LENTILS WITH SPINACH

[AIR]

Hi Mountaingal: Hope you can help me with the recipe for that vegetarian lentil dish you prepared and I had the pleasure of sampling? I'd like to try making it myself!

[grandma2]

Re: LENTILS WITH SPINACH

yu is popular een as mi turn roun yu deh bout DWL (((AIR))) mawning girl. yes dat was a nice dish

[mountaingal]

Re: LENTILS WITH SPINACH

sure. i'll post it when i get home. it's from one of my cookbooks. we're talking the lentils with spinach, right?

[AIR]

Re: LENTILS WITH SPINACH

Mawnin' to you ladies. Hope you are enjoying the snow!

G2, me got de Jamaicans.com fever!!! Can't stop me now!

Mountaingal, yes, that was a nice recipe! I enjoyed it - and its healthy too! A girl I work with is a vegetarian and I think she would enjoy it as well.

[AIR]

Re: LENTILS WITH SPINACH

Mountain Gal: You forget about me?

[mountaingal]

Re: LENTILS WITH SPINACH

Air - i finally got some time on the computer. had to get my kids a game system to do it. sorry bout the delay.

I usually make half of the following recipe.

LENTILS WITH SPINACH

from Eastern Vegetarian Cooking, by Madhur Jaffrey.

Serves 6

1 1/4 lb (560 g) fresh or frozen leaf spinach
1 medium-sized onion, peeled
5 tbs vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
7 oz (200 g) dried whole green lentils, picked over, washed and drained
1 1/2 - 1 3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin seeds
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
OPTIONAL: 3/4 tsp garam masala

Separate the fresh spinach leaves and wash well. Do not discard the pinkish roots. Wash them as well. (They will taste very good when cooked.) Bunch up a few leaves at a time and cut them crosswise into 1/2-in (1 1/2-cm) wide strips. Cut each root into 2 to 3 pieces. If using frozen spinach, cook according to directions, drain and chop coarsely.

Cut the onion in half lengthwise, and then cut the halves into fine half rings.

Heat the oil in a heavy, wide, casserole-type pot (I use my dutchpot) over a medium flame. When hot, put in the onion and garlic. Stir and saute for 2 minutes. Now put in the lentils and 1 1/4 pt (3/4 l) of water. Bring to the boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer about 50 minutes or until lentils are just tender. Add the spinach leaves and roots, salt and cumin. Stir to mix and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer another 10 to 15 minutes or until spinach is tender and well mixed into the lentils. Stir gently a few times during this period. Put in the black pepper and mix again (you can put in your garam masala here too, if using). This dish may easily be made ahead of time and reheated.

NOTE: I made this dish before, and someone told me it tasted bland. So i tossed in the garam masala to perk up the flavour a bit. But you can omit the garam masala if you wish - it's not part of the original recipe. This cookbook is like a bible to me - in fact, I love all Madhur Jaffrey's books.

[AIR]

Re: LENTILS WITH SPINACH

Thank you very much! I'm passing this one along to my friends and hope to make it myself this weekend! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]