There are a lot of good reasons to eat vegetarian once in a while or maybe even frequently. I love meat but I do get sick of it – and legumes give you a great way to cook without meat or with only meat as a seasoning. They are easier on the planet, healthy, and best of all, very cheap. Learn how to cook with beans and lentils and you’ll be finding yourself cooking them more and more.
The following is a pretty easy recipe that is also quite flexible – I suspect you could adapt it to whatever spices and veggies you had on hand and it would still turn out reasonably well. I use a pressure cooker because it is a very easy, fast tool for cooking things that otherwise take a long time, and the results thus far have been great. If you have never used one, do some research before buying (I got a large Scanpan model) and READ THE MANUAL as the contents are quite hot and under pressure, as the name implies, so you should know what you are doing before messing with one.
If my kids would put up with it, I’d probably cook this way 5 nights a week and save meat for the weekends. But even one night a week can save you a chunk of change over a month, so it’s worthwhile and delicious no matter how often you go this way.
Today I’ve modified a recipe called “Transcendental Lentils” from bestrecipes.com.au – the original recipe is also a winner but I made this tonight based on what I had at hand, and I could have eaten the whole pot. Serve over rice or any other way you like to eat lentils.
JW’s Lentils
Serves: 6. Preparation time: 30-45 minutes.
Ingredients:
375g package french lentils (prolly any lentils will do)
1 tbsp vegetable stock powder
125g butter
1 small onion chopped fine
1 stalk celery, chopped fine
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon mild curry powder (optional)
Pinch ground cardamom
250 g veggies, I used frozen peas, corn, carrots
250 g tomatoes, I used tinned
How to make it:
1. Pick over lentils, rinse well. Add rinsed lentils to pressure cooker with about a litre of cold water and the stock powder. Stir. Bring to pressure (high if your cooker has multiple settings), then cook for about 6 minutes at pressure. Use natural release method before opening the cooker.
2. Meanwhile, in a small pot (I prefer non-stick) melt butter over low heat. While it is melting, add all the spices and combine as the butter melts. Once melted, cook for a few minutes until you can smell the spices in your kitchen. Mmmm butter.
3. Turn the heat up on the spicy butter. When hot, add the onion and celery and cook over moderate heat (bubbling but not burning) until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add the frozen veggies and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, bring to boil, and cook for 5-10 minutes over low heat.
4. When the pressure cooker has cooled and is safe to open, remove the lid and stir in the veggie butter spice mixture.
5. Return to heat and simmer for about 15-30 minutes, stirring regularly and encouraging the mixture to thicken. I do this by making sure the liquid that rises to the top gets spread around the sides of the pot when stirring.
6. Turn off the heat and let it cool for a few minutes before serving over rice or with crusty bread.
