Pulses quick questions thread.

Gingham_Ribbon

Red lentils only take about 20 minutes to cook as they're so small. Green and brown ones take longer but none of them need to be soaked first. And lentils don't have a toxin problem like kidney beans so they don't need a fast boil either.

Firehorse

katmad99 wrote: »

i have some red lentils and a bag of 'soup mix' (mix of different lentils and other pea-like bits, i'm not really sure what it all is!!) that i bought in an attempt to be healthier and OS, but to be honest i found that i dont really like the texture of soup made with lentils, and so i have no idea what to do with it all! any suggestions/your fave lentil recipes???

thanks

I often throw a few handful of red lentils into most things in the slow cooker, including meat dishes, casseroles are especially good. They act as a natural thickener.

pamaris

We tried this the other night: it was cheap, yummy and everyone loved it:

Lentil tacos
* 1 cup finely chopped onion
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 1 teaspoon canola oil
* 1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
* 1 cup salsa
* 12 taco shells
* 1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
* 1 cup chopped fresh tomato
* 1 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
* 6 tablespoons fat free sour cream

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large nonstick skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the lentils, chili powder, cumin and oregano; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Uncover; cook for 6-8 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Mash lentils slightly.
2. Stir in salsa. Spoon about 1/4 cup lentil mixture into each taco shell. Top with lettuce, tomato, cheese and sour cream.

ETA: We used naan breads as pittas instead of taco shells or tortillas because that's what we had and it still turned out great.

Peem

Does anyone know what the equivalents are between dried pulses and canned ones?

EG when a recipe says "soak 100g dried chickpeas", how much is this when using canned precooked/soaked ones?

I always use cans (I know dried are cheaper/better, but I am not that organised) and it would be good to know the comparison. Once I've made a recipe and understand the proportions it's ok, but often first time through I find it hard to know what I'm aiming for IYSWIM.

thanks

DonnaP

Hi

Slightly off thread, but does anyone know how I find out about Julian Graves sales in advance? I have stacks of pulses and other things to get and found out on here they had a 50% off sale last Thursday!!! Wish I'd known.

Donna

Zziggi

Just as a guide, i went to a big asian shop today and bought:

a 2kg bag of green lentils (east end) for £1.39,
2kg bag of brown lentils (natco) for £1.19,
2kg bags of red kidney beans £1.99
2kg bag of black eyedpeas £1.49
500g ground almonds (for currys) (east end) £2.69
2kg bag of sago seeds 99p-special offer
3 cucumber for 99p (89p each in tesco)
cheap bananas, magos, papayas, apples, dates, grapes, corriander and ofther 'fresh' herbs

a damn sight cheaper than local prices as i paid £1.99 for 500g of brown lentils last week!

DonnaP

Hi

Morrisons do both Natco and East End brand of pulses. When I go, I stock up (I avoid out of town supermarkets at the minute as I am shopping locally), but when my supplies run low, I will go to Morrisons to get more supplies!

Donna

fizzel81

sorry i did try and post this on the quick questions on anything thread but it wouldnt let me for some reason

i have never cooked with lentils before (ducks head in shame) or pulses really (apart from pearl barley)

i have a bag of orange lentils here and would like some ideas or how do i cook them to pad out with mince:o

the saturday market has a stall which sells all sorts of dried beans pulses etc but i have yet to buy as i just have not a clue what to do with any of them

sorry to ask such a stupid question looking forward to hearing some quick and easy ideas, im loving my home cooking, the boys are getting used to it so id like to try some new ingredents/ideas (just not too time consuming please)

Solwaykid

I don't know how to post a link but there's a lentil flan recipe on here that is really lovely.
If you search this forum with 'lentil flan' its one of the first posts that comes up!
Maybe someone who knows what they're doing will come along and help us both out!

Hope that was some help.

lil_me

http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/beansnuts.html

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=227013

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=348877&highlight=lentil+flan

HTH top one has some nice recipes

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