No Vegetables

I had every intention of adding some spinach somewhere in this dish so that I could include vegetables, but I forgot. I figure the health benefits from the lentils more than makes up for the lack of produce. Well hey, garlic and onions sort of count as vegetables, and that's good enough for me.


Indian spiced lentils
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup green lentils
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/4 tsp ground tumeric
- S&P
- Squirt of lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp cilantro, for garnish

Instructions
- Bring lentil and water to a boil and simmer for ~40 minutes.
- After about 30 minutes, begin preparing the spices and aromatics: Add half the olive oil to a large pan on medium heat. Add spices and stir continuously for about 2 minutes. Toasting will enhance the flavor and depth of the spices.
- After the spices are done, add the remaining olive oil and cook onion and garlic until translucent.
- Around this time the lentils should be about ready. Drain (reserve a bit of liquid) and add to the pan, stirring to coat the lentils evenly with the spices. If the mixture looks a little dry, add reserved lentil liquid. Squirt with lemon juice before serving. I served over short grain brown rice that I FINALLY cooked perfectly.



This dish came about because I got the wrong type of lentils from the bulk bin. I wanted to make dal, but instead of red or yellow lentils I grabbed green. I know that all lentils are good lentils, so I had to make these work with my craving for Indian flavors somehow. I think I did a good job. As with most of my dishes, this could easily feed two people, but I cannot refuse a mound of aromatic lentils.


I also had a glass of wine that I bought at this great wine bar called The Wine Room in Winter Park, FL. I tried a bunch of different wines (one called Graham Crackers which I tried because I thought it would taste like s'mores - it did not) and fell in love with this kind. I splurged and bought a bottle for myself despite my lack of money because I liked it so much. Unfortunately it wasn't the dumbest purchase of the evening, but more on that later.


Bellissima.