I tweeted about how good my dinner was tonight, and had a request for the recipe, so I'm back with a 2nd Eating Seasonally post this week! Again, I wasn't measuring, so adjust everything here according to taste. Also, I have no pictures for you tonight, since I wasn't planning to blog this.
So, I was pondering what to do with the swiss chard from the CSA box, and then I stumbled on a discussion on Ravelry about the best ways to cook beans, etc., and someone mentioned throwing chard or kale into lentils. Perfect! I had a big bag of lentils from our local bean supplier (Hillbilly Beans--highly recommend them, much better than the dried beans available in the grocery store), so I went for it.
2 T olive oil
1 large carrot, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
4-6 green onions (or a small regular onion)
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1 t cumin
1 1/2 C dried lentils
4 C stock/broth
3-4 sprigs fresh oregano
1 bunch swiss chard, chopped (I only used the leaves, I saved the stems with some other veggies to make stock. If I'd thought of it, I would have used the stems with the carrots, etc.)
1. Heat oil over medium heat in a large stockpot, add carrot & celery. Cook 3-4 minutes until fairly tender. Add green onions (note: if using regular onion, add it with carrot & celery), garlic, dash of salt & pepper, and cumin. Cook, stirring, about 1 minute until fragrant.
2. Add lentils, stock, oregano, & chard. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30-45 minutes until lentils are tender. Keep an eye on the liquid--I used slightly too much with mine, but it's also easy to use too little.
Serve on its own, over rice, or like I did--with roasted potatoes. Honestly, I expected the potatoes to be the stars of the meal--they were perfectly roasted, crisp on the outside and soft inside, with just a bit of garlic, salt, & pepper--but when I went back for seconds, it was the lentils that I took more of! I do think part of the credit goes to the lentils themselves. I've tried many brands & varieties of lentils in the grocery store, and I've found that almost all of them never get tender enough for me, no matter how long I cook them. These were perfectly tender, but not mushy--just right! Apparently, this may have to do with the fact that they are probably fresher than what you can typically buy in the store.
So, I was pondering what to do with the swiss chard from the CSA box, and then I stumbled on a discussion on Ravelry about the best ways to cook beans, etc., and someone mentioned throwing chard or kale into lentils. Perfect! I had a big bag of lentils from our local bean supplier (Hillbilly Beans--highly recommend them, much better than the dried beans available in the grocery store), so I went for it.
2 T olive oil
1 large carrot, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
4-6 green onions (or a small regular onion)
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1 t cumin
1 1/2 C dried lentils
4 C stock/broth
3-4 sprigs fresh oregano
1 bunch swiss chard, chopped (I only used the leaves, I saved the stems with some other veggies to make stock. If I'd thought of it, I would have used the stems with the carrots, etc.)
1. Heat oil over medium heat in a large stockpot, add carrot & celery. Cook 3-4 minutes until fairly tender. Add green onions (note: if using regular onion, add it with carrot & celery), garlic, dash of salt & pepper, and cumin. Cook, stirring, about 1 minute until fragrant.
2. Add lentils, stock, oregano, & chard. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30-45 minutes until lentils are tender. Keep an eye on the liquid--I used slightly too much with mine, but it's also easy to use too little.
Serve on its own, over rice, or like I did--with roasted potatoes. Honestly, I expected the potatoes to be the stars of the meal--they were perfectly roasted, crisp on the outside and soft inside, with just a bit of garlic, salt, & pepper--but when I went back for seconds, it was the lentils that I took more of! I do think part of the credit goes to the lentils themselves. I've tried many brands & varieties of lentils in the grocery store, and I've found that almost all of them never get tender enough for me, no matter how long I cook them. These were perfectly tender, but not mushy--just right! Apparently, this may have to do with the fact that they are probably fresher than what you can typically buy in the store.
Comments
Another good one Chef Lindsey!