Healthy Cooking: The pantry staple you didn’t know you need
A bag of dried lentils is an inexpensive, indestructible pantry staple. It’s also a nutritional superhero, ready to transform into healthy, delicious meals at a moment’s notice.
But, if you grew up in a strictly meat-and-potatoes kitchen, you might not know how to prepare dried lentils. Friends, I promise you, it’s easy. To help you get the hang of it, we’ll make mujadara, a lentil-and-rice dish that spins humble ingredients into a good — and good for you — meal.
How much time do you have? If it’s a lazy Sunday afternoon, start your mujadara adventure by caramelizing onions. Cook them low and slow, until you have a pile of syrupy sweet flavor bombs. On the other hand, if it’s a frantic weeknight, and you’re already feeling hangry, give your onions a 5-minute saute and move on. Mujadara is very forgiving.
Add the caramelized (or not) onions to your pot of lentils, rice and broth of choice, and let the whole shebang simmer until the lentils and rice are soft and infused with flavor. Just like that, you have a comfort meal, with 35 grams of protein and 16 grams of fiber, for less than the cost of a latte.
Lentils are the star of this vegetarian dish, but they also are happy to be the helpful, money-stretching sidekick in your family’s beloved ground beef recipes. Replace up to half of the red meat in chili, tacos or Bolognese sauce with your new favorite ingredient, and enjoy the benefits to your diet, and your wallet.
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 tablespoon butter (for vegan mujadara, replace butter with 1 additional tablespoon canola oil)
- 2 large yellow onions, sliced thinly
- ⅛ teaspoon table salt
- 1 quart low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 cup dried brown or green lentils, rinsed and picked through
- 1¼ cup brown basmati rice, rinsed
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- ¼ cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt (optional)
- Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to brown, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are dark brown and syrupy, about 30 minutes more. Turn off the heat.
- Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add the lentils, rice and 1 cup of the caramelized onions. Stir, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Allow the lentil mixture to simmer, without stirring, for 30 minutes, until the broth is absorbed and the lentils and rice are tender.
- Spoon the lentil mixture onto a serving dish, top with the remaining caramelized onions, and garnish with fresh cilantro. Serves six.
Nutritional information
Per serving: Per serving, without optional yogurt: 653 calories (percent of calories from fat, 9), 35 grams protein, 116 grams carbohydrates, 16 grams fiber, 7 grams total fat (2 grams saturated), 5 milligrams cholesterol, 202 milligrams sodium.Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.
