Friday, December 4, 2009

Home Ec. Project

In my efforts to cut the family grocery budget we have implemented a vegetarian night, sandwich night, and a fairly regular left-over night. This has blessed me with opportunities to get creative in the kitchen as convincing a meat'n'potatos man that food can exist without a slab of flesh making up it's core. (Paul has been wonderfully supportive, but 'eggplant sandwiches' is a stretch for him) So here brings me to my 'Eleanor 'of cuisine: lentils! I have long since held a desire to conquer these wonderful food-ish items, but haven't discovered a way to make them palatable to Paul in a, clear your plate and ask for more, sort of way. Any ideas? I'm up for soups, side dishes, etc. so please post away! I'll let you know how the results turn out...
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3 comments:

  1. JillDecember 5, 2009 at 7:49 AM

    I love lentils, and they were a go to food after I found out about my food allergies. Daniel and I both really liked this soup. It has more pep than your typical lentil soup.

    Curried Lentil Soup

    1 cup lentils
    1 onion, chopped
    2 celery stalks (I don't always add these)
    4 garlic cloves, minced
    1 tsp. whole cumin seed or 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
    8 cups Vegetable Broth
    1/2 cup uncooked couscous (I used brown rice)
    1 cup crushed tomatoes
    1-1.5 tsp. curry powder
    1/8 tsp. black pepper
    1 tsp. salt

    Combine lentils, onion, celery, garlic, cumin seed, and broth in a large pot. Bring to a simmer, then cover losely and cook until lentils are tender, about 50 minutes.

    Stir in couscous, crushed tomatoes, curry powder, and black pepper. Continue cooking until couscous is tender about 10 minutes. Add salt to taste. (If you're using brown rice, you should add it when you add the lentils, because it takes a long time to cook).

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  2. AnonymousDecember 5, 2009 at 4:18 PM

    Good job on your budgeting implementations! Eric is not a fan of lentils either. Like, not at all. But I've put lentils in with other legumes like pinto and kidney beans in chili and he didn't mind them then. And Ruth has a yummy ham and lentil recipe somewhere on her blog!

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  3. gracelacedDecember 10, 2009 at 10:07 PM

    I'm so glad you asked about lentils, because I really do love them...and I'm not sure how other people eat them, but this is what I do, and the five men approve.
    http://www.gracelaced.com/2009/02/23/leftover-ham-n-lentils-and-ice-cream/

    Ruth

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