On Saturday night, I cooked up some lentils and rice. I posted about it to FB and one of my cousins asked how I cooked them. After typing up a lengthy reply, I’ve decided to post it here, in case any of you folks are interested.
Lentils are nice because they don’t need to soak. However, I do always rinse them. When I made them the other day, I made lentils and rice that turned out almost like a Mujadara (that’s a Middle Eastern dish). I don’t usually measure when cooking so I have no exact amounts to give you, though I’m sure if you googled Mujadara or Mujaddara, you’d find plenty of exact recipes.
I poured some lentils into a big pot and add enough water to cover plus maybe an inch or so. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. You don’t have to stir, but I did a couple of times, just because our stove tends to run hot and I didn’t want it to burn.
After 15 minutes, I added some rice (I used white, because it’s what I had, but I would’ve preferred some basmati, I think… not that the white rice was bad, just that the basmati is more flavorful) and more water (enough to cover, plus an inch or so). Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. I checked on it every five minutes, stirring each time (yes, it makes the rice more sticky, but it works well with the lentils). These cooked for somewhere between 15 to 20 minutes. Just wait till all the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked how you like it.
Then, I chopped up an onion. Half of it was chopped into little pieces, the other half in “rings”. I sauteed the onions until translucent and mixed the chopped pieces into the rice/lentil mixture. I kept cooking the rings till they were nice and brown and used them to top the dish with.
I seasoned everything with salt, pepper, cumin, and cinnamon. However, you can use whatever seasonings that you’re comfortable with.
Later, after I’d had my dinner, I set aside some in a tupperware container. Then, with what was left in the pot (I made a lot so that I’d have stuff for work for a few days), I added a can of sliced mushrooms, a can of tomato sauce, and a can of diced tomatoes. I bought two green peppers (they were on sale 2 for $1.00) . I will be putting some of the mixture into the peppers, cooking on 350F until the peppers just start to soften. I think it’ll make a tasty lunch tomorrow and some other meal, too. Plus there will probably be leftovers, still.
The whole thing cost me less than $10, including the rice and lentils.
In retrospect, the only thing I’d change is to divide the rice BEFORE seasoning it. The cumin/cinnamon is good, but seems slightly out of place to my taste buds with all the tomato-y stuff. It’s not bad, just not what I’d normally do.
