Lentils are a popular legume for vegetarian and vegan cooking because they are easy to find and cook. Try the recipes below to learn how to cook lentils in different ways.
What Exactly Are Lentils?
In the legume family, lentils are a small, oval-shaped member called a "pulse." These legumes have a lot of protein, making them the third most protein-rich legumes out there, after soybeans and hemp, after all. Lentils are great on their own or as a side dish with fish or roasted vegetables.
They can be added to salads and hearty soups to make them more nutritious and gluten-free. Most people like red, green, and brown lentils with slightly different sizes, tastes, and textures. These three types of lentils are the most common. Yellow lentils, black beluga lentils, and French lentils are some of the less common lentils.
You can use them to make curries (also known as le puy, ideal for salads). Lentils are a good source of protein, iron, magnesium, B vitamins, and potassium. They also have a lot of other nutrients. Slow-burning carbs, like lentils, are also found in them.
How to Make Lentils
Make lentils by following these three steps
Clean:
It doesn't matter how long you soak lentils before cooking because they don't need to be. It would help if you washed your lentils in cold water. Please put them in a bowl of water and wash them to get rid of any dirt or pebbles.
Simmer:
In a pot of water on the stove, cook the lentils. Let them simmer until they are cooked through and soft, then remove them from the pot. People cook lentils in different ways: Generally, red, yellow, green, and brown lentils can be cooked in fifteen or twenty minutes, while black ones can be cooked for a few hours.
Drain:
Drain the soft lentils in a colander to make veggie burgers or put them on top of the salad. If you want to make soup or stew, you don't need to drain the lentils first. Add the aromatics as the lentils are cooking.
Dried lentils have a long shelf life and can be kept in an airtight container in a cool, dark, dry place for years.
8 Recipes for Hearty Lentils
Look at these recipes to make a healthy main dish for a quick weeknight meal. The following recipes are for cooking on the stove, but you can change them to fit your slow cooker:
Vegan bolognese:
An Italian dish called a bolognese is a meat sauce with pasta in Italy. Use red lentils, quinoa, and mushrooms instead of ground meat in this recipe for vegan bolognese, which is very tasty. Some of the other ingredients in the sauce are wine, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, vegetable broth, and oat milk. These ingredients give the sauce a rich depth of flavor. Lentil meatballs can also be made. Then, cook them in the same sauce recipe to make spaghetti and meatballs.
Mujadara:
Mujadara is a gluten-free pilaf made with brown or green lentils, long-grain or basmati rice, and caramelized onions. It's usually seasoned with cumin and coriander and served warm, chilled, or at room temperature as a side dish. There are many dishes in Middle Eastern cuisine that use rice and lentils to make a lot of protein. Indian khichdi, for example, uses rice and lentils to make a lot of protein.
Lentil soup:
One-pot red lentil soup can be made with orange or yellow lentils. Add the garlic and leeks to olive oil and cook them until soft. Then add the stock and lentils and cook them until the lentils are done. Add kale and stir until it's wilted, then add salt and pepper to taste.
Lentil salad:
Many fresh herbs and lemon juice are used in this lentil salad. It tastes good. When you cook one cup of lentils, add one tablespoon of lemon juice, a handful of fresh herbs, and about 1/4 cup chopped red onion or shallot salt and pepper to taste. A yogurt sauce like tzatziki or raita can be served with fish or another main dish.
Moong dal and red lentils:
People in India use the word dal to describe a broad group of split pulses, like lentils, peas, and beans, and the spicy stews they are most often used in. It can also be spelled daal or dahl. When dal is served, it can be topped with fresh herbs like cilantro leaves or yogurt, and it can be eaten with a flatbread like roti or chapatis to scoop it up. It can also be served with other foods, like rice or bread. To make lentils like the one chef Madhur Jaffrey has made, you need both mung beans and red lentils. It would help if you also had red chilis and browned onions.
Black bean burger:
There are many different types of black bean burgers. They are made with cooked black beans and a filling like eggs, grains, quinoa, lentils, or bread crumbs to hold them together. Some recipes also add diced sweet potato, bell pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, or other vegetables to add extra flavor and weight to the dish. This is how it works: You can serve black bean burger patties with all the usual toppings, like toasted hamburger buns, lettuce, tomato, and sliced red onion.
You can also serve them with ketchup and barbecue sauce, as well as cheese. To make your burgers gluten-free, use a lettuce wrap instead of a bun to hold them together. Black bean veggie burgers are made with no meat, but you can make them completely vegan by omitting the eggs and leaving the cheese. This recipe is very simple.
Lentil stew:
If you like hearty food, this one-pot spicy lentil stew is right up your alley. It has diced potatoes, onions, red pepper, and celery, as well as collard greens, cut up. It's time to cook the aromatics and vegetables in olive oil, so start with that. It's then time to add the spices: black pepper and cumin. Then, add tomato paste. Next, add the lentils, the water, and the stock and cook for 30 minutes.
Dal makhani:
Dal makhani is a dish from Punjabi or North Indian cuisine. It comes from the same region as Indian butter chicken, another favorite dish. Dal makhani, which means "buttery lentils," is a creamy, tomato-based vegetarian stew that can be served as a main and side dish.
This dish has whole black lentils (also called black gram lentils). Red kidney beans (rajma), butter, and cream are also used to make it. Indian spices like garam masala and bay leaf are added to the tomato-based sauce to make the beans and lentils taste even better. There's a swirl of heavy cream mixture into the dal when it's done to give it a coppery look.
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