Onion Lentils and Rice

jessi-ryan's Note:

This recipe is adapted from "What to Cook" cookbook. Other than slicing the onions, it doesn't take a lot of prep time. This is what I make when I come home from work hungry and exhausted and want something yummy and filling for dinner.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 3

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 medium onions, sliced (not diced)
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup lentils
• 1 cup rice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cumin

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in skillet, saute the onions with 1 tsp cumin until lightly browned (can add some garlic too, if desired).
2. Remove 1/3 of the onions and set aside.
3. Continue cooking the rest of the onions until dark brown and black in places.
4. In the meantime, bring water to a boil in a saucepan, add the lentils, reduce heat, and cover, simmering for 15 minutes.
5. To the lentils, add the 1/3 lightly browned onions, rice, salt, and remaining 1 tsp cumin.
6. Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until rice is tender.
7. Remove from heat and stir in the well-browned onions.
8. Cover and let stand for 5-10 minutes.
9. Serve!
10. Especially good with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, and a dollop of yogurt or sour cream on top.
11. Also good with cooked spinach.

Reviews

[spatchcock]

AWESOME! I made this last night for dinner. I used regular small brown lentils and brown rice--which, unfortunately, took longer to cook and still wasn't quite done. A word to the wise: you may need a bit of broth or water if you use heavy-duty brown rice in this recipe. But it was great! I also added about 6 cloves of garlic because I'm a garlic freak. This was wonderful--I'll make it very often. Thanks for posting!

[Annie in Michigan]

I omitted the Cumin (but not each time that I've made this dish) and served remaining crisp and carmelized onions on top of finished dish (instead of mixing all of them in), and this was very much like the recipe we love at a Middle Eastern restaurant. Please don't rush cooking the onions. Cook them very slowly so that they carmelize. Also, cooked both the lentils and the rice for 20 mins. instead of 15 mins. recommended (40 minutes total cooking time). Topped the dish with cold, plain yogurt mixed with chopped small cucumbers. One of us added chopped fresh tomatoes, lettuce and onions. Served with warm pita bread, honey butter, mixed greens salad with yogurt dressing and fruit for dessert. Comfort food at its best. Thank you for the recipe, jessi.

[jesikae]

Tasted great. I cooked a bit different as folks around here don't like any crunch whatsoever to their lentils - I soaked for a few hours, popped in the pot of water and then did my onions.. the seasonings in this are great. Putting it over basmati tonight. :D