Majedderah

One of the many spellings for the classic middle eastern rice & lentil dish. The classic way is great, but i honestly prefer the shortcuts.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium to large onions
• 2 cups brown lentils
• 2 cups brown rice (I prefer short grain, but any kind works)
• olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

A- Directions (the classic way)

slice the onions into long slivers (dicing works, but the final result has a much better mouth feel when you go with the long slivers)

1. saute the onions in the bottom of a large pot with approx 2-4 tbs of olive oil (the oil should generously coat the bottom of the pot)
2. when the onions are well caramelized, take out 1/2 of the onions and set aside.
3. add the lentils and 4 cups of water. bring to a boil
4. when the water is fully absorbed, add 4 more cups of water and the rice. add a dash of ground black pepper. bring to a boil.
   
5. cook until the rice and lentils are tender and all of the water is absorbed
6. mix in the remaining onions, and add salt and pepper to taste.
   

B- Directions- (The easier way):

I personally don't always have the time to wait for the onions to saute, and only then start cooking the lentils. To save time:

1. cut the onion into slivers. Place 1/3 of the cut onion in a large pot with 1-2 tbs of olive oil, 4 cups of water and 2 cups of lentils. Let it boil.
   
2. in a separate frying pan, saute the rest of the onions until caramelized.
3. then follow steps 5-7 above- when the lentils are cooked, add 4 cups of water and 2 cups of brown rice.
   
4. mix the caramelized onions in when the rice and lentils are done cooking

C- Directions (the easiest way)
So now you are probably wondering why add the rice and lentils at separate times. In short, lentils take longer to cook than rice, so if you added them at the same time, the rice would be mushy by the end. If this bothers you- follow directions A or B above. If it doesn't bother you- then:

1. either just follow Recipe B above, except add all of the water, some onions, lentils and rice in at the beginning (this won't take less time to cook, but it will be less time to tend to it
2. OR- use your rice cooker!
   
3. Place 8 cups of water, 2 cups rice and 2 cups lentils in the rice cooker and turn it to the whole grain setting. Don't forget to add some slivered onions, olive oil and a touch of black pepper.
   
4. While the rice cooker is on, saute the onions.
5. combine all ingredients at the end.
   
6. Comes our perfect every time. No fuss, no muss.
   

Other comments:

• use red lentils (not everyone finds them as filling, but if you do, its delicious too)
• serve with yogurt or labne!
• kid friendly, crowd pleaser, not a liquid-y dish, so its easy to take to work, and it stays good in the fridge all week.
  

Crock- Pot Lentil/Pea Soup

The easiest way to have a great hot meal when you have no time due to finals.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb red lentils (ie. 1/2 of those goya bags)
1/2 lb yellow split peas (ie. 1/2 of those goya bags)
(note- you can make this entirely with peas, or entirely with lentils, or some other proportions).
1/3 cup barley (for thickening. If you dont want to buy a whole bag of barley for the recipe, dice 2 small potatoes)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 normal sized carrot, chopped (or 3 small CSA carrots)
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tsp turmeric
fresh ground black pepper
1 bay leaf- optional

rinse the peas, lentils and barley thoroughly to remove the dust that sometimes settles. This can take 2-4 rinses.

Place all ingredients in a large crock pot, fill the pot to the top with water.

Let it cook overnight on low. (or turn it on before you head off to school and come home to a great dinner).

I have never overcooked this recipe, so dont worry about leaving it on for too long so long as it has enough liquid. (I once let it cook for 24 hours).

Fennel with Lentils, Thyme & Chard

recipe inspired by a french dish in Moosewood Simple Suppers (a fantastic cookbook)

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked lentils
• 1-2 bulbs fennel, finely sliced
  
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• white wine vinegar
• 1 cup chopped chard- optional. Any other green, including bok choy, could work too (can use more or less, but the raw leaves should not be more than 3/4 the volume of the fennel)
  

Directions

• boil the lentils
• in a separate frying pan, saute the garlic in the olive oil
• when the garlic is slightly golden, add in the fennel and stir
• when the fennel is slightly golden (it gets a slight shade of off white darker) add in the thyme and stir.
• mix in the chopped chard
  
• leave on stove top while stirring for 3-4 more minutes or until chard is fully wilted
  
• mix the lentils
• serve with a generous drizzle of white wine vinegar

AMAZING