lentils: how to *really* eat them
A few posts back Julie Cowdroy wrote about the Below the Line campaign – a program in May that sees well-fed westerners live on $2 a day to experience what it’s like for the world’s poorest. And to raise $$. I promised to give it a crack and did so for a day. As, it seems, with most people who did it, I resorted to lentils.
Lentils are cheap. And Dr Weston A Price considers the little buggers the most nutritious of all legumes – high in minerals and they help assimilate protein and iron absorption. But they can be bland and horrible and really crook on the gut. If you don’t play right.
Here’s some tricks for eating them.
Just mine. It’s not a comprehensive list.
1. Add red lentils to soups and casseroles and curries…
for extra bulk and fibre and protein. A cheap way to spread out a meal. Simply rince a handful and toss in 15-20 minutes before the dish is cooked. They disintegrate and you’ll barely know they’re there.
2. Soak your green and brown lentils a few hours.
Most recipes will say you don’t need to at all because they’re quite low on phytic acid. Soak in warm water with a bit of lemon juice. Seven hours is good.
3. I make dahl…
by boiling soaked brown lentils (1.5 cups) in water to cover, adding a tsp of turmeric (a great anti-inflammatory), pepper and garlic. I simmer for an hour (covered) and then whisk the lentils til creamy. In a pan I saute cumin seeds and 2 small hot chillies in butter (or ghee) and then fold that through the lentils with some coriander.
4. I sprout lentils.
Now, I stumbled upon this by accident. I soaked some brown lentils overnight, drained them and then left them in the colander, covered for a day in a warm bit of the kitchen. And forgot about them. Then next day I rinsed them to keep them fresh and forgot them again. The following day I had sprouts!
I looked up Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions (a bible in wholesome eating) and turns out that’s the EXACT process for making sprouts – she says to rinse a few times a day, especially in summer. So to sum: soak, rinse, set on bench for 2-3 days, rinsing twice a day, until a white sprout about 1/2 cm long appears. Done.
Eat these little things:
* steamed lightly and then sprinkled on a salad or tossed through stirfries or casseroles (Try not to eat too many of them raw – they still contain irritating substances to the gut which are neutralised when cooked.)
* for breakfast. I’m not kidding. I steam them lightly and have them with 1/2 a chopped avocado, with walnut oil drizzled over the top and rock salt. I can’t tell you how good this tastes – nutty and caramely.
* as a snack. I put a cup of them in the microwave and eat with a few slices of turkey in the afternoon.
Why sprouts?
* germination changes the composition increasing the vitamins 8-fold
* it neutralises the enzyme inhibitors in beans and grains (which are what make lentils hard on our guts if not prepared properly). Enzymes are what break down food for digestion. Foods contain them and so do our guts. But we have a limited supply and as they run out we ….age! So we can’t afford to eat foods that contain inhibitors.
* it also produces enzymes…anti-aging!
Feel free to add extra lentil-loving ideas here…
I tried the lentil thing. I mixed soaked, mixed them, sauteed them, mashed them. And every single time they hit my gut like a ton of bricks and fermented. Not pretty!
(Soaking then slow cooking them all day with lots of vegies like pumpkin makes a delicious curry though!)
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May 24th, 2011 at 11:31 am
oooh, painful. I’d avoid if you’re getting that reaction. I’m finding the sprouts so fine. No reaction!
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I LOVE chickpea sprouts!
A good friend of mine got me on to them.
Really good for salads with pumpkin and pine nuts. YUM.
Also it’s like having a non-dying bunch of salad in your cupboard. Leaves always go off and it’s nice to know you have a bag in your cupboard you cab ‘sprout’ things from
His technique is: grab the baggie from woolies, chuck some into a tupperware container and rinse with water so they are damp & add a wee bit of water at the bottom. Leave in Fridge. Rinse them once or twice a day until they sprout!
Loved this post Sarah. Lentils have always baffled me a bit (I didn’t grow up with them) … i’ll grab some red lentils next supermarket trip for a curry
x
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May 24th, 2011 at 11:32 am
A non-dying bunch of salad…I like that!
