Onion Lentils and Rice

Submitted by jessi-ryan

"This recipe is adapted from "What to Cook" cookbook. Other than slicing the onions, it doesn't take a lot of prep time. This is what I make when I come home from work hungry and exhausted and want something yummy and filling for dinner."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 7
• Serves: 3-4

ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 medium onions, sliced (not diced)
• 3 1⁄2 cups water
• 1 cup lentils
• 1 cup rice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cumin

directions

1. Heat olive oil in skillet, saute the onions with 1 tsp cumin until lightly browned (can add some garlic too, if desired).
2. Remove 1/3 of the onions and set aside.
3. Continue cooking the rest of the onions until dark brown and black in places.
4. In the meantime, bring water to a boil in a saucepan, add the lentils, reduce heat, and cover, simmering for 15 minutes.
5. To the lentils, add the 1/3 lightly browned onions, rice, salt, and remaining 1 tsp cumin.
6. Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until rice is tender.
7. Remove from heat and stir in the well-browned onions.
8. Cover and let stand for 5-10 minutes.
9. Serve!
10. Especially good with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, and a dollop of yogurt or sour cream on top.
11. Also good with cooked spinach.

Reviews

[Dianna N.]

This was soooo good. I really appreciate the simplicity and vegan ingredients. I made as written mostly, but I already had cooked brown rice so I used 1/2 cup less water. I also sprinkled a bit of salt and cinnamon on the onions as they carmelized as per another Mujadarra recipe I saw online. Finally I increased the salt by 1/2 tsp.

 

[spatchcock]

AWESOME! I made this last night for dinner. I used regular small brown lentils and brown rice--which, unfortunately, took longer to cook and still wasn't quite done. A word to the wise: you may need a bit of broth or water if you use heavy-duty brown rice in this recipe. But it was great! I also added about 6 cloves of garlic because I'm a garlic freak. This was wonderful--I'll make it very often. Thanks for posting!

 

[AltoRose]

Yummy! This was my first time making anything with lentils in it, and I'm so pleased with the results! The lentils ended up a bit firmer than I think I would have liked, so next time I think I'll let them cook 5 minutes longer. I think they'd also be good rolled up with lettuce, tomato, and sour cream in a flour tortilla and eaten burrito-style. It's even better the next day---I'm eating the leftovers for lunch right now!

 

[VegSocialWorker]

Loved it. Easy, tasty and cheap- just the way I like it. I used long grain brown rice and therefore increased the water by a bit and cooked it longer. I think it changed the texture a bit, but great none the less. Thanks for posting

 

[thesocietyfor.design]

I found this recipe while trying to use up some random ingredients in my cupboard, and it was perfect for using the almost empty bags of green lentils and jasmine rice. I also wanted to use up a small amount of unsweetened coconut and some pepitas, so I toasted those and added with the caramelized onions. (I also used coconut oil to cook the onions.) A little random but it worked out well. This is wonderful comfort food!