Recipes for Health
Martha Rose Shulman on healthful cooking.
Even people who swear they don’t abide beans find pleasure in the distinctive, profound flavor of lentils. Lentil broth is as comfortable with Mediterranean seasonings from every corner of the Mediterranean basin as it is with Indian or even Mexican spices. Lentils are at home in a salad, a soup, a stew, a dal and a pilaf. They work well with meat, particularly cured pork products, and vegetables equally, and they are also wonderful alongside a piece of salmon. This is one legume you should always have in your larder.
I consider lentils a convenience food, so quickly do they cook. If you are using lentils for a salad and want them a little bit on the al dente side they can be done in 20 minutes, though I usually let them go for 25 just to be sure that all of them cook through. For stews and soups, 40 to 45 minutes will suffice. Lentils never need to be soaked and for those of you who are sensitive to beans, you will be happy to hear that they don’t contain sulfur, the gas-creating compound present in most beans.
This week I made a couple of lentil salads, one of which I served cold and the other hot. I made a lentil and quinoa pilaf filled with herbs that I had intended to use as a stuffing for grape leaves but ended up eating it on its own because it was so good. I used up the last of my ripe summer tomatoes in a simple lentil and tomato stew and used the leftover stew to fill an amazing Greek phyllo pie, an idea I came across when I was reading about all the things Greeks do with lentils in Diane Kochilas’s “The Greek Vegetarian.”
I used brown lentils for most of my recipe tests this week, though the salads are also good – perhaps even better because the lentils tend to be firmer – with green or black lentils. The flavors of all three are similar enough to make them interchangeable in most recipes, but brown lentils are usually less expensive.
Lentil and Herb Salad With Roasted Peppers and Feta : A delicious salad that works equally well warm or at room temperature.
Lentil and Tomato Stew : A satisfying stew with sweet tomatoes and earthy lentils.
Greek Lentil Pie : Lentils make for delicious filling between layers of phyllo dough.
Quinoa and Lentil Pilaf : A pilaf that works as a side dish or as the base of a big bowl topped with a variety of vegetables.
Warm Lentil Salad With Goat Cheese : The goat cheese melts into the warm lentils in this comforting, rich salad, which leaves the lentils bathed in a creamy dressing.