Recipe: "Lentils with Bacon"
How to make lentils magically delicious: just add bacon! :D We made this for supper Sunday night.
"Lentils with Bacon"
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup (about 1/2 bag) of lentils, green or brown
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 pound diced raw bacon
1/2 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 large tomato, diced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small bay leaf
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons snipped fresh coriander
Directions:
Rinse 1 1/4 cup of lentils. Put them in a medium pot and cover with water. Bring to a high boil, then lower to medium and boil for 15 minutes. Drain the lentils and set them aside.
While the lentils are cooking, dice 1/2 onion and set it aside. Mince 1 garlic clove and set it aside. Dice 3/4 of a large tomato and set it aside. (Keep them separate.)
In a frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add 1/4 pound diced raw bacon and cook 5-7 minutes until crispy. Cover a plate with paper towels and move the bacon there, leaving behind as much bacon grease as possible.
Stir the onion into the bacon grease and cook for about 5 minutes until it just starts to soften and clarify. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add the diced tomato, 1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme, 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper, 1 small bay leaf, and the lentils. Stir to combine.
Pour in 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth and stir gently. Cover the skillet and simmer over low to medium heat. Check and stir the lentils every 10 minutes until they turn tender, about 25-45 minutes. Add more broth if needed so they don't burn, but they are supposed to be just moist when done, not soupy.
Uncover the skillet and allow any excess liquid to evaporate. Stir in the bacon and let it warm through for 2-3 minutes. Snip fresh cilantro over the skillet, about 2 tablespoons, and stir it in. Serve over rice or another starch.
Notes:
This was inspired by a recipe of the same name in French: Delicious Classic Cuisine Made Easy (p. 50) but we didn't have all the ingredients. Cutting it approximately in half made it more suitable for us anyway. It made 4 portions, so we ate 2 for supper and had 2 leftovers. A full recipe would feed a crowd.
Lentils and rice make a complete protein. You could also serve this over baked potatoes. I think it would make a great hot dog topping too.
Bacon adds a great deal of flavor. You don't need to add more salt.
To make this a vegan/vegetarian recipe, omit the bacon. You could substitute tofu, farmer's cheese, or "sea bacon" (smoked dulse seaweed).
We talked about possibly adding more bacon, or thyme. But this is so extremely delicious already, it doesn't really need tweaking.
"Lentils with Bacon"
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup (about 1/2 bag) of lentils, green or brown
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 pound diced raw bacon
1/2 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 large tomato, diced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small bay leaf
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons snipped fresh coriander
Directions:
Rinse 1 1/4 cup of lentils. Put them in a medium pot and cover with water. Bring to a high boil, then lower to medium and boil for 15 minutes. Drain the lentils and set them aside.
While the lentils are cooking, dice 1/2 onion and set it aside. Mince 1 garlic clove and set it aside. Dice 3/4 of a large tomato and set it aside. (Keep them separate.)
In a frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add 1/4 pound diced raw bacon and cook 5-7 minutes until crispy. Cover a plate with paper towels and move the bacon there, leaving behind as much bacon grease as possible.
Stir the onion into the bacon grease and cook for about 5 minutes until it just starts to soften and clarify. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add the diced tomato, 1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme, 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper, 1 small bay leaf, and the lentils. Stir to combine.
Pour in 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth and stir gently. Cover the skillet and simmer over low to medium heat. Check and stir the lentils every 10 minutes until they turn tender, about 25-45 minutes. Add more broth if needed so they don't burn, but they are supposed to be just moist when done, not soupy.
Uncover the skillet and allow any excess liquid to evaporate. Stir in the bacon and let it warm through for 2-3 minutes. Snip fresh cilantro over the skillet, about 2 tablespoons, and stir it in. Serve over rice or another starch.
Notes:
This was inspired by a recipe of the same name in French: Delicious Classic Cuisine Made Easy (p. 50) but we didn't have all the ingredients. Cutting it approximately in half made it more suitable for us anyway. It made 4 portions, so we ate 2 for supper and had 2 leftovers. A full recipe would feed a crowd.
Lentils and rice make a complete protein. You could also serve this over baked potatoes. I think it would make a great hot dog topping too.
Bacon adds a great deal of flavor. You don't need to add more salt.
To make this a vegan/vegetarian recipe, omit the bacon. You could substitute tofu, farmer's cheese, or "sea bacon" (smoked dulse seaweed).
We talked about possibly adding more bacon, or thyme. But this is so extremely delicious already, it doesn't really need tweaking.