Lentils and rice is a super quick and frugal recipe that is hearty enough to serve for dinner. This vegetarian recipe is super flavorful with the addition of onions, carrots and a few warming spices.
What’s so great about lentils? For starters, they are a nutritional powerhouse. One cup supplies 16 grams of fiber, 17 grams of protein and 90% of the daily recommendation of foliate, among other things. Secondly they are super easy to prepare. No soaking needed and they cook in 30 minutes. Also, they are crazy cheap. I can get a 1 pound bag for 88 cents and I bet they’d be even cheaper in bulk. With one pound there’s enough for two meals for my family. And lastly, they taste really good, not gross at all.

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Lentils and Rice

This easy lentils and rice recipe is a frugal and nutrition packed meal. These lentils are super flavorful with the addition of carrots, onions, and ginger.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lentils
- 3-4 carrots (grated)
- 1 onion (chopped in very small pieces)
- 4-5 cloves of garlic (chopped) or garlic powder
- cumin
- salt
- pepper
- olive oil
- rice
- water
Instructions
- In a large pot (about 6qts) sauté the onions and garlic over medium heat in a little olive oil.
- When they are almost translucent add the carrots and sauté them.
- While the carrots and onions are sautéing I go ahead and add the spices. This is why I put recipe in quotes because my friend doesn't measure anything. I would start with about 1 tbsp of cumin, 1tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper. If you're using garlic powder use 2-3 tsp. I add this and let the heat extract the flavors for a couple of minutes.
- Rise the lentils and add them to the pot.
- Fill your pot with water (about 6 cups)
- Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer until lentils are soft (about 30 minutes). You can add more seasoning if you want to.
- For the rice, I just use the cooking instructions on the back of the bag and add some salt and cumin to the water.
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I haven’t made lentils for a while now. I usually make lentil soup, but any time I have made lentils, the family has loved them. This recipe sounds very similar to my recipe. I would imagine over rice, they would taste amazing.
I read an article recently about arsenic in rice. I guess the levels are alarming, especially in brown rice. Pretty scary. I am not sure where to go from here, because we cook and eat a lot of rice. The correspondent said in the middle east, they fix rice differently. They boil, drain, boil and cook. So, perhaps that would help with the problem. He thought it would.
It seems like there’s always something that we now “can’t” eat. There’s so much discrepancy about what is healthy. I read this article and found it very thought provoking. http://www.christinacooks.com/_blog/Living_the_WELL_Life/post/Brown_Rice_Syrup_and_ArsenicThe_Truth_I_Discovered_-_by_Christina_Pirello/
I know arsenic is a huge deal and I’m not trying to trivialize it but what we’ve decided for our family is that we’re just going to eat a variety of real food. We very little processed foods and we rarely go out to eat. We don’t have any allergies or food sensitivities so we don’t need to avoid any foods such as grains or dairy. What I’ve seen in a couple of friends is that they eliminate one thing, such as dairy and substitute it with soy or almonds and then in a few years they’re bodies are sensitive to the substitutions. So they have to eliminate those. Before long there’s nothing left. After reading the article I am going to try to find rice from California instead of Texas which is kind of hard for me since I really like to support my local area whenever I can. But if I can’t I’m not going to stress about it.
Amen! Just eat and stop worrying about every little thing. I have heard about problems with meat, milk, fruits, vegetables, grains, etc. If you paid attention to all the news stories you couldn’t eat anything. I just eat what I want and try to avoid things that are overly processed and not worry too much.
Jen
I find it difficult to know where to draw the line. I agree with you. I think it’s near impossible to make sure you aren’t getting anything bad in your diet. I tell the kids all the time – everything in moderation. If we fill our bellies with wholesome food, we are better off. So, I’m on the same page as you. Oh, by the way, do you think we can get some grains? My hubby still doesn’t like the taste of the kefir I’m cranking out. I am thinking it might be the grains are from goats. 🙂
Love Lentils! Come join my first blog party on my blog and link your creations! http://www.artbyasm.blogspot.com. Appreciate the support! Thank you! HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
Warmest Regards,
Annamaria
Thanks for the invite, Annamaria.
I ate something similar to this while staying in Africa! It’s going to make my heart happy to enjoy it once more. Thank you!
http://www.sewingourlifetogether.blogspot.com
how cool! I would love to go with my friend to Kenya. Who knows, maybe one day I can.
Hmm, definitely need to try this, and see how the family likes it. After having 5 kids, we got away from using beans and lentils to stretch meals. I need to get back into it.
Thanks for linking up at Thrifty Thursday Rewind!
Thanks for hosting!
Yum, looks good! My favorite way to eat lentils is in a soup of some sort. Thanks for sharing at The Fun In Functional!
Thanks for hosting. This winter I’m going to try to put some lentils in some of our favorite soups. Hopefully, it will go over ok with the family.