Lentils

Lentils are essential ... basic, beautiful & flexible. I lose my recipes, can't remember which one is where. So here are five lentil dishes where I can find them. (Be sure to sort your lentils. I have found tiny stones.)

We had this last night:

Lentils with smoked paprika

Heat 1 T. extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet.

Add:

1 onion, chopped fine

1 medium carrot, chopped fine

2 crushed garlic cloves

Cook until tender, 5-8 minutes. Stir to keep from burning.

Add:

1 C lentils

2 t. smoked paprika

Salt & pepper to taste (I use a little less than a teaspoon of salt.)

Mix, then add:

2 1/2 C. water

Boil, then cover & simmer until tender, about 25 minutes. Don't cook too long or the lentils lose shape.

That's it. Serve with chopped chives. I sautéed two sliced Italian sausages & mixed that in at the last minute. We had sherry vinegar, olive oil & goat cheese on the table too.

Curried lentil soup

Fry in olive oil until soft:

4 to 6 onions, chopped

2 to 4 green peppers, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

Add:

1 t. turmeric

1 t. cumin

1 t. coriander

1 t. chili powder

1/4 t. cloves

1 t. fresh ginger, grated, or 1/2 t. dry ginger

1 t. salt, or to taste

Cook, stirring, for a minute or two.

Mix in 2 to 3 cups cooked lentils and a quart of canned tomatoes. Cook at least a half-hour, until the flavors blend the way you like it.

Serve with lemon juice and chopped cilantro. (Clark loathes cilantro, so we serve it way to the side.)

Megadarra

I got this from p. 275 of A Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden. Mine is deliciously tattered.

Cook lentils until tender.

Fry finely chopped onions in oil until soft & golden.

Add to lentils & season with salt & pepper.

Add 1 C. rice & 2 C. water (or less if there is lentil liquid.) Season again and simmer about 20 minutes, until rice is soft. Fry more onions -- sliced into half moons this time -- until they are dark brown, almost caramelized. Serve the rice and lentils on a large shallow dish, garnished with fried onions. Serve hot or cold, with yogurt.

Goat Cheese & Lentil Salad (from The Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook)

2 C. French lentils (Clark & I went to France, where we bought the tiny green ones in LePuy, the mountain town famous for lentils -- and I don't see much difference, if any. I use plain brown lentils. 

1 t. salt

10-12 sprigs Italian parsley

6 to 8 cloves garlic

12 to 15 sprigs basil

1 carrot

1 red onion

1 celery rib

1 to 1 1/2 C. virgin olive oil

8 ounces goat cheese

1/2 C. snipped chives

1/3 to 1/2 C. strong red wine vinegar

ground black pepper

salt

Pick over lentils, rinse, and barely cover with water in a saucepan. Add 1 t. salt. Make bouquet garni by ting 6 to 8 sprgs parsley, some of the basil, & 3 or 4 cloves of unpeeled garlic, slightly crushed, in cheesecloth. Add to lentils and bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Simmer 10 minutes.

Dice the carrot, celery, and onion. Add to lentils. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes, until lentils are barely done. If necessary add hot water, 1/4 C. at a time, to keep lentils from sticking.

Discard bouquet garni. Toss lentils with 1/3 C. olive oil.

Crumble cheese into a bowl & add the remaining parsley, minced, & garlic cloves, peeled. Add lentils. Add 1/2 C. olive oil, 1/3 C. vinegar, & pepper. Toss & add salt to taste. Refrigerate at least two hours (I often don't). Just before serving add more vinegar, oil, salt, &/or pepper, if you like. Serve with tomatoes & garnish with basil. (I usually stir in lots of toasted walnut halves.)

Lentil soup with or without ham

Pick over  1 bag lentils (about 3 cups) and rinse. Put them in a big pot with a good ham bone and one large onion, studded with six whole cloves. Chop another onion and sauté it with a couple cloves of garlic. Add to lentils. Add a large can chicken broth, and about 4 cups of water, 2 carrots and whatever else seems right -- celery, peeled & chopped potatoes, bay leaf. Bring to boil, then simmer. Taste. Salt if necessary. Cook on the back burner until you like it, between a half-hour and four hours. At the end you can add chorizo and/or greens, like chard, escarole, or spinach. You can also purée some of it (I love my immersion blender for this). It is also fine without the ham bone.