Lentils with Tomatoes and Rice

Finally!  The first recipe of the blog is here!  I am sure you have been waiting on the edge of your seat, right?

But first, I need to explain something.  If I find a recipe on the internet, I will post it here in its entirety.  I will link back to the original, but I will post it here for ease of use.  I will never take credit for someone else’s work.  If I find it in a cookbook, I will tell you some of the ingredients (so you can decide if it is worth your time or not) and where to find it (down to the page number!) but will not be posting the recipe entirely.  I take copyrights seriously, folks!

Ok, now for the recipe.  This is not my first lentil recipe since starting this blog, but it is the first one from the internet, so I wanted to wait until I could give you a full recipe.  I think it would be cruel to start off with something you have to track down yourself, don’t you think?

Yesterday my three-year old requested “rice” for dinner.  That is a bit vague, so I did some quick searching and came up with this fabulous curried lentils and rice dish that only took about 30 minutes from start to finish.  Perfect for those nights when you are rushing between work and T-ball practice.

This is courtesy of Paula26 at SparkRecipes.com.  I love SparkRecipes.  Thousands of healthy recipes all in one place?  Sign me up!  (But it’s free, so no sign up required!)

Lentils with Tomatoes and Rice

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
1 cup lentils, rinsed
3 cups water
1 can (10 ounces) diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 cup long-grain white rice
1-1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Heat olive oil in large, heavy saucepan or skillet.
Add onion and cook over medium-low heat until onion is softened but not browned, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Add rinsed and drained lentils and water.
Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add tomatoes with juice to the pan.
Stir in the garlic, rice, ginger, and curry powder and cook covered 15 to 20 minutes or until lentils are softened but still somewhat firm, or done to your taste.
Add more water as needed so mixture doesn’t dry out.
Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice, garnish with cilantro.

Number of Servings: 6

I left out the cilantro, because I didn’t have any, and mixed in some freshly ground black pepper.  I noticed comments on SparkRecipes that people felt like it needed salt, but even with my “no salt added” tomatoes, I still felt like the dish was fantastic.  It’s low in calories and fat, vegan, and a one pot meal.  What is not to love? 

I have a lot of leftovers and am thinking about mixing some of it with vegetable broth to make a quick and easy soup later in the week.  I’ll let you know if that turns out as well as this dish did!