Friday, January 13, 2006

Onions and Lentil Rice


Onion and Lentil Rice
Originally uploaded by britton618.
This is one of those cheap recipes you can make when the tax man cometh, or when you have to buy textbooks that are $125 each. Used.
It's also a fairly healthy vegetarian meal, and with the additions of lentils has a mondo amount of protein in it, and is a very filling dish.
I used red lentils, and when cooked in this dish, they become almost completely soft, adding a lovely texture to the rice, making it almost risotto-esque. These are also items that most people have in stock in their kitchen.

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp cumin powder
1 tbsp minced garlic (I only had the jar stuff on hand)
2 onions, quartered and sliced
5 c water
1 c lentils
1 c rice
1 tsp salt

Heat oil in skillet and start sauteing onions, garlic, and 1 tsp cumin. At the same time, in large pot, add water and lentils, and boil 15-20 minutes.
When onions become lightly browned, take 1/3 of the onions and add them to the pot, along with rice, salt, cumin. Bring to a boil, and simmer 15 minutes, or until rice is tender.
Finish browning onions until they are dark brown. When rice is finished, remove from heat, and stir in the remaining onions. Allow to sit, covered, for 15 minutes. Serve.

3 comments:

Special Sauce said...

You? Making me hungry.
Yarr.
Must make rice and lentils.
Must make Roasted Cauliflower.

Anonymous said...

I've got a great big bowl of this sitting next to me as I type...mmmmm The only thing I'll do differently next time, is to add more onions. Otherwise, this is amazing and exactly what I needed to ease into my new vegetarian lifestyle! Thank you!

Special Sauce said...

I just made a batch of this, and when Lent is over, I recommend making this again, with some new additions. Add a whopping helping of curry powder with the cumin, a pinch of turmeric, add a carton of sliced mushrooms with the onions (just pick them out when you add the onions to the simmering rice) and add a little chopped frozen spinach for color.

YUM. The original is super tasty, this? Even better.