There's always a cereal and there's always a legume

March 8, 2024 1:37 AM

You can build a complex society on that pairing, and many times over the course of human history, people have. In the ancient Middle East, lentils were one of the main sources of protein, far more important in most people's diets than meat or animal products. from How the lentil was tamed – and helped human societies thrive [BBC]

Cultural Significance of Brown Lentils in Rituals and Festivals [Savory Suitcase]
Jacob’s lentil stew: The secret recipe delicious enough to buy a birthright [JVS]
Lentils are not complicated [Lentils.org]
Everything You Need to Know About Lentils [FAO]

posted by chavenet (37 comments total)

Here's to the lentil!
posted by Homemade Interossiter at 3:32 AM on March 8 [3 favorites]

Why, yes, the Rancho Gordo Stan is going to have some things to say about lentils.

Unlike most other dried beans, you don't have to presoak lentils before cooking them - and they don't take long to cook. They are a GREAT blank canvas for improvised soups and main-dish salads - for a soup, start with a mirepoix of some chopped carrot/celery/onion, throw in lentils and water, and simmer; then you can throw in leftover cooked meat, some chopped tomato, chunks of cooked squash, maybe even some cooked tortellini. For a salad, cook up some lentils in water, drain when they're done, then drizzle with some vinaigrette (or even bottled Italian salad dressing would work) and throw in some chopped veggies - carrots, celery, tomato, cucumber, and bell pepper would all work.

If you want a more straight-up recipe, here's a couple from Rancho Gordo.

Lentil and Carrot Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette
Lentil and Potato Stew
Italian Lentil and Mushroom soup
Lentils folded into Yogurt with spinach and basil
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:10 AM on March 8 [12 favorites]

Well, that's dinner sorted!
posted by mumimor at 4:11 AM on March 8 [3 favorites]

OH DAMN I used the wrong link for the Lentils with the yogurt and spinach:

Lentils Folded Into Yogurt With Spinach And Basil And I Mean It This Time
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:37 AM on March 8 [4 favorites]

Like a lot of English people, my parents came from an Anglo-Irish food prep background. Each food is a solid unit, that stands on its own - the potato, the sausage, the mint sauce - and all meals should aim for meat-and-two-veg as the correct ratio. When I came back from university and announced that I like lentils now, my mother cooked me a bowl of naked lentils, just a big bowl of split red lentils without any accompanying flavour.

This is kind of why lentils have struggled for hearts and minds over something like the potato. There’s also the overuse of the word protein, implying that lentils are a replacement for meat. Lentils are something you use as part of the meal, something that is cooked in combination with other things to become delicious and filling.
posted by The River Ivel at 4:42 AM on March 8 [9 favorites]

I made lentil soup for the first time in years this week and my first reaction was "this is so fucking good, why have I not been making this every week for all these years?"
posted by rikschell at 4:50 AM on March 8 [7 favorites]

This would have been a way better version of Bioshock Infinite, gotta say.
posted by mhoye at 4:58 AM on March 8 [2 favorites]

One of my favorite foods is Turkish lentil soup with lemon and mint. A few years ago, a restaurant opened near my house that sells it, and it has become my comfort food.

As for the brown and green varieties, the Ranch Gordo facebook group raves over this recipe, It Just Keeps Getting Better Salad.
posted by tofu_crouton at 5:00 AM on March 8 [5 favorites]

I make a very nice lentil curry that I picked up from this charming young woman. So there you go. It's not just tasty dinner that my seven year old will actually eat. I'm saving the god damn world.

You're welcome.
posted by Naberius at 5:22 AM on March 8 [6 favorites]

hen I came back from university and announced that I like lentils now, my mother cooked me a bowl of naked lentils, just a big bowl of split red lentils without any accompanying flavour.

This is kind of why lentils have struggled for hearts and minds over something like the potato.

