[Meximeli]

Legumes, beans, lentils, chickpeas/garbanzos and peas are a healthy thing to eat, but something that is not all that common in the typical American diet.
In a thread in the Den, someone asked for some recipies. Add yours here.


I posted this recipie during lent, but it's a great general lentil recipie that is widely liked by picky eaters.

Lentil Tacos

1 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil (or what ever oil you use)
1 cup dry lentils, rinsed
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
(I've used a Texas Spice mix, which includes the previous three and a few other things, I was given as a gift its is great in this recipe)
2 1/2 cups chicken broth (I usually just use water)

In a large skillet, saute onions and garlic in oil until tender. Add lentils, chili powder, cumin and oregano. Cook and stir for 1 min. Add broth, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until lentils are tender. Unover, cook for 6-8 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Mash lentils slightly stir in your favorite salsa if desired (I usually serve the salsa on the side, but we use hot! salsa) Spoon about 1/4 cup on to a tortilla or taco shell, top with lettuce, diced tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, green onions as desired.

I also made this for my parents, who are not used to eating meatless meals. I added 1/2 lb of browned ground beef after simmering the lentils. It made is seem more like typical ground beef taco meat, but was only 1/2lb of beef between 4 adults and two 4 year olds. A good option for people looking to stretch their budget and/or reduce their meat consumption, without completely cutting out the meat. That might be a good start if you think your family might turn their noses up at the original recipie without trying it.

[Meximeli]

I also really like this soup recipe. I have never had nor seen liquid smoke so I leave that out. We also don't get yams here so I just double the potatoes. You can blend only half of the soup if you like a chunky potato-y soup or use a hand blender and only blend up the beans, not the potatoes, carrots, and celery. I made this like that for a friend who is lactose intolerant and said one of the things she most missed was potatoe soup in the winter--she loved it!

2 cups dry navy beans or other small white beans
1 water
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1 large carrot, sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced
1 large potato, scrubbed and diced
1 large yam, peeled and diced
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

Rinse beans, then soak in 4 cups of water for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.

Pour off soaking water, rinse beans, and place in a pot with 6 cups of fresh water. Add onion, garlic, carrot, celery, potato, yam, and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer and cook, loosely covered, until beans are tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

Remove bay leaves and transfer about 3 cups of the soup to a blender. Add parsley, thyme, black pepper, and liquid smoke, if using. Starting on low speed and holding lid on tightly, blend until completely smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl and repeat with remaining soup. Return blended soup to pot, add salt to taste, and heat until steamy.

Per 1-cup serving

* Calories: 229
* Fat: 0.9 g
* Saturated Fat: 0.1 g
* Calories from Fat: 3.5%
* Cholesterol: 0 mg
* Protein: 11.3 g
* Carbohydrates: 45.6 g
* Sugar: 3.3 g
* Fiber: 14.8 g
* Sodium: 469 mg
* Calcium: 113 mg
* Iron: 4 mg
* Vitamin C: 13.6 mg
* Beta Carotene: 2910 mcg
* Vitamin E: 0.4 mg

[rissakaye]

Thanks. I'll definitely be trying both. My dh is strongly opposed to any onion in his food so I'll be modifying them a little.

I'm totally clueless so I'm taking notes and printing recipes.

Marissa

[Mellizos]

We love lentil soup.

- white onion, diced
- carrots, chopped small
- garlic, as many gloves as you like. I love garlic and use 4-5.
- olive oil
- 1 lb of lentils, rinsed.
- salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until the onion is tender.
2. Add the entire mixture to pot of water.
3. Add lentils and carrots. Add salt and pepper to taste. I find this doesn't need much of either.
4. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 30-40 minutes.

We like it with sourdough bread or a dark, wheat bread.

[rissakaye]

This would be dumb question time. Where would I be most likely to find lentils in the store? With the dried beans?

Marissa

[marieber]

We eat a fair amount of beans here.

Some of my favorites:

Instant black beans

Soda Jerk Beans(great for a party)

Senate bean soup (recipe to come)

Bean salad

Mixture of beans like: Cannellini beans, Red beans, and Chick peas
celery
red onion
home made vinaigrette

[Mellizos]

Quote

This would be dumb question time. Where would I be most likely to find lentils in the store? With the dried beans?

Yes, with the beans. They usually run about $1 per pound here. So for example, my lentil soup recipe costs about $2-3 to make. Legumes in general are a great way to eat healthy and very cheap.

We also like a multi-bean soup/stew with leftover ham.
- 1 pound of beans. Most stores have a bean mixture: 13 beans or something like that.
- diced leftover ham.
- Water.

Adding everything to a soup pot. Cover, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until the beans are tender. I don't add any seasonings. The sugar/maple syrup/salt/whatever from the ham adds all the flavor.

[Mellizos]

I love Ecuadorian menestra, which is a stewy-type bean side dish. The most popular uses lentils, but you an also use garbanzo or white beans. I stole the recipe from here.

