How to Cook Lentils (that taste amazing)

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Cooking Green Lentils

This green lentils recipe is easy, quick, healthy, satiating and DELICIOUS! It’s safe to say, it packs a punch and hits all the right notes.  This lentil dish is inspired by a recipe from the cookbook The Lost Kitchen written by fellow Mainer, Erin French. I have made some changes and additions, but this recipe is highly inspired from her book and is where I learned how to cook lentils perfectly. This book is my all time favorite recipe oriented book – I highly highly recommend!

I don’t know about you but cooking lentils has felt like an illusive process that seems like they could be really good but there’s always a level of uncertainty of how to maximize their potential. This question of – how to cook lentils that I actually want to eat – has been something in the back of my mind for years.  I wanted to solve this lentil problem and went to work. I’ve done the leg work and will share with how to cook lentils that taste amazing and are a fully worthy and enjoyable meal. 

Once you know how simple and easy cooking lentils is(& how to make them taste exceptional) you will be inclined to toss them into most any meal plan, make them the star of a salad or serve them as side.

In this post, you will learn how to cook lentils that taste amazing and I share with you a delicious dish that resembles a hearty winter lentil, potato, sausage “salad”.  This recipe feels like winter to me. It is delicious, comforting and holds that solid sustenance feeling that we crave in the heavy winter. 

Read on to learn how to cook green lentils winter salad. 

How to Cook Lentils

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups French green lentils
• 1 shallot
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• Bay leaf
• Water
• 1 Tbsp salt for cooking the lentils
• 1lb fingerling potatoes
• lb sausage 
• 1 Tbsp butter
• Cilantro
• 8 oz (1/4 cup) of cheese such as crumbled ricotta salata, cotija(mild Mexican crumbly cheese), or vegan feta. 
• 1 lemon(use both zest and juice)

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Instructions:

1. How to cook lentils: to a medium sauce pan, add the lentils, shallot, garlic, bay leaf, 1 tablespoon of salt and add enough water to cover at least 1-2 inches over the lentils. Cook the lentils over medium heat until the lentils are just tender, about 20-25 minutes.  Be careful not to over cook as you don’t want them to turn to mush. 

2. When the lentils are done cooking and just tender, remove them from the heat and strain them with a fine mesh strainer.  Discard the bay leaf, garlic and shallot. 

3. To cook the potatoes:  put the potatoes in a medium saucepan with just enough water to cover them.  Salt the water and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook until fork-tender, about 15 minutes.  Drain and set aside to cool.  When cooled, slice into bite sized medallions.

4. Put 1 tbsp of butter in a skillet and bring to medium heat.  Cook the sausages until exterior is a nice dark brown color.  The sausage will puff up and become inflamed looking and that’s when you know the interior has been fully cooked through.

5. When the sausages are done cooking, remove them from the skillet and set them aside to cool.  After they have cooled sufficiently, slice the sausages into bite sized coins.

6. Use the skillet coated with sausage grease and flavor to crisp the potato medallions until the exterior is golden brown. 

7. Plate the lentils, and add the potatoes and sausage.  Sprinkle a heavy hand of chopped cilantro and cheese over the top.

8. Zest 1 lemon over the top and squeeze juice from 1/2 the lemon over the top. Give a subtle tossing the incorporate the ingredients together organically. 

Notes:

Lentils to water ratio :

Use enough water to cover the lentils by 1-2 inches. The lentils will be strained so this is an approximate measurement.

• For the sausage, I was able to find a locally made poblano pepper sausage at my local butcher. Use whatever you love and have access to. If I didn’t happen to find this beautiful specialty item I would have gone with a high quality chorizo stick, then cut it up and rendered it down to resemble a crispy bacon or pancetta texture.
• This recipe is for how to cook lentils on stove – not instant pot lentils.
• For the cheese I used a mild tasty creamy yet crumbly vegan feta cheese from the brand Violife.
• This recipe instructs on how to cook dried lentils – no need to soak or prepare. 

FAQ:

-How long do lentils take to cook ? – They take around 20 minutes, 25 max. You are striving for just tender.  They can overcook and turn to mush easily so taste test frequently after the 20 minute mark. 