When I was a kid, a very standard dish you would be served at hippy cafes and potlucks (also hippy) was an incredibly tasteless lentil stew. It would have been a perfectly good lentil stew, but it was minus the mirepoix and minus any herbs/spices. Sometimes also minus the salt (because that's unhealthy, don't you know). It was pretty much just brown lentils, potatoes, chunks of carrot, and a bit of onion, all boiled for 30-40 minutes.

It was at least warm and filling and I ate many bowls of it, but it was not a great advertisement for lentils.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:25 AM on March 8 [16 favorites]

Red lentils, tiny but mighty, cook very quickly and are quite toothsome when browned in oil (with spices if you like) before pouring boiled water on them. Serve with...y'know, other stuff.
posted by kozad at 5:39 AM on March 8 [4 favorites]

Looking forward to trying some of these recipes. A couple of my go-tos: an ace carrot and red lentil soup and my mate's Instant Pot dhal (the most often cooked thing in my Instant Pot)
posted by amcewen at 5:57 AM on March 8 [1 favorite]

A combination of chopped mushrooms and cooked lentils makes an easy substitute for ground meat in dishes like moussaka (making some today) or lasagna.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 6:05 AM on March 8 [5 favorites]

Two of my favorite red lentils recipes:
Pinch of Yum Crockpot Sweet Potato Lentils

Cook for Good Summer Lentil Stew (recipe doesn't seem to be on her public website anymore, but her site has so much other good stuff. Here is my edited version):
Recipe Ingredients
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup red lentils (3 ounces)
1 cup water
1 teaspoon oil
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 red or yellow onion
1 boiling potato, such as a Russet or Yukon Gold
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup green beans

Recipe Method
1. Mince garlic. Put sorted and rinsed red lentils in a bowl with 1 cup water to soak while you
prepare other vegetables.
2. In a medium pot, warm oil over medium low heat. Add curry powder and garlic and heat until fragrant.
3. Chop onion into 1/8th-inch pieces and cook with oil until translucent, about 3 minutes.
4. Chop potato into 1/4-inch cubes and add to pot with lentils, water, and salt. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat so stew barely boils. Cook for 10 minutes.
5. Cut green beans into bite-sized pieces and add to top of stew without stirring. This lets the
green beans steam on top and keeps the lentils under water. Cover pot and simmer for 6 to 8
minutes, until lentils and potatoes are tender and beans are as tender as you like.
6. Serve hot or room temperature. Refrigerate extra for up to four days. The potatoes will develop a mushy texture if frozen.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:05 AM on March 8 [3 favorites]

Puy lentils FTW. I mean, you don't have to splurge on the AOC ones, but that variety of green lentil has great flavor and texture.
posted by St. Oops at 6:18 AM on March 8 [3 favorites]

It's amusing that the geneticist in the article says there's always a cereal and always a legume, and then the article mentions potatoes...

Against the Grain by James C. Scott has a much more in-depth take on the role of different plants in the formation of early states. Long story short: it's a lot easier to tax cereals than legumes.
posted by McBearclaw at 6:32 AM on March 8 [4 favorites]

I was going to say that you can get red lentils from Rancho Gordo, because I got some in my last box in February - but they don't offer it on the site. I think maybe that was just special for us. (Heh.)

But you can get another unusual and fancy lentil variety - black caviar lentils. They look like caviar, they cook like lentils. They're good for salad applications because they hold their shape really well after cooking (unlike red lentils, which get soft pretty easy). They can be used in any lentil recipe, but Rancho Gordo came up with an appetizer/snack application that riffs on how they look like caviar - Black Caviar Lentils and Potatoes with Creme Fraiche.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:32 AM on March 8 [6 favorites]

I was going to say that you can get red lentils from Rancho Gordo, because I got some in my last box in February - but they don't offer it on the site. I think maybe that was just special for us. (Heh.)

Their lentil options seem to come and go frequently, but over time they've had a number of varieties cycle through. Right now I have their Puglia lentils and red lentils in the cupboard; this thread is inspiring me to cook some soon.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:45 AM on March 8 [1 favorite]

I’m newly into lentils and I think something that helped was clarifying the difference between the types - red sort of melts away, brown tastes like dirt, green are good for salads, de puy and black keep their structure the best. They all take seasoning well, though, and complement most grains so nicely.