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I love lentils! I eat them all the time and I actually didn’t know that they can cause digestive disturbances…I never soak mine. My favourite thing is lentils and rice – caramelise some onion, cook the lentils for 10 mins or so, add the rice and cover with water until it’s all done – serve with some yoghurt and it’s so yummy! I also make red lentil lasagna, which tastes much better than it sounds. I think I’ll give making dahl and sprouts a whirl after reading this post…
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Yum, I love lentils and they are so great for you. I am never without green lentils in my cupboard and I throw them into lots of things (great in meat dishes to help absorb that haem iron). One of my lazy, comfort foods is to cook up mince (lamb or beef) mixed with whatever veges I have in my fridge (usually brocolli, red capsicum, mushrooms), a splash of masala, tomatoes and a handful of green lentils. So easy, so yummy, freezes & reheats well. (I often serve with pasta and cheese, but may make into shepherds pie, or eat just on its own). Must say, I never bother to soak my lentils either, but then I don’t get gut upsets with them! Thanks for sprouting tip, will try this
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Oo yeah, I’ve been eating lentils for years. Perhaps one needs to get a ‘fitness’ for eating them. You will get unsocial gut reactions if you introduce almost anything new to your diet. I heard it once explained as the current gut flora having a fight with the new flora and the result is ‘gun smoke’ aka gas! xx
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May 24th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Bahahah!
Gun smoke! I like that.
I think it’s like everything… some things work for some people that dont work for others. I think the key is to play around and, if something doesnt work for you, dont worry about it.
Also, lentils are brill in tomato and herb soup. Yum.
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My mum makes dahl with the red lentils…I like to use them also as a base for a curry with coconut milk, green masala paste and lots of veges…great for when you have vegan’s over for dinner!!! haha they sound like a species…p.s. luv a good vegan – please no one get offended
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Are phytates broken down in canned lentils and such, or should you still soak them?
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May 24th, 2011 at 9:03 pm
They’re already cooked when they come in a tin. And I doubt they’ve been soaked…
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I have been wanting to experiment with lentils lately but haven’t been exactly sure of the best introduction. Thanks for the dahl recipe Sarah I think this will be me first port of call! I’ll let u know how I go! X
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So glad you checked out Nourishing Traditions! I feel very lucky that I discovered this information when I was 19.
I especially feel that fermented foods are key in a healthy diet.
Love,
Britt
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hey there Sarah / Tiff. I researched this for a blog post recently, and canned lentils have 3 down sides:
1. not soaked, so often irritating and “farty”
2. BPA lined tins more often than not, even organic brands.
3. pasteurised to within an inch of nutritional value
Soak when you go to bed, cook while you’re getting ready to work, then chuck in the fridge.
I’m loving your blog Sarah. Just discovered
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March 30th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
i love this tip on using dry legumes/lentils “Soak when you go to bed, cook while you’re getting ready to work, then chuck in the fridge.”
I’ve always figured it’s TOO hard to use dry and not canned. I might have to give it a go as I now meal plan for the week so tend to know what meals are coming up!
How long would they last in the fridge?
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I had recently decided I need to eat more lentils, and they have baffled me too KK so i’ll give all your tips a go! Thanks Sarah!
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I’m a big fan of red lentil Dahl – boil one cup with 3 cups water, tsp each of salt and turmeric for 20 mins. Sautee one chopped onion w tbl spoon each of fresh garlic and ginger, add your cooked lentils, half tsp garam masala and one tin of tomatoes and a pile of fresh coriander. So easy. I always have some in the freezer for lunch/dinner when I’m busy.
