Talk About Using What You've Got...

There wasn't much for me to cook for dinner last night. No chicken, no onion, no fresh veggies... I felt lost. (But I did have bacon!) I looked in the cabinet and saw brown rice and lentils and I figured I could do something with them. Maybe the (often cringe-worthy) word casserole. I Googled "rice lentil casserole" and discovered that this is an actual dish! Pretty popular, I might add. According to the Internet anyway.

The basics are the right proportions of rice to lentils to liquid. Then whatever seasonings and add-ins you want. I found mostly Mexican flavors going on, but I went Italian instead...

What I Used:

• 3/4 c. brown rice
• 1/2 c. lentils
• 1 1/2 c. chicken broth
• 1 1/2 c. crushed tomatoes w/ basil
• the last bit of a can of cream of chicken soup
• a couple spoonfuls of tomato paste
• 3 cloves chopped garlic
• onion powder (I didn't have an onion!!)
• 2 chopped carrots
• oregano & parsley (just a little)
• peas

Put It All Together:

• Mix it all in a baking dish. 
• Cover and bake. Most of the recipes I found online said to bake at 300 for a little over an hour. But after about 40 minutes I checked on it and realized that would never work. So I upped the temperature to 325. It was in the oven for about 2 hours. ...It did come out a bit mushy, but surprisingly incredibly tasty!
• Oh and the best part: I topped with mozzarella, but didn't have quite enough so I grated lots of fresh Parmesan on top. (The good stuff, from work.) And then crumbled bacon!! This really made it.

I served it with salad & bread (rustic bread with prosciutto and provolone baked in).

*No photo... It's not exactly the most attractive dish. 

Lentil Soup

Now, let's be honest: We've all got a relative (...relatives) who can't cook. I've got one. Well... actually... it's not that she can't cook, but that she doesn't really like cooking as much as me or most of my family. Oddly enough, one of my favorite foods that I always remember looking forward to when I was little was made by her. Lentil soup. She made the best lentil soup. (I also remember at their house they'd always have orange-pineapple-banana juice -- or whatever delicious combination it was -- and dark German bread.)

Obviously this means that lentil soup will now be one of my staples. It's delicious, it's easy and it's healthy. Lentils are really good for you. I made it at my dad's last winter and it came out pretty amazing, if I do say so myself. I made it recently and it wasn't quite as fantastic, but it was still really good. It's all about feeling out the right ratios and experimenting with the flavors you like, right? Right. So here are the basics...

What You'll Need:

• olive oil
• onions
• carrots
• thyme
• marjoram (don't skip this one, you need this for the soup's unique flavor)
• cumin
• parsley
• big can of diced tomatoes
• chicken broth
• lentils (about a cup and half-ish)
• and cheddar!

Put it All Together (So Easy):

• Soak lentils for about 20 minutes and then drain.
• Sautee diced carrots and onion.
• Add all other ingredients (except cheese) and simmer until lentils are soft.

Flavors will work differently if you add seasonings in the beginning of cooking vs. at the end. I wasn't thinking and just added everything all at once, which was fine. It's not so important when you're dealing with dried herbs, but if they were fresh I'd toss 'em in towards the end to retain the fresh flavor. (I probably used almost a teaspoon of each.)

Serve with shredded cheddar on top -- trust me, it makes it!! -- and some fresh bread. Or maybe dark German bread. ;) Delicious, comforting, filling and healthy. Can't be beat.

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