. Lower flame, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until fully cooked. The lentils will be soft, the water will be mostly absorbed. You may have to add another cup of water during this process if your lentils aren't quite done.
Serve hot, with tortilla chips if you can. Tastes great with tortilla chips!

(We also had some soup tonight - potato/vegetable.)

Wednesday night - November 9, 2011

How about a one pot meal?

Lentil, Rice, and Butternut Squash Stew, served with Pitot on the side.

Here's my stew, but you can change it up and be as creative as you'd like:


Onions, Garlic, Red peppers, Carrots, Potatoes, and Butternut Squash - diced and sauteed in olive oil. Add lentils and rice (sorted and rinsed), vegetable stock and spices to taste (I used salt, pepper, and oregano. I happen to think that oregano complements lentils and rice really well.) The quantities are so arbitrary, depending on the size of your pot. I used a rather large pot for this stew and used 1-2 onions, 2 cloves of garlic, whatever sliced carrots and peppers were in my fridge from earlier in the day, 2 potatoes, 1 butternut squash, 1/3 of bag of rice, and 1/2 a bag of lentils.

Tuesday Night, Aug 30, 2011

Today I decided I have to work on getting my family to eat more lentils - they are an amazingly frugal source of protein! My oldest son requested rice, so I figured it was a classic combination.


However, my family members don't really like rice and lentils together, so I had to get creative.
Here's what I came up with:

Choice of:
Brown Rice 
Whole Wheat Spaghetti


Sauteed vegetables with red lentils in tomato sauce


Fresh fruit

Tuesday Night, July 12, 2011

Still trying to avoid the supermarket! How much longer can we do this!?

I know that if I don't go buy some fresh fruit tomorrow I will have a mutiny on my hands...

In the meantime, using foods we have here in the house, here's the supper plan:

Cornbread

Rice and Lentils

Roasted Eggplant and Zucchini (have a couple of these hanging out in the fridge that MUST get used!) (served cold)

Spinach Quiche (I have a bag of frozen spinach hanging out in the freezer; this may end up being a crustless quiche. depends how busy the day gets!)