Recipe: "Lentils with Bacon"
Aug. 9th, 2021 03:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithHow 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.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-08-09 11:48 am (UTC)Well ...
Date: 2021-08-10 04:32 am (UTC)Good recipe!
Date: 2021-08-09 02:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-08-09 05:59 pm (UTC)A strange thing happened a week or so ago. I had had a slightly upset stomach for a couple of days, and I wondered what I could eat that would be un-demanding. I warmed up one of my homemade rolls, and set it on a plate next to a few slices of cooked bacon. Looking at it and smelling it, my brain declared "That's FOOD. Good food. Food that will sustain me." So I ate it, enjoying every bite, and felt perfectly fine. Now, bacon is one food I have loved since I was old enough to eat it. And homemade bread is part of my personal history too. So there are good psychological explanations for why my brain recognized bread and bacon as an entirely suitable meal. But it was a strange feeling.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-08-09 07:09 pm (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2021-08-09 09:09 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-08-09 10:30 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-08-09 11:10 pm (UTC)There are many straightforward recipes I've posted. This one is intermediate. It has some steps, but it's not particularly complicated or difficult, and is both delicious and healthy.
Also, dry legumes are WAY cheaper than canned ones. We keep a few canned ones for certain recipes and fast fixes, though.
If you want easy ways to cook fresh foods, I recommend a crockpot and a Foreman grill.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-08-10 05:34 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-08-10 07:38 pm (UTC)You actually have several options:
* Presoaking dried legumes overnight shortens the necessary cooking time the next day.
OR
* You can boil dry ones for a while, like this recipe, to jump-start the cooking process.
* A crockpot is designed for long, slow cooking that tenderizes tough things.
* A pressure-cooker (or multicooker now) forces heat and water into food to cook it faster and makes things amazingly tender very fast.
It is recommended to avoid adding salt to the water when rehydrating dried legumes, as this tends to toughen the skin so they don't tenderize properly. Just add it later. Also, the older they are, the less well they rehydrate at all. While they keep well, this does set a limit.
https://nutritionrefined.com/cooking-legumes/
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/a-guide-to-legumes#5-tips-for-preparing-and-cooking-legumes
https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/cooking-dried-beans/
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-08-11 12:19 pm (UTC)And thank you so much for the links.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-08-11 07:07 pm (UTC)Possible reasons for failure:
* Not enough water.
* Peas were too old.
* Not cooked long enough.
* Sometimes cooking in salted water prevents tenderizing.
>> I need to try it myself one of these days. <<
Go for it! On the bright side, dried peas are cheap. If you wreck a few batches learning to cook them effectively, it's no big loss.
>> And thank you so much for the links. <<
*bow, flourish* I'm happy to help. Cooking is a valuable skill.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-08-11 09:27 pm (UTC)I'm going to have to figure out what I want to make with fresh legumes. The ideas are endless. :-) The last time I had split pea soup I didn't like it, which was weird and completely out of the blue. I'd always loved it. One of my friends told me that age changes your taste. That just seems odd.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-08-11 09:45 pm (UTC)That seems logical.
I always put salt and olive oil in pasta water. Otherwise the pasta sticks and I hate that.
>> I'm going to have to figure out what I want to make with fresh legumes. The ideas are endless. :-)
Bear in mind that fresh is different from dried and from canned.
>> The last time I had split pea soup I didn't like it, which was weird and completely out of the blue. I'd always loved it. One of my friends told me that age changes your taste. That just seems odd. <<
Taste can change for various reasons, but doesn't always, and certainly is not predictable. "You'll like it when you're older" is a total crapshoot.
Unless it was the same recipe, the difference could simply be preparation.
I am not a soup fan in general, and had never had a pea soup worth eating, until we got the Elder Scrolls cookbook and a friend made it for a gathering. It was incredibly good -- peas, a little bit of carrot, bacon -- and so thick it was almost porridge. We devoured it and have made it ourselves since.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-08-11 10:06 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-08-11 10:25 pm (UTC)Possible solutions:
* Make a new recipe exactly the first time.
* If you have special dietary requirements, search for recipes in those areas.
* Use a soup algorithm, such as this high-burn one or its nary antecedents.
* Learn ways to make a soup thinner or thicker.
* Practice making soup, paying attention to small changes, until you learn what you like and what works for you. All skills take practice.
>> I am going to make pumpkin soup in the next couple of days. I've been dragging my feet. I'm going to try the recipe I have. There's very few things I need to take out in this one.<<
Go you!
Vegan/vegetarian (unless fungoids count)
Date: 2021-08-11 08:31 pm (UTC)Not much nutrition, but all the taste.
Re: Vegan/vegetarian (unless fungoids count)
Date: 2021-08-12 09:32 am (UTC)