Tell Me About Lentils, Please.

[mechtilde]

Linsensuppe:

1 medium onion, ¼- ½ a root of celeriac, 2 medium carrots, 2 small or one large leek, and a small bunch of parsley. Cut into small dice or slices.  add about 200g green lentils, 2 tblsp tomato paste and two medium sized diced potatoes. Cook all in stock until soft then mash a little. Reheat, adding frankfurters at this stage.

[Me]

Getting lots of good recipe ideas here which I'll have to try.

I normally cook them up Italian style in water (1:3 ratio of lentils to water) with olive oil, garlic cloves, chili, stock cube and sometimes a can of tomatoes/fresh ripe tomatoes. I let it cook gently for about 1/2 hr or until all the water is absorbed and they are tender.  They are great by themselves or I'll often add some tuna to them for lunch. 

[SamiHami]

Wow! These are some awesome sounding recipes! I made my first lentil recipe yesterday and it came out great. I'm glad to say that I apparently do like lentils so I will be trying some of the ideas on this thread soon!

Here's what I made, in case anyone would like to try it:

Moroccan Chicken and Lentils

2 cups chopped carrots
1.5 cups dried lentils (I used green lentils and they stayed nice and firm...not mushy at all)
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
3 TB minced garlic
3/4 tsp salt
1.5 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cayenne
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 cups of fat free, low salt chicken broth

Place all ingredients in the order listed in crock pot. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours. Or, cover and cook on high for 1 hour, reduce to low and cook 7 more hours.

This was very easy and came out really well. My DH absolutely loves it.

[EllenS]

We got a recipe for carrot, ginger and lentil soup from a friend - she said it was what they were served in Italy as a traditional New Year's "good luck" dish.  There are lots of recipes for that combination online.  Really yummy - we don't cook it till the lentils dissolve, we like them with a little texture.