Mid-East Lentils & Rice

Thought for sure I was coming down with a cold this weekend--but thanks to Dr Schultz Superfoods I was able to fight it off! This morning I have unfortunately been awake since 4:00AM, why, oh why? I if we don't turn the heat down by 5 degrees before we go to bed, it turns on through the night and makes a continuous loud banging noise in our bedroom and I assume this is what woke me up so early. Using this opportunity to be productive this morning, I have planned my dinner menu and for once I am able to properly pre-soak my rice. This past weekend we participated in the Hartford Area Roller Derby's Roller Polar Run, see picture above! I already spent all my "fun" money for the week on the post-run pub crawl, a trip to Trader Joe's and two lovely orchids from the Flower & Garden show.

I found green lentils and brown Basmati rice at Trader Joe's, as well as an organic superfruit jam. I even discovered Australian-grown chia seeds! We don't live near a Trader Joe's, so I try to stop by whenever I am in the area. They have some great things, but I often find they are out of stock on the things I like every other trip, so I try to stock up on my favorites when I find them.

I have one onion left, so tonight's dinner will be Mid-East Lentils & Rice from the Bloodroot cookbook. This dish has a really wonderful olive oil flavor--even my dad enjoys it! I will be cutting this recipe in half and subbing green lentils and forbidden black rice. I'm also pre-soaking the rice, as I have been reading about the benefits of doing so. We'll see how it turns out! Below is the original recipe without pre-soaked rice or substitutions.

Mid East Lentils & Rice a la Bloodroot

Ingredients:
2 Cups French lentils
1 Cup long grain white rice
2 large Spanish onion, thinly sliced
1 Cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Rinse and pick through lentils; bring to boil with 3 1/2 cups of water. Reduce heat and simmer about 15 min. Add rice and 1 cup of water*, simmer 15 minutes more. In a separate frying pan, saute the onions in the olive oil until golden brown; add to lentils and rice. Add salt and spices, and cook until lentils are tender!

*use less water with pre-soaked rice!