Another great thing about lentils is that they’re cheap but if you go for the best (another Rancho Gordo fan here), they’re barely more expensive, and still much much cheaper than meat or vegetarian meal focal points. And the volume! I made a great lentil and farro dish last night - Smitten Kitchen’s French onion baked lentils and farro, so good, so so good - and it’s at least six substantial servings.
posted by punchtothehead at 6:57 AM on March 8 [3 favorites]

I (well, my wife) recently got off the bean club waiting list, so now I'm hoping Rancho Gordo sends us some lentils.
posted by madcaptenor at 8:16 AM on March 8 [4 favorites]

I *love* lentils. here is a really delicious recipe that uses fancy pants Black Beluga Lentils (the caviar of lentils!)
posted by supermedusa at 8:18 AM on March 8 [1 favorite]

I am not familiar with Rancho Gordo I admit. I didn't know red lentils were hard to find. I get mine in Kroger store brand one pound bags for $1. Before Kroger came out with those, I had to go to the South Asian section in the grocery store, which I guess is not something everyone has. I'm sorry not everyone has access to them. They really are an awesome food.

Even though this is the lentils thread, I want to put in a word for their African derived and now Southeastern US adored cousins the field peas, like black eyed peas and crowder peas. They cook up nearly as quickly as lentils without pre-soaking, and I find their flavor a little more interesting than lentils on their own.
posted by hydropsyche at 8:45 AM on March 8 [5 favorites]

One thing I really miss about going to Trader Joe's was that you could pick three containers from the refrigerated section and make a truly delicious and filling lentil dish. Pre-cooked lentils, bruschetta, and feta cheese, just dump together and stir.
posted by tavella at 8:57 AM on March 8 [2 favorites]

Red lentils aren't hard to find, but Rancho Gordo has a rotating set of legumes that they sell based on partnerships with small farmers. It's been a while since red lentils have been in the rotating line up, so it's an exciting time for subscribers.
posted by tofu_crouton at 9:19 AM on March 8 [1 favorite]

One thing I really miss about going to Trader Joe's was that you could pick three containers from the refrigerated section and make a truly delicious and filling lentil dish.

Literally last night I made a down-market version of Serious Eats's Easy French Lentils with TJ's steamed lentils, a mirepoix (happened to be from another grocery store, but TJ's does sell it too), some butter, and some red wine vinegar. Making it from scratch is better, but dicing up cups of root vegetables and aliums is a strain on my knife skills.

I see I am not the only one whose parents' hippie approach to lentils put them off them for a long time. My mom went on a Seventh-Day Adventist diet kick for a while, and since she was the main cook in the household, that meant a lot of bland, mushy lentils, seasoned with little more than worcestershire sauce (!!!). "Lentils are God's protein! No need for flavor!" I used to joke. I still mostly only eat de Puys.
posted by praemunire at 9:19 AM on March 8 [4 favorites]

I don't know if there's a proper name for it, but one of my favorite "good for you" comfort dishes is lentils cooked in veg/chicken stock and then mixed with an olive oil heavy saute of onions, garlic, mushrooms and thyme. Topped with caramelized onions and some more olive oil and maybe a fried/poached egg if one's feeling extra. It feels like one of those rock sturdy basic ideas for a meal that must have been made a thousand different ways in a thousand different cultures. Guess I know what I'm making for lunch.
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:33 AM on March 8 [2 favorites]

Oh man, I love lentils so much! My partner just made Rishta while I was out with a friend, and even the leftovers were stunning. It's sooo good, you should definitely check it out.
posted by Carillon at 9:40 AM on March 8 [2 favorites]

it's a lot easier to tax cereals than legumes.

