ambitious_wench

I recently tried this, and found it wonderful.

Lentil and Artichoke Stew
Serves 4 to 6
This aromatic, fiber-packed, and tasty Middle Eastern dish is great served over brown rice or your favorite pasta.
1 cup dry red lentils (3 cups cooked)
1 bay leaf
3 cups water
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cups diced onions
2 large garlic cloves, pressed or minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cups canned tomatoes (18-ounce can), chopped and liquid reserved
1 1⁄2 cups quartered artichoke bottoms (9-ounce package frozen or 15-ounce can)
1⁄4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Bring the lentils, bay leaf, and water to a boil in a saucepan. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the lentils are tender.

While the lentils cook, heat the olive oil in a separate pan. Add the onions and sauté on medium heat for about 5 minutes, until golden. Add the garlic cumin, and coriander and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the lemon juice, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and crushed red pepper (if using) and simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes. Drain the cooked lentils, reserving the cooking liquid, and add the lentils to the tomato and artichoke heart mixture. Simmer for 10 minutes more, adding about 1⁄2 cup of the reserved liquid if the sauce seems dry. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve over rice or pasta.

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Now, one of the things I dislike about using standardized recipes is that it's not easy to do things like have precisely 2 cups of diced onion. I tend to simply put in two onions, because I really don't like having frozen onion bits in my freezer. I prefer fresh.

Likewise, who the heck is going to buy a whole lemon for fresh lemon juice, and only two Tablespoons at that? Buy some lemon juice from concentrate. Also, I used a can of tomato paste instead of two cans of chopped tomatoes. I also used regular brown lentils, instead of red.

I am not a big fan of lots of cumin, so I cut it back to a few shakes from the jar, rather than two teaspoons. I didn't have any coriander, so I used some fennel seeds, ground them up and added them. I didn't use the red peppers flakes.

This makes a lot, but it is VERY good. It is especially good over wild rice. Remember the recipe for stuffing that called for left over rice? This is what it was from.