Lentils

Carrie did a recipe question/answer exchange on her blog this week and she mentioned she needed some recipes for lentils. We LOVE lentils in this house and there are two recipes we use frequently. Lentils are cheap and yummy and we usual have them once a week or so.

The first recipe I found on Happy Foody (a really awesome vegan blog) so I'll send you there. It's a one pot meal (which is my favorite way to cook). Stir all the ingredients together in a covered baking dish and let it cook! Her blog just moved to wordpress but the recipe is on her old blogspot blog.

The second recipe I've used for five years. It's called Mazidra and it's a layered lentil dish. It's from an old spiral bound vegetarian cookbook called "100% Vegetarian" by Julianne Pickle.

MAZIDRA

Combine the following in a saucepan and bring to a boil:
1 c lentils
3 c water
1/2 c chopped onion
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sweet basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oregeno

Reduce heat and simmer on lowest setting 1 1/2 - 2 hours until lentils are soft and cooking liquid becomes cloudy.

Meanwhile, prepare cooked brown rice (3 c after it's cooked).

When the lentils are ready you can build the mazidra like this:

1. Cooked rice
2. Cooked lentils
3. Diced tomatoes
4. Diced cucumber
5. Sliced green onion
6. Top with chopped avocado or guacamole/avocado dip

We pig out on mazidra. It's sooooooo good!

Today we are snowed in...AGAIN. We live next door to church and had to close because we can't see the church. Not too mention the wind chill is -25 degrees and the path Chad shoveled to the church this morning is already buried knee deep. I cooked a spiral ham that I was saving for Easter because I was grumpy with all the snow and a sugary ham seemed like a good idea. I've snitched a few bites already and it's delicious! I'm off to make some rice and veggies to eat with our ham. Enjoy your Sunday!