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Oh wow have been doing tinned lentils for years, never bothered me but my hubby aways cmplains , being coeliac maybe his guts are more sensitive ! Can’t wait to try soaking and see how he goes ! Thanks for the tips everyone xx
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There are a couple of really tasty Lebanese dishes that heavily rely on lentils. Both dishes are usually made during Lent, the Catholic period of fasting, so they’re intended to be ‘poor people’ food. But one of them is boiling the lentils in a brorth of lemon, onion, garlic and herbs, together with handmaid dumplings. The other is onions, chickpeas and brown lentils boiled for a few hours and then eaten with yoghurt. Sounds bad, but both are delicious and super healthy. I’m personally a big fan of lentils and think they’re underrated.
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June 1st, 2011 at 9:23 am
I grew up on these dishes and find them so satisfying and nourishing. And I can strongly remember being fed these during Lent too! On the weekend I made my mother’s Lebanese Lentil soup. My boyfriend, a meat and three veg guy practically wet himself over it. He loved it.
Recipe:
Fry off onion in ghee, add garlic, then lentils added in and tossed in the ghee/onion/garlic (Lentils were pre-soaked and then boiled once, with the water thrown out), Chuck in cubed potatoes – not too many but maybe 5-6 small potatoes will do.
Add in vegie stock (this weekend I used stock that I had made from all the cut-offs – another tip I learned from you Sarah!)
Simmer for 25 minutes then I added in the juice of one large lemon, a heap of coriander and spinach and a dash of cumin.
Served with another wedge of lemon. So fresh and light yet warming.
I make in batches and freeze, then when I reheat on the stove I refresh with more lemon juice and a little bit of water/vegie stock.
Oh and on the weekend, I sprouted my lentils and added them to my breakfast omelette with herbs from my garden. They were delicious! Thanks Sarah!
C
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Love this!! Can’t wait to try the steamed sprouted lentils idea! And with avocado, yum!
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Sarah, do you need to use fresh tumeric for the anti inflamatory effect, or will dry do the trick? Thanks for the dahl recipe, had always wondered about how you get the flavours if you are boiling – add the fried stuff later!
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I love lentils, and add them to most of my ‘one pot’ meals. But thanks for the tip of rinsing them first. I just always threw in a handful after frying off the onion/spices at the beginning.
I have 2 questions, Garlic doesn’t like me. Plays havoc with my insides (and capsicum, too), luck my partner is the same, but is there anything I can add to my dishes to make them a bit more, well, tasty, I guess? I also love turmeric, I add dried turmeric to lots of dishes, (I have arthritis) at any given chance!!
My other question is to do with dried chickpeas. I like them a bit crunchy, but my partner & I have little ‘disputes; over this, and I’m easy, I can eat them anyway, but how long do you soak and then cook? I tried cooking them for 1 hour then ‘blitzing’ in a nut chopper thingy, but he still hated them, and I wasn’t too keen either, as they were still hard.
Any solutions will be gratefully received.
Sarah, Loved the Deepak Chopra interview article. And I love the way you eat, (except the garlic), but if I tried that, I would be made homeless pretty smartly! (I’m kidding!!)
I am also fructose free (?) and have lost 17 kilos now. Yay!!
Sylvia
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[...] (this one and this one) on the Eats Roots & Leaves blog as well as a post about lentils on Sarah Wilson’s blog, so I decided to make a red lentil [...]
[...] I do eat them, it’s only when I soak and cook them myself so I’ve treated the phytic acid. I’ve mentioned the coconut oil thing before: I use Nuigini coconut oil (about $20) because [...]
Ok, this might sound like a dumb question but, did you cook the lentils first? Are they dried lentils straight from the bag, or are they canned? From the wording I kind of assumed they were uncooked, dried lentils but I am not sure from some of the other comments.
Thanks!
Allison
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[...] eat legumes occasionally. But I sprout them to break down the enzymes and limit them a lot. Not because I’m following a rule, but because too many do muck with my [...]
I grew up eating my mum’s Greek lentil soup (faki) and it is so amazing – similar to the Lebanese one and also very popular during orthodox lent. It’s pretty much the only way I eat them (or in Dahl). Gives me a little gas but I don’t mind it. In fact I plan to make some this week for orthodox Easter week.
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