I know it’s the week of Christmas and everyone’s posting amazing cookie recipes.
I get it. It’s festive, it makes your mouth water, it’s cozy. I kind of wish I jumped on the bandwagon this year, but cookies have never been my specialty.
I’m working on something else though, a collection of comfort food dishes. This, my friends, is one of those.
I know lentils aren’t the world’s most attractive food to photograph, but it doesn’t stop them from being my go to pantry item. If I were to try to extrapolate this to some sort of life lesson, I would choose “don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” but that seems too simple. So no life lessons here. Just good food.
The idea here is simple: you cook down some thick cut bacon and render out the fat, then use said fat to cook the rest of the dish. Sure, this isn’t going to win you any health awards, but it sure does pack a ton of flavor and everything is allowed in moderation. Including bacon fat (says the woman who is 8 1/2 months pregnant).
I was going to stop there and call this a side dish to some sausage or duck or perhaps even pork, but I decided against it. My standard answer for turning what could be a side dish into the entree? Poach an egg and put it on top. Simple and effective. Works every time.
That’s my kind of comfort food.
- 4 pieces thick cut bacon, cut into ½ inch pieces
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 cup green lentils, dry
- 5 cups water
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 4 eggs
- In a medium sized heavy bottomed saucepan, cook bacon over high heat until slightly crispy and fat has rendered out. Transfer bacon pieces to paper towel lined plate.
- Turn down heat to medium and add onion and garlic. Cook until translucent. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add lentils and stir to coat. Add water, cumin, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 25-35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lentils are soft and water is absorbed.
- Stir bacon pieces into lentils. Taste and adjust salt.
- When there are about 10 minutes left on the lentils, bring a medium sized pot of water to boil. Drop eggs in (may need to do 2 at a time) and poach for 2-3 minutes. Transfer eggs to a bowl of cold water using a slotted spoon.
- Serve lentils with poached egg on top.
This is going to be made. Today. This is going to be eaten. Tonight.
writes Lizzie in BoiseTonight seems like a good night :)
writes Vicky