Help me learn to use/cook Lentils

[daisymommy]

I feel silly saying this, but I haven't cooked Lentils before.  I'm afraid of what they taste like, and never grew up eating them.  But I want to!  Do they taste similar to beans?  Is the texture the same?

So, I know that I have seen many recipes where you use them in place of ground beef, or mixed in along with it.  Can anyone tell me how to incorporate them into Tacos, Chilli, and Sloppy Joes (1 lb. ground beef used), how much to use, how to cook, etc.?

How do you fix them if eaten as a side dish?

Thanks!

[sunnygir1]

We eat most of our lentils as soup.  They do taste similar to beans and have a similar texture; I find them quite mild in flavor (but I grew up eating them).

I just make the soup like any other -- sautee onions, celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, salt, pepper, add water or stock (I prefer chicken stock) and cooked lentils.  You can boil or pressure cook the lentils, but they do not take nearly as long as beans, so be careful not to wind up with mush.  I use regular green (actually tan/brown in color) lentils for this recipe.  You can also add other veg and herbs like green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, rosemary or thyme or parsley.

I have fairly recently found two other lentil recipes that I love.  Curried red lentils with cauliflower (made with the very fast-cooking red lentils) and warm lentil salad with lemon dressing (made with small French green lentils).

I also love dahl, an Indian soup that is usually made with red lentils.  It is generally quite thick and simply flavored, making it a great accompaniment to other foods.

I haven't made them in years, but my sister and I used to make lentil burgers all the time, often with walnuts.  We were vegetarian, so there was no meat involved, and I've never mixed beef and lentils.  (It actually doesn't sound that good to me.)

At a friend's Christmas party I ate a really yummy dish that she said was sort of a cross between a lentil burger recipe and a falafel recipe (generally made with garbanzo beans).  She made them into little balls that she served with a dipping sauce.  I loved them, and even better, so did my 1yo son!

[daisymommy]

So if I put lentils into soup I need to cook them first?  I can't just pour a cup into simmering broth, the way I would with pasta or rice? 

[sunnygir1]

Depends on the lentils.  I wouldn't do it with the regular green/brown lentils because they take a while to cook and I wouldn't want my veggies to get over-cooked.  Just like with beans, older lentils take longer to cook, and it's hard to know how old they are.

You could definitely do that with red lentils because they cook very quickly.

[Aithnea]

I make Lentils and Fried Onions all the time (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lentils-and-Rice-with-Fried-Onions-Mujadarrah/Detail.aspx).  It's a quick, easy, nutritious dish.  Usually when I make is I saute some spinach and stack everything in this order: Rice, Lentils, Spinach, Yogurt, Onions.  I'll mix it all together in the bowl but DH eats them in layers.

[Magelet]

Once upon a time, I was A Person Who Did NOT Like Lentils.  Now, I love them.  I think the key is proper preparation, and the right type of lentil for the job.

I like french green lentils (which hold their shape well) soaked overnight, cooked until tender with a couple cloves of garlic, drained, cooled, and tossed in a 1:1 apple cider vinegar/olive oil dressing with lots of salt and some molasses in it. (Beans need lots of salt, acid, and oil to taste great), and mix in summer veggies (tomatos, cucumbers, peppers, carrots, celery) though it's good with just celery and carrots, and feta.

I like brown or green lentils cooked until tender in water or broth, with sauteed onions, even better with sauted diced carrots and celery, but fine with just onions, maybe some thyme (fresh or dried), some garlic, some vinegar and salt. I add more water or broth for soupy lentils, less for side dish lentils.  They're super yummy with little meatballs of beef or lamb (I don't eat pork, pork might be good) thrown in too, but usually I don't have those, since that's expensive.

I like red lentils curried.  Cook in water or broth and coconut milk until they've changed color and are soft. They don't have any structural integrity and will turn into sort of a mush. you can blend or not. Mix in some commercial curry paste (I like it with yellow curry paste), garlic, ginger if you have it, sauteed onions (almost everything I make has sauteed onions), coconut milk, salt, a little fat and some lime juice.  You can add veggies and/or meat if you like, greens are good in it, but it's also good just as curried lentils.  (You can also make an Indian curry rather than a Thai curry by using curry powder and Indian curry spices, and lemon juice instead.)

I will often saute my onions in my lentil cooking pot, then add the lentils and liquid, so that it's a 1 pot dish.  You just don't want to add acid or salt to the beans until the beans have fully cooked because it will prevent them from cooking. Once they are soft and tender, you can salt and add acid.

[tryingfortwo]

I don't cook with lentils a lot, but I do have a recipe that I LOVE!  Like I would eat the whole dish of it, it's so yummy!  I know it's been posted here before, and I've adapted it slightly, but it's super easy and soooo tasty!  I serve it with roasted sweet potato and cauliflower - I just cut up the sweet potato and cauliflower into bite size pieces, toss with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and then roast at 400F for about 20 mintues, turning once or twice.  Usually I start the lentils abuot an hour earlier, at 350F, and then I turn the oven up to 400F, put the veggies on the bottom rack, and bake everything for another 20-30 minutes.

Honey Baked Lentils

1 cup red lentils, washed and drained
2 cups water
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp Braggs Amino Acids or soy sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a baking dish. Cover, and bake at 350F until tender, about 1.5 to 2 hours.