Borscht Lentil Dip

This recipe sounded really interesting to me. I make a pretty mean Borscht so I just had to try this Borscht Lentil dip. Give it a shoot and I think you will like it!




Ingredients:
3/4 - Cup Cooked or Canned Lentils
2/3 - Cup Pickled Beets
1/4 - Cup Sour Cream
1 - Tbsp Olive Oil
1 - Tbsp Chopped Fresh Dill
1/2 - Tsp Salt
1/2 - Tsp Pepper




Directions:
Cook Lentils.

Add Lentils to Food Processor.

Add Sour Cream.

Blend.

Add the Beets.

And Dill.

Puree until smooth

Serve with some pretzel chips.

Cheesy Lentil Biscuits

Lentils in Cheesy Biscuits? That's just nuts! or is it... even though these things didn't turn out exactly like I wanted them too. They look like blobs instead of bread sticks and the cheese melted instead of coming out and melting all around them but they still tasted really good.

(The lighting wasn't the greatest but they have kind of a cookie colour)

Ingredients:
1/2 - Cup Butter
1 - Cup Flour
1 - Cup Rice Crispy Cereal
3/4 - Cup Cheddar Cheese, grated
3/4 - Cup Red Lentils, Pureed*
1 - Egg, beaten



Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F.  In a large bowl, mix butter into flour until there are a lot of little chunks.

Stir in the cereal.

Add in the Cheese.

Mix in the Puree Lentils. *For Puree Lentils you can either used canned lentils that have been rinsed or you can cook the lentils until done then add 1/4 cup of water for every 1 coup of cooked lentils before pureeing.

Pour into mixture and mix together.

Add in the beaten egg and mix together again.

Spoon out onto an ungreased baking sheet into long thin pieces like cheese bread.

(I made mind too tick)

Put them in the oven and bake for 15 - 17 minutes depending on the thickness of the pieces.

Transfer from baking sheet to a nice looking plate and enjoy :)

Lemon Lentil Salad

I've been eating a lot of Lentils with fried mushrooms and onion, which I love, but I wanted to try them as a salad to see how that would work. In the "Racing Weight Cookbook" I came across a "Lentil Salad" recipe. This is basically it but I added in the lemon to make it a little more "Summer-y".



Ingredients:
2 - Cups Water
1 - Cup Brown Lentils
2 - Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 - Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 - Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 - Tbsp White Vinegar
1/4 - Tsp Salt
1/4 - Cup Red Onion minced
1/3 - Cup Carrots minced

Directions:
Rinse Lentils under running water.

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, then add 1 cup of Lentils and reduce to low. Simmer for 25 - 30 minutes or until the lentils have almost complete adsorbed the water. At this point you will want to add 2 tbsp of lemon juice. Let the lentils cool.

While the Lentils are cooking, mince up your carrots.

(I used baby carrots)

Mince up the red onion.

In a large bowl combined the Mustard, Oil and Vinegar.

Mix in the onion and carrots.

Once the Lentils are ready, add them to the onion / carrot mixture

Gently stir and then cool in the fridge for an hour or so. This will help the flavors combined.

Place some baby spinach leaves on a plate.

Top with Lentil Mixture.

Then pour a couple glasses of Chilled White Wine.

And enjoy on the back deck!



One of the thing you can do with the extra lentils is make Lettuce wraps. Using a head of lettuce, pull off large leaves, scoop in some of the lentils and eat. It makes for a very simple lunch the next day :)

Red Lentil Soup

My Red Lentil soup started out as an accident. I never really liked green lentils but then I found out that brown lentils cooked in beef broth gave a really "beefy" flavor and I've been eating them for a while now. I picked up some red lentils wondering what they would taste like. I cooked them the same way but the red lentils started breaking down and not absorbing the beef broth like the green and brown lentils did. I let them cook longer and longer but it still wouldn't absorb. At this point I looked up red lentil recipes and they were pretty much only used in soups so I decided to turn it into a soup!



Ingredients:
1 - Cup Lentils
4 - Cups Beef Broth
1 - Cup Water
3 - Cloves Garlic
1/2 - Onion Chopped
3 to 4 - Mushrooms Chopped
1/2 - Red Pepper Chopped
2 - Tsp Cumin
2 - Tsp Parsley

Directions:
Rinse lentil before using. This is important to help remove the bitter coating on them. In a Large Pot Bring the beef broth to a boil and add in Lentils. Cook for about 25 - 30 minutes.

In the mean time chop up the Garlic, Onion, Mushrooms and Red Pepper.

(Chop the Mushrooms thicker to make the soup more "meatier") 

Fry the Onion, Mushrooms and Red Pepper over a medium-low heat for about 8 minutes or until everything starts to get translucent.

Add in the Garlic, Cumin and Parsley then fry for another minute or so

Pour the mixture into the Lentils along with the additional cup of water.

Bring to a boil again then simmer for 10 - 15 minutes to allow the flavors to combined.

Ladle into bowls and enjoy with some soft bread :)