Traditional Menestra Recipe

Ingredients

* 500 g cooked beans (red beans, garbanzos, or lentil) (reserve cooking liquid)
* 1 large tomato
* 1 medium green pepper
* 1 medium red onion
* 1/2 - 3/4 cup chicken broth
* 2 Tbs cilantro
* 1 Tbs garlic, pressed
* salt and cumin to taste

Directions

1. To make the refrito, chop the tomato, green pepper, onion and garlic into quarters and put into a blender. Add just enough broth to blend. Blend for about a minute. Season with salt and cumin.
2. Strain the tomato mixture with a fine mesh strainer, reserving the liquid. Put the liquid into a large saucepan and add the legumes. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer for about 15 minutes. If more liquid is needed, add the water the legumes were cooked in as needed.
3. Just before serving add the cilantro. Serve with grilled meat (chicken, fish, or beef), rice, and sweet fried plantains.

American-Style Menestra

For cooks pressed with time, some substitutions can be made to get menestra on the table in less than 30 minutes.
Ingredients

* 2 250 g cans of beans (red, garbanzos, or pre-cooked lentils) (reserve liquid)
* 4 Tbs tomato paste
* 1 can chicken broth
* 1 Tbs dried, minced onion
* 1 tsp garlic paste
* 2 Tbs cilantro, chopped
* salt and cumin to taste

Directions

1. Make the refrito by mixing the tomato paste, chicken broth, onion and garlic paste. Put into a saucepan and add the canned beans. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the flavors are blended. If more liquid is needed, add the liquid from the canned legumes.
3. Season with salt and cumin. Before serving, sprinkle with fresh cilantro.

[Becca34]

This isn't a real recipe, but for something quick to eat -- I drain and rinse one can of chick peas (I like the Goya brand, which is in the Spanish section of the grocery store), throw in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, and whatever spices you like -- I often do garlic and Italian seasonings, or just Emeril's Original Essence. Or, garlic and cumin and a bit of chile.

Cover and microwave for 2.5 minutes. It works even better sauteed on the stovetop for a few minutes.

I often use this as our "alternative meal" when the kids are refusing to eat dinner, or I eat this for breakfast, too.

[Mellizos]

Becca, that reminds me how much I like hummus. My favorite ready made is the garlic hummus at Trader Joe's. I love to dip baby carrots, grape tomatoes and sliced red/yellow/orange bell pepper in it. Yum.

[Mellizos]

I keep thinking about this thread.

Does anyone have a good recipe for falafel? I could really use some right now.

[marieber]

Mellizos, on 17 November 2009 - 09:11 AM, said:

Does anyone have a good recipe for falafel? I could really use some right now.

I always use the boxed "mix". I would like to do it from scratch too. I love falafel. With mint, cucumbers, yogurt dressing, tomatoes and hot sauce... mmmmmmmm... I'm so frying some up tonight.

[rissakaye]

I had the Today Show on this morning and here's a link to the recipes from this morning. They are different forms of chili's and use alot of beans and legumes.

http://today.msnbc.m..._food_and_wine/

Marissa

[lovelylily]

Meli,
Thanks for this thread. I missed it until now, but I'm so excited to try some of these recipes!

[Mellizos]

Mel, I tried your lentil taco recipe this weekend. It was great! When wrapped up in a taco or burrito, it was hard to tell the filling was lentils as opposed to ground beef. Even though I messed up the recipe (used one pound vs one cup :ibiggrin: ), it still worked - after I added 2 cups more water to make sure all the lentils cooked.

[~Anne~]

Easy Hummus Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups canned chick peas, drained or the same amount fresh cooked
2/3 cup *tahini
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cloves mashed garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
parsley for garnish
oil
Place chick peas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt and cumin in food processor. Mix until smooth. The hummus may be a bit thick, so thin it out by adding a bit of oil or liquid from the can of chick peas. Using the liquid from the can obviously makes it a low fat hummus recipe, but the oil adds a lovely richness to the hummus that is my preference.
Refrigerate and sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.


*Tahini recipe
5 cups sesame seeds

1 1/2 cups olive oil or vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 350. Toast sesame seeds for 5-10 minutes, shaking the seeds frequently with a spatula. Do not allow to brown. Cool for 20 minutes.

Pour sesame seeds into food processor and add oil. Blend for 2 minutes. Check for consistency. The goal is a thick, yet pourable texture. Add more oil and blend until desired consistency.

Makes about 4 cups, and can be refrigerated in a sealed container for about 3 months.

[Meximeli]

Most of these recipies are also meatless, perfect for lent.

[here we go!]

This has been our favorite lentil soup for the last couple of years and it includes kale or any other leafy green (another healthy thing to eat typically lacking in the average American diet). I often use ham instead of sausage but it's good both ways. I have not yet tried it meatless but I very often cut the amount of meat down (and it doesn't call for much to begin with). Also, I usually quadruple this recipe since the way it's written is for a very small amount. Sausage, kale and lentil soup

Thanks Melissa... we are having lentil tacos this week:)

[Mellizos]

We had lentil tacos last night. It's one of our favorite recipes.

[Meximeli]

Mellizos--in a pinch one day, we invented Enlentejadas--and loved them even more than the normal black bean enfrijoladas--basically made the lentil taco recipe, but more water, and a run through the blender. Lightly fry tortillas, fold into triangles and cover in lentil sauce, top with queso fresco and cream (and raw onion circles if you're so inclinded). Delish!