I’ve always been a little weird about lentils. I like them when I’ve had them, but grew up in a house where they weren’t often on the menu and I’ve developed this irrational fear that I don’t know how to cook them. They also tend to take a longer time to cook, at least the green and french varieties, so anything with a long cook time or a high learning curve tends not get worked into my busy schedule.
However, I finally broke down and looked up some recipes to try the bag of lentils I had bought 3 months ago that were just staring at me every time I would open the kitchen cabinet. I’m always interested in reducing work and cook time, so I went after looking for a good instapot variation and let me tell you, I was impressed at the variety of what came up! After a little experimentation I came up with the below recipe which is now in my weekly rotation HARD, because it’s super delicious and pairs with SO many things. I’ve reheated them in a pan, poaching two eggs on top for breakfast. Mixed with grilled chicken and chard. Eaten voraciously out of a bowl after a quick microwave zap.
The beauty of lentils is not only do they have a good whop of fiber, but they also store well and give some much needed protein to hit your daily target. Lentils naturally have this buttery savory texture that makes them seem higher in fat than they really are. The fire roasted tomatoes in this recipe gives a smokey flavor and the dashi base gives it a great umami finish that I could see going amazing with some Portobello steaks. Whether vegetarian or omnivore, I think this recipe is a great and an easy add to the weekly prep.
Tools:
Instapot
Chopping board
Knife
Peeler
Ingredients:
1 carrot, peeled and sliced into 1/4″ slices
1 onion, medium dice
14.5 oz can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 cups of dry green lentils
2 tsp of fresh oregano, chopped or shredded
ground pepper to taste
4 cups of dashi
Instructions: Wash and chop onion, carrot, garlic, adding them to the Instapot. Add dry lentils, fire roasted tomatoes, oregano, pepper and dashi. (Dashi comes in concentrated forms, at times, so read the label and add 4 cups of liquid total to the Instapot.) Close lid of Instapot and cook on high pressure for 18 minutes. After Instapot indicates it’s done with the 18 minutes, put under hood of stove top and quick release. Be careful to stay out of jet of steam and use hood of stove to help have a place for the steam to go. You can serve immediately or store and reheat through the week as needed. Approximately 6 servings per batch, ~300g of cooked food per serving.
Warning: Dashi typically has soy in it, which also contains wheat, in most instances. So, if you are gluten-free, please read the labels! Here’s a vegan dashi version. You can always sub dashi out for another broth type, but you likely won’t have the same rich umami flavor that you get with dashi.
Macros: tCal 210 cals, protein 12.7 grams, carbs 33.7 grams (fiber 11.8 grams), fat 2.4 grams
Enjoy!
Coach Sarah, FNP-BC, MSN