-How long do green lentils take to cook versus orange lentils ?

Both variety of lentils take approximately the same time to cook, however they may be subtle differences in the lentils that make it slightly variable such as size and age of the lentil.  I recommend to start taste testing the lentils at 15 minutes and remove from heat at “just” tender.

Would you recommend using sprouted lentils for this recipe?

Yes, sprouted lentils work great in this recipe and generally offer some additional healthy benefits, some find they are better for the digesting process.

*This recipe is not for how to cook lentils in instant pot .

What is a Lentil?

Lentils are from the legume(bean) family.  They are widely utilized across the globe as a loved staple for many cultures.  They are easy and quick to make and low in cost.  So what are lentils exactly? The dried lentils you get at the grocery store are the seeds of the lentil plant which are a flowering plant that grow 12-24’’ tall.  The seeds grow in pods like you might know with snap peas. There are several different varieties of the lentil plant that yield various colors of the seeds we know as lentils.  The colors include green(also known as French lentils), orange, yellow, brown, tan and black. The lentil bean in my opinion, is one of the most adorable foods(second to quail eggs).  It is a mini bean pod that with some varieties has speckled designs that resemble something of a dinosaur egg.  Lentils are touted for being beneficial food with healthy supporting elements that don’t have any down sides as they are not problematic in any way. They have no contraindications such as toxicity, blood sugar spiking, high fat and are all around mild in nature and are a low allergen food.

Lentils Nutrition

Healthy benefits of lentils and lentils nutrition :

Plant-based foods offer more vitamins, minerals and antioxidant properties which are associated with lowered risk of disease. Lentils protein content is exceptionally high per weight and offer as a good protein replacement for non-meat eaters. 1 cup of cooked lentils has 24 grams of protein. They are also high in complex carbohydrates at 46 grams of carbohydrates per 1 cup of cooked lentils. Complex carbohydrates is where we get some of our best fuel source that provide us with good sustained energy – thus why lentils are been praised for serving as a good fuel source for sustained long lasting energy. These legumes are high in fiber which is the main reason that they are helpful for digestive health and regularity.  Lentils have a low glycemic index which means they are a low and stable glucose source and also low in fat. This makes for a combination that is health promoting for stabilizing diseases such as diabetes.  These little mightly seeds are nutrient dense being high in potassium, iron, selenium, manganese and particularly high in B vitamins and folate which aid in pregnancy and the healthy development of a fetus.  For more specific information, search “ Nutritional value of lentils “ and you can easily find nutrition charts for specific varieties.

Now you know how to cook green lentils and make them taste amazing!

Thanks for checking out this lentils recipe . If you liked this one you may love some of my other favorite recipes such as Mexican pinto beans, vegetable soup or picadillo with homemade gluten free two-ingredient tortilla wraps.  

This is a great recipe to try if you’re a fan of easy and healthy meals that taste great too. This recipe can be easily made to satisfy both non meat eaters and meat eaters. Please rate or comment below and if you made any additions or alterations and want to let me in on your ideas on this recipe. I would love to hear about it!  If you would like to share or pin on Pinterest I am always thankful.  Check out my food journey on Pinterest at Molé in the Wall.

Now that you know how to make lentils on the stove – the right way.  You can get to making all the delicious combinations you could dream up for variations of this winter lentil salad. In the summer, you could lighten this up by omitting the sausage and adding something light and fresh such as fresh peas or basil. This easy how to cook lentils recipe can be made quickly with limited ingredients. It is versatile and can be made with almost anything you have lying around.  Have fun coming up with new additions and try out new combinations.  Let me know in the comments below if you found one you love and would like to share.

I hope you do try this “ how to cook lentils “ recipe and throughly enjoy it as much as we have.  I’m pretty sure this will be one of your favorite go-to family meal staples.

Related Lentil Recipes :

Mexican lentil soup

Healthy lentil soup

Egyptian lentil soup

Lemon lentil soup

How to cook lentils on the stove

How to cook lentils in instant pot

How to cook lentils in crockpot

How to cook lentils in rice cooker

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