Community Pick
Lebanese Lentil/Rice Pilaf With Blackened Onions
"This recipe first appeared as part of a "meatless week-night meal" in the November, 2003 Bon Appetit. Originally posted by Mean Chef. Vegans can omit the yogurt."
photo by magpie diner
- Ready In:
- 55mins
- Ingredients:
- 14
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 59.16 ml olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 9.85 ml ground cumin
- 3.69 ml ground cinnamon
- 2.46 ml ground allspice
- 2 (793.78 g) can vegetable broth
- 177.44 ml dried lentils, rinsed, picked over
- 177.44 ml long-grain white rice
- 2 large onions, sliced
- 3 tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
- 1 cucumber, peeled, cut into rounds
- plain yogurt
- chopped of fresh mint
directions
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Add chopped onion and next 4 ingredients; sauté until onion softens, about 4 minutes.
- Add broth and lentils; bring to boil.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, 10 minutes.
- Stir in rice; return to boil.
- Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook until liquid is absorbed and rice and lentils are tender, about 15 minutes longer.
- Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add sliced onions; sauté until soft and beginning to blacken, about 20 minutes.
- Season pilaf to taste with salt and pepper.
- Transfer to plates; top with blackened onions.
- Place tomatoes and cucumber alongside.
- Top pilaf with dollop of yogurt.
- Sprinkle with mint.
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Reviews
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Wow, this is almost exactly like the lentils and Rice my Grandma used to make. The key to the flavor is getting the onions nice and dark. Grandma used a cast iron skillet. Also, we served it with lettuce leaves sprinkled with lemon juice. She said using your hands to eat was "the Lebanese way." Of course Grandma was born in the states, so who knows! Thanks for posting! -
Fantastic and filling! I added a little cayenne and skipped the yogurt to keep this vegan. What interesting flavors. Using high quality spices from a place like Penzey's should address some people's comments about flavor, if you don't have any, then just increase the quantity. -
For me who likes mild food, I found the dish bland. I used brown rice and found the lentils took longer to cook than the rice; about 35 minutes. Otherwise, I followed the recipe to a T. The onions were the only thing with flavour, and the dish was definitely better when eaten with the yogurt and mint. Still, I don't anticipate making this again unless DH is keen. -
This was good but next time I would up the spice amount and also use beef broth instead of veg to give it more flavor. Needs a lot of salt and peppers also. We served as a side dish but I could see this in a tortilla also. -
LOVE THIS! Perfect everything; the onions complete it. I use brown rice. So delicious! Thank you thank you thank you for posting this.
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Tweaks
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Pleasantly surprised :) We have never eaten anything like this and it was better than we expected! I used homemade vegetable stock and brown basmati rice instead of white; adding the rice at the same time as the lentils worked well. We liked ours with fresh lemon juice and loved the onions. This was a big help on our new goal of adding meatless meals - thanks!!!
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Wow, this was absolutely delicious! I used chicken broth instead of vegetable, and a wild rice mixture instead of the white rice, but didn't change anything else. I was sad when I got full, because I wanted to eat more! -
This is the best Mjedderah recipe I have ever found. Instead of allspice, I used an Arabic mixed spices found at an ethnic grocery store near my home. Also, I increased the rice to 1c and reduced the lentils to 1/2c because that's what I had on hand. The onions really add a lot of flavor, but the light mint and yogurt balances it all -- keeps it from being heavy. Thanks. This is definitely a "keeper".
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Never had Lebanese before and this recipe is a fantastic first impression! Used chicken broth instead of vegtable and sour cream instead of the yogurt. Very good! My teen really liked it too. Will make this again!
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Try this recipe. It is delicious. Very simple to make with a result that is exotic, tasty and not overstuffing. Followed recipe except used sour cream instead of yogurt. Used fresh diced tomatoes from the garden....this is a keeper.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Chef Kate
Annapolis, 60
<p>I have always loved to cook. When I was little, I cooked with my Grandmother who had endless patience and extraordinary skill as a baker. And I cooked with my Mother, who had a set repertoire, but taught me many basics. Then I spent a summer with a French cousin who opened up a whole new world of cooking. And I grew up in New York City, which meant that I was surrounded by all varieties of wonderful food, from great bagels and white fish to all the wonders of Chinatown and Little Italy, from German to Spanish to Mexican to Puerto Rican to Cuban, not to mention Cuban-Chinese. And my parents loved good food, so I grew up eating things like roasted peppers, anchovies, cheeses, charcuterie, as well as burgers and the like. In my own cooking I try to use organics as much as possible; I never use canned soup or cake mix and, other than a cheese steak if I'm in Philly or pizza by the slice in New York, I don't eat fast food. So, while I think I eat and cook just about everything, I do have friends who think I'm picky--just because the only thing I've ever had from McDonald's is a diet Coke (and maybe a frie or two). I have collected literally hundreds of recipes, clipped from the Times or magazines, copied down from friends, cajoled out of restaurant chefs. Little by little, I am pulling out the ones I've made and loved and posting them here. Maybe someday, every drawer in my apartment won't crammed with recipes. (Of course, I'll always have those shelves crammed with cookbooks.) I'm still amazed and delighted by the friendliness and the incredible knowledge of the people here. 'Zaar has been a wonderful discovery for me.</p>
