A Hearty Vegetarian, Gluten Free Recipe – Lentils Topped With Mushrooms

Lentils are fantastic little legumes, packed with soluble fiber, folate, and magnesium. In addition to their nutritional qualities, they are also quite inexpensive. Most chain grocery stores should have lentils, and Whole Foods type establishments and your local Organic Co-op have them available in bulk, making them even cheaper and helping to stretch your food dollars.

I usually sneak a handful lentils into a variety of dishes including chili, soups, and casseroles, where they easily blend in with no fanfare. Often lentils serve as a side dish, but in this recipe they’re the main attraction. Assemble the following ingredients and you’re off.

• Carrot chopped
• Small onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup dry lentils
• 14-16 ounces of veggie broth (or chicken broth if you don’t need it to be vegan/veggie)
• 1 Cup water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon orange zest

In a medium pot, heat oil on medium high and sauté carrots and onion until just softened. Add lentils, broth, water, and bay leaf. Heat to a simmer and leave uncovered until lentils are soft, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, add the orange zest, and salt and pepper to taste.

As the lentils are cooking, you can decide if you want them topped with mushrooms or tofu, or both. Grilled Portobello mushrooms, sliced in bite sized pieces would be perfect, but regular mushrooms will work as well. This recipe is adapted from a meat recipe, where instead of mushrooms/tofu, the lentils are topped with sliced sausages, so the mushrooms or tofu are the “meat” in this recipe, and as such I try to prepare them in a savory manner.

• 1 pound of Mushrooms or Extra Firm Tofu cut into bite size pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce (I use tamari so the recipe is gluten free)
• Green onions, thinly sliced for garnish

In a medium saucepan, heat oil on medium and sauté the mushrooms or tofu until well done, and splash with tamari soy sauce to finish. Dish the lentils into a shallow bowl, top with mushrooms/tofu and garnish with fresh green onions.

For some other great hearty recipes see 8 Hearty Vegan Soups and Stews and perhaps you can even cook this dish in your Thermos, check out Save Energy By Cooking With Your…Thermos? for ideas on cooking with a Thermos.

Photo Credit: JustinC on Wikipedia with a Creative Commons License.