Lentils can be prepared in many ways. If you compare it in calories with other products, then it can even replace meat. In our article, we will describe in detail how to cook brown lentils for a side dish to make an incredibly tasty and fragrant dish.
At one time, it was a popular representative of legumes, but with the advent of potatoes, lentils lost their popularity. However, many people prefer it to all other dishes.
How long to cook
How many minutes to cook brown lentils for a side dish? This bean culture is prepared from 40 to 60 minutes. Some housewives believe it is a long time. But as a result, you get a very tasty dish. This is a useful side dish that can diversify the diet of each of us.
To speed up the process, you need to soak the lentils in water overnight. Then it is cooked for only 20-25 minutes. Now you know how to cook brown lentils.
Having placed this product in a double boiler, it is necessary to wait about 1 hour. During this time, lentils will well digest.
Some cooking features
We continue to figure out how to cook brown lentils for a side dish. When preparing this healthy grits, consider these tips:
- Fill lentils with cold running water only. So the side dish will not turn into porridge.
- Boiling cereal for a side dish or stew, pour it with three glasses of water. When preparing lentils for salad, use less water (maximum 2 cups) so that the grains do not boil so hard.
- Salt the lentils at the end of cooking, otherwise it will be hard and stiff.
- Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil to the pan.
- Rosemary, sage, celery, bay leaf, will be the best addition to lentils and give it a special flavor.
Boiled Brown Lentils Garnished
For cooking you will need:
- 200 grams of brown lentils.
- 450 milliliters of purified water.
- 85 grams of onions.
- 85 grams of carrots.
- Refined vegetable oil.
- Ground black pepper.
- Salt.
We offer step-by-step cooking instructions. Following our recommendations, you will easily understand how to cook brown lentils for a side dish. You must follow these steps:
- Rinse the lentils, fill with water and leave for an hour.
- After this, drain the water and replace with a new, slightly salted one.
- Put on fire and cook for 15-25 minutes.
- While the side dish is boiling, proceed to prepare the vegetable dressing. To do this, peel and chop the onions, place it in a frying pan with heated vegetable oil and fry for 5-7 minutes.
- Add the carrots chopped on a grater and fry for another 5 minutes.
- After cooking, drain the water from the lentils, throwing it in a colander. Wait for it to drain. Mix the vegetable dressing with the cereal and serve.
Cooking in a slow cooker
You will need these ingredients:
- 160 grams of lentils.
- 450 milliliters of purified water.
- 2 cloves of garlic.
- 75 grams of onions.
- 75 grams of carrots.
- 35 milliliters of refined oil.
- 90 grams of sweet bell pepper.
- Salt and black pepper to taste.
How to cook brown lentils for a side dish using a slow cooker? To cook a side dish in a slow cooker, first fry the peeled and crushed garlic in oil, choosing the “Baking” cooking mode. After that, remove the garlic, and in the resulting garlic oil put onions, carrots and bell peppers. Sauté the vegetables until they are soft, then add the washed lentils. Fill everything with water. Choose the mode "Grain" or "Buckwheat". Cook until the program ends.
When preparing this dish, observe the proportions. How to cook brown lentils for garnish so that the grains are soft but whole? Take 1 part legumes and two parts water.
Delicious recipes for simple dishes with lentils
This vegetable product goes well with mushrooms, as well as stewed, baked and even fried. Lentils are the best addition to meat. We offer you some simple recipes that will help diversify your diet. If you are not a fan of lentils, then try cooking it at least once. Perhaps your opinion will change.
To make dishes with this cereal even tastier, you need to boil the lentils for 5-10 minutes. Next, the water must be drained (it will be dark in color), rinse the groats under running water and cook again.
If you follow this simple advice, you will get a tasty and tender dish that can be given even to children.
Cooking lentils with mushrooms in a slow cooker
This dish is perfect for vegetarians. Lentils and mushrooms are a storehouse of protein. In addition, this cereal contains many vitamins and minerals, such as A, E, B 1 , B 2 , B 9 , iron, calcium, potassium, phosphorus.
To cook this tasty and healthy dish in a slow cooker, take:
- Brown lentils and mushrooms in equal amounts (400 grams each).
- 1 onion.
- Butter 50 grams.
- A few cloves of garlic.
- Greens.
Cook by following the step-by-step recipe below:
- Put butter in the multicooker bowl.
- Chop the onion and lightly fry.
- Cut the mushrooms into cubes or slices and send to the onion.
- Fry food for 15 minutes by closing the multicooker lid.
- Add lentils and 4 cups of water.
- We turn on the "Cooking" or "Frying" mode and cook for 20 minutes.
- Turn on the "Extinguishing" mode. Mix the ingredients and cook for another 15 minutes.
- Finish the finished dish with finely chopped greens.
Lentils with mushrooms do not need to be seasoned with anything else. It itself is quite juicy, and mushrooms and onions with garlic give the taste a certain piquancy.
Falafel
This is a very interesting brown lentil dish. Cooking it is quite simple. Falafel is such a cutlet of plant components. The main ingredient in it is chickpeas, but lentils are also great as an alternative substitute. To cook such patties that came to us from Turkish cuisine, you need to take:
- 400 grams of lentils.
- 1 onion.
- 3-4 cloves of garlic.
- 3 tablespoons whole grain flour or fiber.
- Greens.
- Vegetable oil (for frying).
- Spice.
Step-by-step preparation consists in preliminary preparation of cereals. It should be boiled and chopped with a blender until a smoothie is obtained. It is necessary to add garlic and spices. To stir thoroughly. After that, add half the greens and flour and beat well again. Weight for cutlets is ready.
Form cakes with your hands. Place your billets in the oil preheated in a frying pan, having previously diced them in flour. Fry for 2 minutes on each side. After that, place the patties in the oven preheated to 170 degrees Celsius.
If this variant of cooking brown lentils does not suit you, you can try boiling it with lamb. How to do this, read below.
Lentils with Lamb
To cook this delicious dish, you will need:
- Lentils - 2 cups.
- Lamb - 400 grams.
- Onions - 1 pc.
- Carrots - 1 pc.
- Garlic - 1 head.
- Water - 450 ml.
- Spice.
- Fresh greens.
How to cook brown lentils for garnish, if you use lamb as one of the components? Step-by-step instruction:
- Put a pan with a thick bottom on the fire.
- Place chopped meat in it. Do not pour oil.
- Fry until lamb gives juice. Once this happens, place a layer of chopped onion and grated carrots on top of the meat.
- Stew food under a closed lid for 20-25 minutes.
- Then add the garlic, seasoning and salt. Mix everything thoroughly.
- Add lentils, soaked in water.
- Add water.
- Simmer for at least 40 minutes. After the time has passed, turn off the stove and let the dish stand under the closed lid.
Lentils are a great option for a side dish. You can easily diversify your diet using this healthy and tasty product. Above we told how to cook brown lentils until cooked. So that the process does not take much time, soak this cereal in water, like beans or peas.
Now you know how to cook brown lentils for a side dish. A dietary dish necessarily requires boiling the cereal for several minutes, and then draining the water. In this case, lentils will not cause increased gas formation in the intestine.
You can use this grits for vegetable salads. To do this, lentils should be boiled until cooked, cooled and added as a satisfying component to sliced fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. To fill such a salad is required with olive oil.