Friday, February 9, 2007

I bought too many lentils the other day for a dish I was making and I didn’t want to throw them away, so here’s what I did with them, purely as an experiment. It really is very simple. (I must say that it turned out really good, though. My son loved it. So did I.)

Eddie’s Lentil Eggplant Stew

¾ cup brown lentils
½ cup red lentils
1 eggplant
1 carrot
1 yellow onion
½ head garlic
8 ounce can
tomato sauce
salt
pepper, coarsely ground

Go over the lentils and take out anything that doesn’t look good, then rinse them thoroughly and put them in a rather large pot. Chop the carrot up into small pieces and put them into the pot. Peel the eggplant and cut it up into small pieces. Put these into the pot on top of the lentils and carrot. Add enough water for the lentils and carrot to cook and for the eggplant to at least steam, possibly boil. You don’t want to add too much water, but also the lentils need enough in order to cook. (Cooking for me is sometimes labor intensive because I keep a close eye on what I’m cooking, at least until I get the details of the recipe figured out.) I cook this until the lentils are soft, the eggplant is well cooked, and it all kind of blends together. (Speaking of blending, I take a potato masher and mash up any large pieces of eggplant that didn’t disintegrate.) When I was cooking this I added salt and sprinkled coarsely ground black pepper on top.

While this is cooking, chop up the onion and garlic and sauté them in extra virgin olive oil, in a separate pot. Olive oil is really good for you, so use a lot if you want to. I cook these until the onions are translucent, not burned – not even brown.

When the lentils and eggplant are done (probably at least 30 minutes) pour in the tomato sauce and add the onions and garlic. That’s about it. This really is a simple dish.

Serve with brown rice, organic soy sauce to taste, your favorite crackers or bread, and a cup of green tea. This dish is hard to beat. It has very few if any spices, yet it tastes really good. I don’t believe that vegan food has to taste bland or be unusual. I do believe that this simple dish is hardy and healthy.

This recipe made at least 6 large servings.


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2 comments:

Miss Cellania said...

Do you know how long dried lentils will last? I have some dal of different colors that I've had for several years. I wonder if they should go in the soup, in the birdfeeder, or in the compost!

Ed Bremson, MFA said...

good question. I don't know personally how long dried lentils stay good, but you might look at a package of Goya lentils, or whatever brand you can find at the grocery store and see if there's an expiration date on them.