Lentils and Rice

This is a very simple dish, but really yummy.  I used to hate it when I was a kid, but I love it now.  This is a great dish for a cold night.  I love it plain, but I also love it with a little Italian dressing on it.  That's the only way I can get Liz to eat it.  I think some fresh lemon juice would be good too.

Lentils and Rice

1/2 cup lentils
1/2 cup brown rice
1 onion minced (or 4 TBSP dehydrated onion)
1/2 tsp curry powder
2 1/2 cups water
1 tsp olive oil

Put all ingredients in pot and cook on medium low heat until lentils and rice are both tender and all water is absorbed, about 40 minutes.  If water is gone but rice is still crunchy, add a little more water, cook until absorbed, then check again.  Makes about 3 servings (I usually double it for the 5 of us).

If you use white rice, cook the lentils by themselves for about 15 minutes, then add the white rice, since white rice takes less time to cook than the lentils do.  Adjust the amount of curry to your taste preference.  This is either a good main dish or a side dish.

I made this Monday night, and Liz gobbled hers up and then said, "I love this!  I forgot how good it is, but I love it."  Miraculous I tell you, nothing short of miraculous!

I put some caramelized red onions and wheat sprouts on top of mine, and it was super yummy.  I doubled the recipe, and we ate it all.

Baked Rice

I've had bad luck with rice lately. It's never the right consistency, either too wet or too dry and crunchy, and I burn it about 50% of the time. So when I saw this recipe, I had to try it. It was so simple, but very good, and it makes your house smell really good. When the kids walked in, they were absolutely convinced that they smelled popcorn! :)

Baked Brown Rice

1 1/2 cups brown rice

2 1/2 cups chicken broth (I used 2 1/2 cups water and 2 chicken bouillon cubes)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the ingredients in a 3-quart baking pan or casserole dish and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit for five minutes before removing the aluminum foil and fluffing with a fork.

This makes about 3 1/2 cups of rice, or enough for at least 7 people. I used an 8x8 glass baking dish, and it worked just fine.

Roasted Vegetables

Side dishes are hard for me, I don't feel like I have very many, and it's hard for me to think of different, creative ways to make vegetables. But this is really yummy.

Roasted Vegetables

1 head broccoli, cauliflower or broccoflower, chopped into bite size pieces

2 red bell peppers, cut in chunks

2 cups baby carrots

olive oil

salt

Put chopped vegetables on large baking sheet. Lightly brush with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt (I like to use coarse salt). Cover with tin foil and bake at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until vegetables start to get tender. Remove tin foil and bake until they start to turn golden brown. Be careful, the broccoli can dry out if you're not careful. Cook until desired tenderness (I like them crisp tender). When you roast them, they taste fresher than when they are boiled or steamed, and it's easier to keep them from getting soggy. I've sprinkled them with Parmesan cheese before, and they're really good that way too.