Luscious lentils
In stew, in pasta or in a bright vegetarian loaf, there’s so much to be done with this trusty legume
Atmy house, dinner is not a three-coursemeal every night. More likely, it’s amain course and a green salad. Sometimes, it is a one-pot main course, though not always. (I find that evenwhen cooking a simple meal, at least two pots and pans are often involved.) And, quite frequently, dinner is meatless.
While I considermyself a carnivore, my first love will always be vegetables. I’m quite happy to have a vegetarianmeal several times aweek.
In addition to fresh vegetables, whole grains and dried legumes are usually part of the picture. I’ma big fan of every type of bean, whether cannellini or garbanzo, with a cupboard full of themto choose from. Lately, it is lentils thatmost strikemy fancy. Aside frombeing delicious, they have the advantage of being quick-cooking. It usually takes nomore than 30 minutes to simmer a pot, so they are perfect for a relatively fast meal.
Formost uses, any kind willwork. But even among lentils, there are lots of types to choose from. If the meal is leaning in a Spanish direction, I might go with Pardina lentils, a small brown variety good for stews, soups or salads. For an Italianate dish, I likeCastelluccio lentils from Umbria. When Iwant to veer toward Turkish flavors, I choose split red lentils.
What follows are three lentil dinners I highly recommend. They are all vegetarian, and all have the advantage of tasting good, perhaps better, when prepared in advance. Lastly, each of these dishes canbenefit fromadrizzleof fruity extra-virgin olive oil as afinal flourish, tomake them thatmuchmore luscious.