So small, but so mighty. They are easy and quick to prepare. They are versatile and are extremely healthy, full of protein, iron and fiber. As I was doing research, I came across an article that proclaimed the lentil “the world’s healthiest food”. You can’t beat that can you? Now I know some of you out there are thinking “She’s posting about lentils? Can you be more boring?” I have to respond that lentils aren’t boring. I could talk all day about them. It seems that almost every corner of the world has some way of preparing the lentil. They are even referenced in the Bible, so obviously people have been digging them for a long time now.

My experience in cooking lentils has mainly been with Italian recipes. Every region here has a different way of preparing them. Here in the Veneto, they are put into risotto and down in the south, they are made with tomatoes. All over the country they are put into soups and thrown into salads. Lentils are one of the few things that Italians agree on. On New Years Eve, Italians eat lentil for prosperity. The more lentils you can eat, the more money you’ll make the next year. I guess Giuseppe and I have proved that theory wrong, because we should be billionaires by now with all the lentils we’ve put down on New Years Eve…

Lentil are cheap, healthy and filling. There’s absolutely nothing better on a cold winter night than a nice bowl of lentil soup. I also enjoy the French recipe of putting fried eggs on top of a pile of warm lentil salad. It’s sublime. I found that recipe on Epicurious.com. Do a search for lentils and eggs. Oh I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.

Here’s a very basic lentil recipe. It makes a good side dish or sometimes I add some spinach and pancetta and it makes a nice lunch by itself. This is also a good base to a soup, just add some broth and some rice or even some sausage. I really could go on and on, but we’ll start with this. Bon Apetito!

Lentils with Tomato

2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs chopped carrot
2 tbs chopped celery
2 tbs chopped onion
1 cloved minced garlic (optional)
1 cup tomatoes, I use passato, but if its not available use crushed or chopped
1 ½ cups lentils
parsley
salt & pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the carrot and celery. Sautee for 3 minutes and them add the onion and garlic. Sautee for another few minutes, until softened and add tomatoes and about 3-4 cups of water. Bring the mixture to a boil and then add the lentils and parsley. Cook 35 minutes or until lentils are done and then salt and pepper to taste. If the lentils start drying up during the 35 minute cooking, just add about ¼ of water and repeat if necessary.

If you’d like to make a soup, double the amounts and chop the vegetables larger. Add broth instead of water and use your best judgment on amount. When making a soup, nice add ins are spinach, which you can add toward the end of the cooking cycle, cooked sausage, potatoes or brown rice. Serve the soup with grated parmesan.