What to do with lentils???

AnnieH

I like food with lentils in, but have no idea what to do with them. Do you need to pre-soak/boil them before cooking?
Are there any fab recipes for lentils?
Can I make a lentil curry in my SC?

So far I haven't had much luck with my SC, eveything is so watery, it's a bit yuk.

jcr16

i bought some green lentils other day. can't remember what for now. anyway i make making a bulk loads of chilli on thursday and wondered if i could add them to this. so anyway i ddi. i make the chilli as i do and added about 4 hand fulls of green lentil's then i let it simmer in the pot for about 3 hours very very low heat. and it is gorgeous. ok so the chiili now has very little meat in as the lentils kinda took over. but it is so delish. will def be trying this again. and i have also frozen the chilli down .

i would imagine it would be very easy to cook my chilli in a slow cooker only because i let it cook for so long slowly.but i would say brown the mince first before it goes into the slow cooker.

vixtress

i cant take credit for it but i did read a recipe last night on here for a lentil flan that sounded delicious.....hang on and i will see if i can find it......

vixtress

here it is, hope i am ok to copy it
original recipe by THRIFTLADY,

Bulchy my lentil flan is something I make up as I go along, so no exact recipe I'm afraid, but this is roughly how it goes.

Make pastry and line a flan dish/tin.
Cook a mugful of red lentils with some water until they are soft and mushy.
Combine with lots of grated cheese, dried herbs, chopped onion/leeks, a squirt of tomato paste and a teaspoonful of marmite.
Pile into the flan case and bake for 20-25 mins at about 200 (you might need to cover the filling with foil - or you could bake the pastry first with baking beans)

Lentil and cheese loaf is basically the same thing but without the pastry and with breadcrumbs added to make it stiffer. Bake in a loaf tin or shape into a loaf shape on a baking tray.


i thought this sounded lovely

divorcingjack

I'm making lentil soup in the SC at the moment, which is really easy and healthy.

I just chop up some onions, one carrot, tomatoes, a couple of tins of tomatoes +juice, veg stock and throw some red lentils in. If you like your soup really thick, you can add loads. Also nice is adding some fried bacon chunks if you have them. Perhaps some bay leaves as well, and salt and pepper obviously.

I leave mine cooking for about 5-6 hours and then liquidise it. Great for work!

Good luck,

dj

AnnieH

Thanks, they sound yummy - especially the flan! I'll try that in the week:)

aussielle

This could be a meal in itself, a sort of veggie cottage pie, but we like it with fish.

Ingredients

pre cooked red lentils
pre soaked and cooked aduki beans
large pan of mashed potato
large leek
couple of cloves of fresh garlic
tin of chopped tomatoes
spoon of sugar
level tbs vegetable bouillon powder
grated cheese

Method

Gently saute leek and garlic until soft. Add tomatoes, pre cooked red lentils and aduki beans, sugar and bouillon powder. Transfer into oven proof dish, cover with mashed potato and grated cheese and cook in oven until cheese has melted and top goes a little crispy...it's delicious.

aussielle

p.s

It freezes well too

jobbingmusician

No one has distinguished so far between split lentils and whole lentils.

Basically, the bigger the lentil, the longer the cook time. In particular, split red lentils are very quick to cook and you can make a dahl or curry in virtually no time!

filigree_2

You need less liquid for cooking in a slow cooker because it doesn't evaporate as quickly. As a rough guide you only need about 1/2 - 3/4 of the liquid you would use in a non-SC recipe.

Some people use cornflour to thicken the sauce, I can't say how successful this is because I haven't tried it myself.