Right - beginner lentil recipes please. It's a whole new world...

[OhBling]

DP likes lentils. I like lentils. I am sure they're very healthy and good for me with lots of positives like offering the choice of eating less pasta.

But...

I have a weird, totally irrational, fear of them. I don't know how to cook them, how to flavour them, what to do with them. Every cook book says lentils should be a mainstay of your cupboards - I have lentils. They do nothing but look at me reproachfully in their glass jars.

Help needed please. We are not fussy eaters so easy, tasty lentil recipes gratefully accepted.

I feel exactly the same as you

We are veggie and almost never eat lentils, I certainly never cook with them

The only 2 things I use lentils for is either dahl or burgers tbh.

What sort of lentils do you have?

some green ones (little) and some red ones. Am happy to buy more. I eat lentils in restaurants and like them. So it's just about getting over my irrational fear. I got over irrational fear of cooking fish so I can definitely do this. And DP is mediterranean for pete's sake- lentils are practically in his blood!

Some simple starting points:
www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/gorecs1.html
www.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/vegetables/vegetarian/lentil-coll.html
www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/lentilcurry_83629.shtml

Am making a carrot and red lentil soup at the moment. I have made it before and it is lovely. Good for a light tea, and also good as a snack when the kids get in after school.
I can post the recipe if you wish?

Yes please BTP.

Lentil and carrot soup

150g red lentils
1 litre water
1 stock cube
5 large carrots
1 onion
1 apple
1 potato
1 tsp mixed herbs

Chop onion, potato, carrots, apple.

Gently fry onion

Pour water into saucepan and then add lentils, apple, potato and carrots

Add herbs and crumble in the stock cube.

Let soup simmer for 40mins.

Blend.

Eat!

Very easy recipe, DS got it from school as part of healthy eating topic and it is lovely.
Not sure if you are a veggie, but if not a bit of added bacon would be lovely.

ok two quick and easy lentil recipies, both with puy lentils - small black ones.

They both start the same way:

Fry an onion, after 5 mins add the lentils for a minute or so. Add boiling water and simmer for 15 - 20 mins until cooked. Drain.

Then you can either add some tomatoes with lots of basil for a delicious and filling salad.

Or put the pan back on a low heat and add some goats cheese until melted. It doesn't look it but it is very tasty. You can also toast some walnuts and add them to to give it some bite. Best served with lashing of dressing - balsamic, maybe walnut oil too esp if you use the walnuts. I serve this with roast veg as my mainstay vegetarian dinner party dish.

Oh I was you until recently. But then I stumbled upon a few recipes in Nigel Slater's 'fast food' book. Will come and share later; have to pick DD up from nursery in a mo.

They are also good instead of meat in moussaka. Very cheap, filling, nutritious etc.

Feel the fear and go for it!

Great, I am on the case..... Thanks!

We live on lentil Bolognese here.

• Fry one onion and some garlic, 2 grated carrots and 2 chopped celery.

• Add 100 gr of red lentils, one can chopped tomatoes, little tomato puree, about 2 cups stock and seasoning.

• Bring to boil and simmer for 20 min.

• Serve with pasta, rice, baked potato.

I make extra and freeze it

Oh brilliant, thanks everyone. Sacha - I've bookedmarked those already. They look easy.
MrsCurly - thanks for the description. puy lentils meant NOTHING to me! . And as I love goats cheese, that sounds excellent, thanks.

Best dhal recipe ever (seriously, it may not look like much but it's got it where it counts ):

Boil some red lentils till you can crush a grain without any hard stuff. Fry some onion, when translucent add some garlic and ginger, stir for a sec, then add a chopped tomato. The add a teaspoon of paprika, and half a teaspoon each of cumin, chilli powder, tumeric, coriander and garam masala. Once the spices are fried off a little, stir it into the dhal. Add green chilli, salt and vinegar to taste. Serve with chapatis, or whatever bread you've got lying around.

Cheap, quick, easy, healthy, delicious.

dhansak
lentil shepherds pie
lasagne
lentil and nut roast

Ooh thanks cremolafoam, I love dhansak but haven't tried to make it yet...have bookmarked that

Just posting on this so it comes up in threads I am on - I love lentils but don't use them enough.

Red lentils cook fairly quickly and can, if you allow them, turn into a sort of mush. This a very useful property for thickening stews/casseroles/soups etc. Rinse them first and add them to your dish for the last 20 minutes or so.

Fry some spices (a combination of some or all of chilli/turmeric/garlic/ginger/cardamon etc)Add equal amounts of white rice and rinsed red lentils. Cover with enough water or stock to just cover them. Cook until all the liquid is absorbed. Check to see if the rice is cooked and add more water if necessary.

Another carrot and lentil soup recipe

This is not a recipe but what i do with the brown ones.

I boil a huge pan of brown lentils,drain them, and put them in small plastic containers in the freezer. Then just get one out the night before and add it into salads for extra protein/iron.

Or mix with rice to stuff vegetable (beef tomatoes or peppers and roast)

This is a lovely side dish. We have it with a fillet of cod, or other fish.

Chop up some chorizo and fry gently in a pan, then add 3 or 4 chopped up spring onions, some chopped up grilled peppers from a jar, then add a drained and rinsed tin of green lentils. Just warm it all through and then add some chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon.

Tis really tasty!!

Really simple Lentil Soup...

225g Red Lentils
2 pints stock
3 carrots, chopped up
1 onion, chopped up
bacon

Fry some chopped up bacon and onion. Throw everything else into the pan, simmer for 25 mins and then serve with some crusty bread.

Hi, either as a soup. Stock, puy lentils, spinach, parsley, onions, garlic, lemon, mint - really delicious. Or, in a dhal, red lentils, lime, red onion, coriander and some other things that can't quite remember!! Have to say am quite a fan!

Fantastic chicken dhansak recipe Honestly - its really yummy

Hi - This is a dish we have very often. This quantity makes enough for 2 meals for a family of four (freeze the rest):

Spicy lentils with sausages

2 onions - chopped
4 carrots - peeled & sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic - chopped
4 tbsps Patak's curry paste (any one)
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1lb red lentils

Sausages

Put lentils in a pan with water. Bring to boil and boil vigorously for 10 mins. Add carrots & cook for further 5 mins. Drain.

Fry onions & garlic in another pan till soft (5 mins). Add Patak's curry paste, chopped tomatoes. Then tip in lentil & caroot mixture. Bring to boil & cook for 20 mins or so.

Meanwhile, put sausages in oven & cook till brown. Put half lentil mixture in a casserole dish, put sausages in lentil mixture. This can now be eaten now or put back in oven till you are ready (Good for scout nights when one child has to be fed before the rest). Serve with rice or potatoes.

Freeeze other half of lentil curry for another meal.

This is also nice with fried eggs.

On a roll now..... as you can see we like spicy food in our house This is my son's favourite soup:

Spiced Lentil Soup

Serves 6

2 onions - chopped
2 garlic cloves - crushed
half can tomatoes
half teaspoon turneric
1 tsp cumin
8 oz red lentils
1.5 pints water
140z can coconut milk
1 tbsp lemon juice

Put onions, garlic, tomatoes, turmeric, cumin, lentils & water in pan. Bring to boil & simmer for 20 mins

Puree mixture in a blender. Put back in pan & add coconut milk and lemon juice.

Reheat (don't boil) - serve with crusty bread.