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Friday, February 20, 2009

Lentils with Garlic & Tomatoes

As promised here are some great meatless recipes we've tried recently. Both recipes have my husband and my toddler's approval and are easy on your wallet. Want to find more great recipes? Visit Grocery Cart Challenge for more recipes.

Lentils with Garlic and Tomatoes $1.58
Serves 4
From the CA cookbook


4 T. olive oil .05
5 cloves garlic minced .15
1 can whole tomatoes 14.5 oz or 2-3 chopped & peeled fresh tomatoes .50
1 c. dried lentils, washed and drained .45
2 1/2 c. water
¾ t. salt .01
1 T. lemon juice .02
1 c. brown rice (prepared according to package directions) .30

Heat oil in a heavy pot over medium heat and add garlic. Stir and fry until garlic is lightly browned. Add tomatoes and stir and cook, mashing tomatoes until they turn into a paste about 5 minutes. Put in lentils and 2 ½ c. water. Bring to a boil, cover and lower heat. Simmer gently for ½ hour until lentils are tender. Add the salt and lemon juice.

Serve over rice(.30), top with strained yogurt (.10) and garnish with chopped green onions or cilantro if desired.

We served this with homemade french bread (.25), and salad (.20) making this meal $2.03!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want to try this recipe but I have been worried about trying lentils. My family does not like beans at all. Can you tell me if they have a bean flavor or are more bland? Thanks!

Erica said...

Lentils have a bean like texture but I don't think they have a bean taste, their kind of their own thing, and certainly blander. They tend to take on spices better than beans do in recipes. This recipe is a little tangy, which might help if you family has a thing against beans. It's a good mix and combined with brown rice makes it a complete protein.