Cumin-Scented French Lentils with Collard Greens

Posted by Rachel

May 13, 2008

Lentils, lentils, lentils. I can’t stop thinking about lentils. For the past few days I have been on a raw foods cleanse, so haven’t been indulging myself with lentils galore like I have wanted to. I know, I know, they’re easy enough to sprout and eat raw, but I was craving that delicious and, I absolutely hate to say it, mushy texture that only comes with cooking them.

In hopes of striking lentil gold, I began riffling amongst the various glass bottles of grains, nuts, seeds and flours in my pantry. When I grabbed a jar full of beautiful French green lentils, I knew it was my lucky day. I immediately began searching through the fridge to find some ideas as to what to do with these beauts. In order to justify not having eaten a salad today, I decided it would be best if I threw some carrots, celery, shallots and collard greens in the mix, just for good measure. At least this way, I was getting in some veggies for the day, even if they weren’t raw.

Start to finish this meal took about 40 minutes to prepare, so it was a great quick one-pot dish. I made this dish into a complete meal by eating it with some leftover brown rice from last night. Eating the legumes with the veggies and some rice on the side ensured that I was getting all the nutrients I needed from this meal. Of course, you could also serve these lentils as a side dish with a nice, juicy baked chicken breast or a piece of friendly grilled sea bass. Mmm, mmm, mmm…

CUMIN-SCENTED FRENCH LENTILS WITH COLLARD GREENS

2 Tbs. Olive Oil
1 shallot, minced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. spicy chili powder*, or 1/4 tsp. each or TT chili powder and cayenne powder
1 tsp. sea salt
1 cup French green Lentils
2 huge collard green leaves, sliced into 1/4 inch strips
3 cups filtered water
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

In a medium sized saucepan, heat olive oil. Add shallot, garlic, carrot, and celery and saute over med-high heat until veggies just start to soften, about 2 minutes. Add spices. Stir to coat veggies in spices. Add the lentils and water and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat down to low, cover with the lid tilted slightly askew to allow some steam to escape, and simmer until lentils have softened. French lentils generally take a bit longer to cook and stay much more firm that their non-French counterparts. These will probably take approx. 30 minutes to cook. When the lentils are almost finished, add the shredded collard green leaves. Stir and cover. Remove from heat when the lentils are cooked all the way through and the collards are soft, but still bright green, about 3 minutes. Stir in fresh cilantro and serve with steamed brown rice.

*available at the Indian Grocery