Posted Feb 23, 2013
In the crowded world of legumes, we may ignore lentils in the rush to buy red kidney beans for chili, navy beans for ham-flavored soup, black beans, pinto beans, split peas and more.
That’s too bad. A smart cook learns to love lentils for their variety of textures and colors — black, pink, red, green and more — good nutrition, ease of cooking and easy-to-swallow prices.
Indian cooks turn them into dals while Moroccans pride themselves on their recipes for the lentil-tomato soup called harira. In Italy, lentils often are cooked with the specialty cotechino. In France, they may appear as a first course or alongside roasted meats. And rare is the vegetarian cook who hasn’t learned to love this legume.
Cookbook author James Peterson includes several lentil recipes in his latest edition of “Vegetables” (Ten Speed Press, $35), from a French-inspired salad on through Indian soups and stews.
“The best lentil interpretations I’ve had are Indian,” he says of the beautifully seasoned dishes often finished with the clarified butter called ghee or coconut milk.
But Peterson was also quick to tell us about a vinaigrette-dressed lentil salad. “We used to serve it with a pate in Paris when I was working there. … That was fabulous.
“And lentils cooked with bacon are heavenly.”
Peterson was not always so enamored with lentils. Recallling his time in Paris: “I was so so poor, but I was at the Cordon Bleu and taking a pastry class and I would come home with these beautiful cakes and we would sit there and have lentils for dinner — my friend, he would stock up on dry goods during periods of being flush — so we’d have these lentils that we’d rush through to get to the cake. But that was an example of not cooking them well when you don’t know what you’re doing.”
He’s mastered cooking them well and no longer associates lentils with poverty, “especially since they have now become chic and show up in fancy restaurants cooked with all sorts of expensive foods.”
Lentils, from the tiny Beluga (yes, they look like the pricey caviar) to the green-black French du Puy and the broad brown, are comfortable sharing plate space with duck, lamb, goose and game, from quail to venison, whether the lentils are served whole or pureed.
It’s time to ditch any outdated notions of the limited potential of lentils. The tiny seed’s versatility lies in its ability to play well with a variety of flavors, herbs and spices, giving cooks a blank canvas for exercising their creativity. Another plus: They don’t require soaking before cooking like other legumes and cook in less than an hour.
Lentils, the seeds found inside the pods on the plant called lens culinaris, have been nourishing folks for thousands of years. A cup of cooked lentils delivers almost 18 grams of protein as well as 15 grams fiber and only 230 calories, according to the USDA Nutrient Database.
Removed from the pods, those seeds are usually found at the market in a dried form. They may be sold whole or split, with the skin on or off — offering cooks four options. Which one you choose can affect how they are cooked and how the finished dish will look. Whole, skin on lentils (Beluga, Puy) will hold their shape when cooked. Split lentils, with their skin off will produce a silkier finished product.
While we found some supermarkets offering more than a half dozen lentil types, sorting through those at markets catering to ethnic communities may present a bit of a challenge. In lentil-loving India, for example, listing all the types is a challenge, according to “The Oxford Companion to Food” author Alan Davidson. “Attempts to list lentils run up against a fundamental difficulty; the use of the word in an Indian context is much looser, spilling over from Lens culinaris into other species, as though lentil had much the same meaning as dal (split pulse).”
Adds cookbook author Anupy Singla (“Vegan Indian Cooking”), “Dal can refer to a soupy preparation made with legumes. It can also refer to dry lentil dishes in some parts of India.”
Don’t let nomenclature confuse you. Instead, go beyond the common brown lentil, so easily found in supermarkets and, give, say, a lovely pink or red lentil a chance.
Here are some lentil types to look for.
–Beluga lentils: Tiny, black, look like caviar.
–Brown lentils: Khaki color. Also called Indian brown lentil, German lentil, green lentil.
–French green lentils: Also called du Puy lentils; named for French region. Peppery flavor. Holds shape.
–Pink lentils: Brown lentils with skin removed. Turn yellow with cooking.
–Red lentils: Turn golden when cooked.
–Yellow lentils: May have skin on or off.
–White lentils: Skinned and split black lentils.
Sources: “The Cook’s Thesaurus,” “Vegetables,” James Peterson
Cooking up lentils
There are many recipes and tips for prepping and cooking lentils, as well as ways to serve them, whether on their own, in tandem with grains or accompanied by meat or fish.
In “Vegan Indian Cooking,” Anupy Singla, a Chicago food writer and cooking teacher, offers some guidance. Here are a few drawn from the book:
Sort before cooking: Singla suggests placing lentils by cupfuls on a white plate, then sorting to remove foreign matter (stones, sticks).
Rinse before cooking: Place them in a sieve, rinse with water, drain.
Storage, cooked: Refrigerate cooked lentils for about three days; store in the freezer up to three months.
Reheat: In a saucepan, heat slowly. Add water if needed; check salt before serving. Can be warmed in the microwave.
Storage, uncooked: In a cool, dark, dry place, ideally in glass containers.
Warm lentils
Prep: 15 minutes Cook: 30 minutes Servings: 6
Note: This classic preparation of lentilles tiedes is adapted from Michael Roberts’ “Parisian Home Cooking.” Serve these as a first course or alongside slices of roast pork or ham.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups small French du Puy lentils
4 cups homemade vegetable broth, or low-sodium canned vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 medium onions, coarsely diced
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
3 ribs celery, thinly sliced
1/3 to 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1. Combine lentils, broth, salt, pepper to taste, thyme and bay leaves in a saucepan. Cover; place over medium heat. Heat to a simmer; cook until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat; drain. Transfer lentils to a large heatproof bowl. Let cool, unrefrigerated, to room temperature.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery; cook until the carrots are soft, about 12 minutes. Do not allow the onions to brown.
3. Add the contents of the skillet to the lentils; gently mix together. Stir in the vinegar and mustard; mix in the parsley. Serve immediately or chill and serve.
Nutrition information: Per serving: 244 calories, 7 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 34 g carbohydrates, 11 g protein, 461 mg sodium, 12 g fiber.
jhevrdejs@tribune.com
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