Food Storage Friday: Curried Lentils and Rice

I love refried beans. I'm a big fan of hummus. And I love a good blackbean burger. But there are some bean dishes that I just can't do. I shiver at the sign of bean soup, you know the kind with the ham bone in it (sorry Mom)? Don't even get me near split pea soup (blah), and lentils have always scared me.


But when a food storage recipe hits you in the face, you gotta run with it. This one came out of Fitness magazine. Who'd a thunk it?



Ingredients: lentils, rice, curry powder, onion powder, oil, honey, balsamic oil, salt (not pictured) and water (also not pictured).



Start off by cooking your rice, either in a rice cooker or over the stove top. Directions for how I cook rice are here.



Warm up a pan over medium high heat. Check out this beauty Mountain Man got me for Christmas. That's true love baby.



When your pan is hot, add the oil.



After the oil heats up a bit add the curry powder,



Cook and stir for a little bit then add the onion powder



and stir it around to make a paste.




add the water



and the lentils. The recipe calls for brown lentils, but my typical grocery store only had one kind of lentils....and I don't think they were the brown kind judging from the end result (color wise). Next time I'll check out the fancy health food store.



Bring your mixture to a boil, lower the heat and cover.



If your pan doesn't come with a lid, tin foil works great.



Let the lentils simmer until they are soft. See, definitely not brown lentils. I was about to gag at this point---it looked way too close to split peas...



Remove from heat and stir in honey



balsamic vinegar



and salt. This practice of adding vinegar to beans after they've cooked is fairly common in ethnic cooking, I'm beginning to notice. It really gives the dish an awesome kick.


Put some cooked rice into a bowl



And ladle the lentils over the top



Add some sour cream if you're rotating. Oh how I love sour cream, I could write an ode.



End result? Green, yes, but surprisingly delicious. As in, my kids ate it! Mountain Man swore his love and dedication all over again after eating it. There were no leftovers. Thanks Fitness magazine, I forgive you for making me feel fat every month.



Curried Lentils and Rice
adapted from Fitness Magazine

2 cups rice
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp powdered onion
4 cups water
1 cup brown lentils
1 tsp honey
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp salt

Cook rice according to package directions. Heat oil and curry powder together in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion powder and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the water and lentils and bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 22 minutes, until lentils are soft. Remove from heat; stir in the honey, vinegar, and salt. Ladle over bowls of rice. Top with cilantro and sour cream if rotating.