As meat gets more expensive, we have started looking for flavorful and filling vegetarian options. Lentils and brown rice are a really good canvas for a plethora of flavors. This recipe puts a southwestern spin on them. I adapted this from an Instant Pot version I found. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yield: 4 servings
Time: 40 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00bec green or brown lentils (beluga or du Puy would also work)
\u00bec brown rice
1 red bell pepper (paprika), diced
4-6 green onions, chopped; reserve the greens
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
750 ml vegetable broth
1 400g can diced tomatoes
1 220g can Poblano chiles, drained and chopped
1 tbsp ground chile (e.g. Ancho)
\u00bc tsp granulated garlic
\u00bc tsp granulated onion
\u00bd tsp dried oregano
olive oil, as needed
salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1-2 c grated cheese (e.g. cheddar, gouda)
fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Add lentils, rice and broth to a saucepan, bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. Combine the ground chili, granulated garlic, granulated onion and dried oregano and mix thoroughly. Mix in half to the simmering rice\/lentils. Cover and allow to simmer until cooked, about 30-40 minutes. If liquid dissipates before the rice\/lentils are fully cooked, add 100 \u2013 200 ml hot water or broth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the rice\/lentils are cooking, in a skillet over medium-high heat, add olive oil, paprika and onions and sweat until soft; 5-10 minutes. Add minced garlic and sweat briefly, 1-2 minutes. Add diced tomatoes, chopped Poblano chiles and remaining ground chili mixture and mix thoroughly. Reduce heat to a low simmer until rice\/lentils are cooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When rice\/lentils are cooked, add them to the tomato mixture and mix thoroughly to combine. Portion into bowls, add grated cheese, onion greens and cilantro (if using) and mix in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The original recipe I found used a tablespoon of taco seasoning, instead of the ground chili, granulated garlic, granulated onion and dried oregano. In Germany \u201ctaco seasoning\u201d is a bit hard to come by, but I have found some good sources for dried chiles, and make taco and chili seasoning myself. If you have taco seasoning, feel free to use it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lentils and rice with a southwestern flair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":541,"parent":73,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-653","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericscookbook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericscookbook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericscookbook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericscookbook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericscookbook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ericscookbook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":658,"href":"https:\/\/ericscookbook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/653\/revisions\/658"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericscookbook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/73"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericscookbook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericscookbook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}