Tell me about lentils

[nomad100]

DH and I are total carnivores but would like to incorporate some lentil dishes into our menu plan.  Lentils were an obvious choice since I don't really like beans and DH doesn't like tofu. 

I was thinking that we could ease into the whole meatless dinner thing by adding lentils to some of our ground meat dishes. 

Are there some types of lentils that have better flavor than others?

Do you have any favorite recipes that you want to share?

[Captain Serious]

Lentils are yummy, but have you tried them? If you don't like beans (not sure what kind of beans you mean here), I'm not sure you'll love lentils.

[papie]

Lentil soup is good. I also love lentil salad. I am lazy and buy canned lentils for the salad. Add some dried cranberries, almonds, celery, herbs and dressing and it is delicious. We often have that for dinner with a grilled bagel and grilled haloumi cheese. I like the green kind, but they are all good.

I don't know about adding them to meat recipes.

[vampsterdam]

There are various versions online, but I made lentil sloppy joes and they were pretty good!

[Deleted]

Dal.

[SKP82]

I make a lentil soup that I sometimes put sausage in. I don't bother to soak the lentils first, but I cook the soup for a good portion of the day. Yummy!

[spellingbea]

I like this soup:
www.bonappetit.com/recipe/curried-lentil-soup

I've also made veggie burgers with them before.

[nomad100]

Crap. With beans it is a texture thing and I don't like that they they "pop" when you bite down on them. Black bean salad gives me the willies and navy beans or kidney beans...shudder. Beans that don't seem to have a skin on them don't squick me out as badly but beans often seem to have a grainy texture that is unappetizing to me.

I was hoping that lentils didn't have those same shudder inducing qualities.

Hmmmmm, maybe I will get a can and just try it out. I have a spaghetti pie bake that I was going to try them out in (subbing part of the meat for some lentils). If I don't like it, I am sure DH will since he likes almost everything.

[jane6672]

When I was a young, any time my mom made lentils, my dad would joke about how they look like ticks.

You are welcome.

[Captain Serious]

Oct 3, 2013 12:50:35 GMT -5 nomad100 said:

Crap. With beans it is a texture thing and I don't like that they they "pop" when you bite down on them. Black bean salad gives me the willies and navy beans or kidney beans...shudder. Beans that don't seem to have a skin on them don't squick me out as badly but beans often seem to have a grainy texture that is unappetizing to me.

I was hoping that lentils didn't have those same shudder inducing qualities.

Hmmmmm, maybe I will get a can and just try it out. I have a spaghetti pie bake that I was going to try them out in (subbing part of the meat for some lentils). If I don't like it, I am sure DH will since he likes almost everything.

If it is a texture thing, than you can either cook them until they open or puree them.  As Miso said, dal is a perfect dish for this.  So is lentil soup.  We used to make it in a pressure cooker, and they weren't whole anymore by the time it was done.  Lentils are also smaller, so I'm not sure if they'd have the same popping sensation, anyway (I never paid that much attention to this).

[game blouses]

Trader Joe's has really good lentils in their deli section. We throw them into pasta sauce and have meatless spaghetti.

[SKP82]

Oct 3, 2013 12:56:59 GMT -5 Captain Serious said:

Oct 3, 2013 12:50:35 GMT -5 nomad100 said:

Crap. With beans it is a texture thing and I don't like that they they "pop" when you bite down on them. Black bean salad gives me the willies and navy beans or kidney beans...shudder. Beans that don't seem to have a skin on them don't squick me out as badly but beans often seem to have a grainy texture that is unappetizing to me.

I was hoping that lentils didn't have those same shudder inducing qualities.

Hmmmmm, maybe I will get a can and just try it out. I have a spaghetti pie bake that I was going to try them out in (subbing part of the meat for some lentils). If I don't like it, I am sure DH will since he likes almost everything.

If it is a texture thing, than you can either cook them until they open or puree them.  As Miso said, dal is a perfect dish for this.  So is lentil soup.  We used to make it in a pressure cooker, and they weren't whole anymore by the time it was done.  Lentils are also smaller, so I'm not sure if they'd have the same popping sensation, anyway (I never paid that much attention to this).

Yep.  I cook my lentils so long that they open and the soup almost becomes creamy.

ETA:  I don't think they "pop" even when they're still intact.  They're so small.

[nomad100]

Oct 3, 2013 12:57:38 GMT -5 game blouses said:

Trader Joe's has really good lentils in their deli section. We throw them into pasta sauce and have meatless spaghetti.

This is just one more reason why I am so peeved we don't have a TJ's.  There is so much good stuff there.

[julez]

Trader Joe's has refrigerated, pre-cooked lentils. We put them in all kinds of things. I just finished eating a soup leftover from last night. I just added veggie broth, carrots, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, and paired it all with biscuits. Mmm.

[julez]

Oct 3, 2013 12:57:38 GMT -5 game blouses said:

Trader Joe's has really good lentils in their deli section. We throw them into pasta sauce and have meatless spaghetti.

Jinx!

[circa1978]

I love lentil soup with lemon. Yum.

[vampsterdam]

Ooh, I haven't tried this recipe yet, but it looks good. You can put the bulgur and lentils in the food processor so that might help with the texture! Trader Joe's has a roasted red pepper spread that I just bought last night so I can try to make a variation of this.

www.thekitchn.com/recipe-spicy-lentil-wrap-with-tahini-saucerecipes-from-the-kitchn-167629

[agnes]

I'm eating lentil soup right now.