One Good Thing to Eat: Gorgeous Mujadara Lentils

Having fallen off the Diet Wagon three times today and never managed to climb onto the Exercise Wagon at all, I’m feeling generally fat and cranky again. However, the day was partially saved by a bowl of a wonderful veggie dish I stumbled upon, by recipe and by improv.

A week or so ago, I came across a New York Times recipe for something called mujadara, a kind of Lebanese comfort food made with lentils dosed copiously with cumin and oniony stuff. Times food writer Melissa Clark describes the dish as made with leeks and flavored with (among other things) allspice and bay leaf. Having none of these things on hand, I made a few substitutions. She also calls for 2¼ teaspoons of salt, about twice as much as anyone should be adding to their food. There’s a reason for that: lentils and rice call out, piteously, for salt. But lo! there’s a very tasty fix for that, too.

Check it out:

You need:

• 1 cup green or brown lentils (not the orangey ones)
• 1 large onion, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• dash of salt
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup rice
• 1½ to 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves (more, if desired)
• leaves of a small sprig of rosemary, finely chopped
• dash of cayenne or red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1 cinnamon stick
• a couple of fistfuls of spring greens (chard, kale, spinach, mustard, or combination), chopped
• water
• 13.5-ounce can of coconut milk
• fresh lemon (optional)

Place the lentils in a large bowl and cover generously with warm tap water. Allow to soak while you prepare other ingredients.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until they turn deep golden brown, about 10 or 15 minutes. You want these to get pretty dark, with a few strands maybe even turning black. To accomplish this without burning the onion, the heat should be on the high side of medium but not too hot.

When you decide these are done, lift about half of the onions out of the pan to a plate or bowl and set aside.

Stir the garlic into the pot with the remaining onion and cook briefly, until fragrant. Then stir in the raw rice and sauté for a few minutes, until the grains turn opaque and begin to toast. Stir in the cumin, clove, and cayenne; sauté for another few seconds.

Drain the lentils and stir them into the pot. Add 4¼ cups water, the rosemary, and the cinnamon stick, and bring the liquid to a simmer. Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.

At this point, take a taste. Add about half the can of coconut milk; gently mix this in and taste again. Add a dash or two of salt, if desired, and then add a little more coconut milk to taste. For a little more zing, squeeze the juice of half a fresh lemon into the pot and stir. Cover and allow to cook another couple of minutes.

Rinse the greens and chop them finely. Spread the greens over the top of the rice and lentils. Cover and cook another five minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for another five minutes.

Serve the mujadara sprinkled with the reserved toasted onions.

Incredibly good to eat. The coconut milk adds a lovely mellow flavor that, especially with a spritz of lemon juice, obviates the need for a lot of salt.