A few nights ago, I made lentils for Dylan to take to daycare for lunch. He refused them for blandness, so they got recycled into a side dish for last night’s dinner. With just a bit of seasoning, I transformed the leftover lentils into something that met with approval from Mommy, Daddy and Baby alike.
- 12 oz cooked lentils (I’m pretty sure I overcooked ours, which was good for Dylan, though I thought it made them taste a little starchy)
- 2 Tbsp butter (As always, a bit of black truffle butter will kick it up a notch)
- ~1Tbsp olive oil
- ½ of a medium onion, diced
- 1-2 Tbsp curry powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp ground corriander
- 1 tsp Mohini Indian Fusion Vegetable Blend
- ¼ tsp Puerto Rican-style adobo powder
- ~¼ cup broth (I used beef; chicken or vegetable would work fine)
- 1tsp-1Tbsp heavy cream
Melt the butter in the oil over low heat. Increase heat to medium and cook onions to translucency. Stir in 1 Tbsp curry powder, the cumin, and the corriander, then add the lentils. Add broth to thin the lentils out to the desired thickness. Don’t go all the way to soup (Well, I guess if you wanted lentil soup, I have no objection), just enough that the lentils will conform to the pot instead of sitting there in a lump. Bring to a simmer, then add the Vegetable blend (If you don’t have any on hand, any sort of vegetable curry seasonings will work) and adobo. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. Add a bit of cream, shooting for a smooth texture. Taste, and add more cream, curry or adobo until you’re happy with it. Simmer 5 more minutes, then remove from heat and let stand, covered, a few minutes.
I served this beside sausages in a homemade red sauce, but that’s just because it’s what I had ready to hand.