Can someone who has read the book explain this? Lentils in particular seem to be easier to store and manage (post harvest) than grains.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 9:43 AM on March 8 [1 favorite]

Re Scott: "One might imagine that ancient domesticated legumes ... might serve as a tax crop. The obstacle in this case is that most legumes are indeterminate crops that can be picked as long as they grow; they do not have a determinate harvest, something the tax man requires."
posted by mittens at 9:58 AM on March 8 [6 favorites]

Nice to see fellow Rancho Gordo Bean Clubbers so well represented in this thread!
posted by slogger at 12:48 PM on March 8 [2 favorites]

When I was a kid I would go to an overnight summer camp and one year the cooks were vegetarian hippies. The hiring of them kind of made sense because it was a Muslim camp and the food needed to be halal so if the cooks weren't Muslim but were vegetarian we wouldn't be fed anything we weren't supposed to eat.

The problem was that they weren't very good cooks. Meals were invariably some kind of flavourless mush and the evening snacks/desserts were terrible. Us campers suffered through it but we joked about those cooks for years.

The crazy thing is that as much as Muslims love to eat meat, there are tons of vegetarian meals that they happily eat all the time, and instead of making those the cooks just went with whatever flavourless things that Canadian hippies ate in the early 90s.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:03 PM on March 8 [2 favorites]

Eston lentils.
I tried these at random from the local Mediterranean food store. These are tiny green lentils -- the ones in my pantry are 4mm = 3/16 inch. The color is more brown with a hint of green.

They have great flavor and a nice, firm texture. They freeze very well too. I was surprised at how much better these are than the generic brown or green lentils I had been using. Way better. Example source.

My microwave method: A 1 quart covered dish. 3/4 cup lentils, 3.5 c water. 5 min at 100% power to reach boiling, then 35 min at 20%. (the "10 min in Instant Pot" method didn't work well for me. I should try it again, though.)

They are great in quick street tacos, with some black bean salsa, lentils, and optional cheese.

~~~
I see that the Puy lentils are somewhat related. I'll have to try those too!
posted by jjj606 at 2:50 PM on March 8 [1 favorite]

There is a whole wonderful family of lentil and rice dishes (eg Khichree) but I am most partial to Mejadra. The Ottolenghi/Tamimi recipe is delicious but fussy, and I have developed a streamlined version that is almost as good but much quicker, using the fried onion you can buy pre-cooked.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:41 PM on March 8 [1 favorite]

Later in the book, Scott says that grains are "visible, divisible, assessable, storable, transportable, and 'rationable'"... unlike legumes (indeterminate and edible before fully ripe, and therefore hard to confiscate), tubers (can't gauge the yield until harvest, harder to harvest, heavier to transport, can lay hidden underground and dug up as needed), fruit (too perishable), and animals (mobile but hard to transport, perishable, too hard to dole out in measured portions to your slaves).

(I love this book so much)
posted by McBearclaw at 9:12 PM on March 8 [1 favorite]

I grew up reading Victorian-era novels where "lentils" were synonymous with "grim poverty and abuse," but had never eaten them or knew of anyone who had. I became a vegetarian in my late teens and started seriously cooking in my early twenties and realized how effing delicious they are.
posted by cyndigo at 10:22 PM on March 8 [1 favorite]

Seconding the Mejadra/Mujadara recommendation, @i_am_joe’s_spleen - a simple, fragrant, dish that nonetheless feels feast-worthy.

Another staple of mine is Masoor (red lentil) Dal - pure comfort food. Like a great big spiced hug that practically cooks itself. I haven’t linked to a specific recipe as variations abound, and I adapt the version in my memory-bank to whatever I have on hand, but do explore. (I feel that knowing how to make a good dal is one of those humble, but essential life-skills - like being able to darn a sock, or tie a reef knot. Useful and satisfying.)
posted by tuckshopdilettante at 11:49 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]

Here's a great lentil soup recipe from Crescent Dragonwagon. And here's a gift link to the Joe Yonan piece from the Post about the guy who made it for lunch for 17 years.
posted by amarynth at 12:03 PM on March 13