Help me use these ingredients!

[granolagirl]

I've aquired some paprika, red lentils and sesame oil and need some ideas on what to do with them. Can I use red lentils for a salad? I've never used red lentils. Also, is sesame oil or toasted sesame oil better in cooking? Just trying to figure out if I will really use this stuff or if I should just toss it.

Thanks!

[sneezles]

I would make Bree's Lentil Tomato Soup with the red lentils...I'm making a pot this afternoon! The sesame oil is fine for cooking as long as it's not too high a heat, dark or roasted just has a stronger taste and when I cok Chinese I usually just add it in towards the end for flavor. Paprika I use all the time. Here's the soup recipe:

Bree's Lentil Tomato Soup
Cooking Light, Sept, 2001

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 teaspoon groung tumeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 1/3 cups water
2 1/3 cups dried lentils
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 (14 1/2-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
Chopped fresh tomatoes (optional)
Cilantro sprig (optional)


1. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion; saute for 3 minutes or until tender. Add the turmeric and the next 6 ingredients (turmeric through garlic); saute for 1 minute. Add water and next 4 ingredients (water through diced tomatoes); bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 1 hour.

2. Reserve 2 cups lentil mixture. Place half of remaining mixture in blender; process until smooth. Pour pureed soup into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with other half of remaining mixture. Stir in reserved 2 cups lentil mixture. Garnish with chopped tomatoes and a cilantro sprig if desired. Yield: 11 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

CALORIES 186 (9% from fat); FAT 1.9g (sat 0.3g, mono 1.0g; poly 0.4g); PROTEIN 14.1g; CARB 29.8g; FIBER 13.9g; CHOL 0mg; IRON 4.4mg; SODIUM 412mg; CALC 54mg

[Valerie226]

I'd do soup too. red lentils break down very fast and disintegrate, great for soup but not so great for salad. I prefer toasted sesame oil & use it often in stir fries & other asian dishes. the lighter oil is fine but has less intense flavor.

[hAndyman]

A good use of paprika (especially if it's Hungarian paprika - others will work, but I wouldn't put this much paprika in if it's hot, smoked paprika unless you really like it hot and smokin') is in this delicious dish, especially when served with spaetzle, but good also with buttered egg noodles or rice.

posted by Sparkie @ Mimi's

Hungarian Paprikash

3/4 lb. boneless pork, cubed
3/4 lb. bottom round of beef, cubed (or use all of either one or the other)
3 tbsp. butter
1 large onion chopped
2 tbsp. paprika
3 cups of water (approx.)
8 oz. sour cream.
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook meat in hot butter until well browned. Add onion and saute until golden. Sprinkle all with paprika and mix thoroughly. Add 1 cup of water and cook until it has mostly evaporated and sauce has thickened. Continue adding water and letting it evaporate until meat is tender. About 1 hour (or longer). When cooked season to taste. Add sour cream before serving. Heat well but do not boil. P.S. The secret is in letting the liquid evaporate and adding more. The onions will disappear, but the flavour remains. This is excellent served with Spatzle (Little Dumplings)
Andy's notes: Brown meat in 2 batches, removing each to a bowl. Caramelize onions then return meat to onions and add paprika then water; don't cover the pot; stir frequently. It takes about 2 hours (or more) to work in the 3 cups water and tenderize the meat. Low fat sour cream works well, as does pork shoulder.
***************
A good use of red lentils is this delicious and easy soup, one of my favourite soup finds of the past couple of years. Kinda has a similar texture to a pea soup, perfect for a cool fall day.

http://soup.allrecipes.com/az/ApricotLentilSoup.asp - also at http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/rlentil.htm (with incomplete instructions)

Apricot Lentil Soup

Lentil soup with a sweet-tangy twist. This is great with a warm piece of black bread slathered with creamy butter. Prep Time: approx. 15 Minutes. Cook Time: approx. 50 Minutes. Ready in: approx. 1 Hour 5 Minutes. Makes 6 servings. Printed from Allrecipes, Submitted by Karena

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
1 1/2 cups red lentils
5 cups chicken stock
3 Roma (plum) tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions
1 Saute onion, garlic, and apricots in olive oil. Add lentils and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
2 Stir in tomatoes, and season with cumin, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes.
3 Stir in lemon juice. Puree 1/2 of the soup in a blender, then return to the pot. Serve.

Andy's notes: Yummy! No real need to peel the tomatoes. I probably added a few more apricots and extra cumin, and used a little less oil. I add a pinch of whole cumin seed and the ground cumin to the onion, garlic, etc. We found it to be good with dried peaches in place of the apricots, too.

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If it's pure or unrefined sesame oil, common in middle eastern cooking, you have and not the dark (aka toasted) sesame oil commonly used in Asian cooking, it's useful in making hummus and other mid-east dishes. It will tolerate medium heat for frying, nothing higher. Here's another dish you could use the oil in. It has lentils, but I don't know if red lentils would be used in this; I think they're too delicate - I use green lentils. Maybe someone else would have an opinion on using red lentils in this.

Forum Home Page: Gail's Recipe Swap From: Harimad

Mujadarah
(Lebanese dish of rice, lentils and onions)...

From What's Cooking: Rice & Risotto by Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen. The dish as written is simple and mild, often (according to the author) served as part of a Lebanese meze. After I share her recipe I'll tell you what *we* do with it.

1 c. lentils, rinsed
1/2 c. olive oil
3 large onions, thinly sliced
1 c. basmati or other long-grained rice
3 c. stock (chix or veggie) or the water from the lentils
1 t. allspice or cinnamon
s&p
Simmer lentils in water till barely done (typically 20+ minutes). Saute onions in olive oil till soft; remove most, cook rest till crisp. Remove. Add rice to onion pan, saute till rice is translucent and oily. Add lentils, soft onions, stock, and spices. Simmer till rice cooked and liquid absorbed. Top with crispy onions. Harimad's Version: Flexible Rice & Pulses I simplify this a bit and use it as a base for other things. First of all, I don't crisp the onions. I had split peas on hand, so I used those instead of lentils; my rice-loving sweetie liked it, so peas it was. Finally, most of the flavor comes from the stock. I have all sorts of interesting stocks and liquids in the freezer -- from blanching ham, from a smoked turkey, from rendering salt pork, and so on. Since all these rice and pulses can absorb so much salt and flavor, I can get away with using, say, salt pork rendering liquid, which is salty as all get out. If I don't have an interesting stock on hand, we top with plain dish with a strong sauce, such as tabasco or Chinese hot peppers. It's weird but it works. I recommend lentils or split peas only; I think beans wouldn't meld properly with the softness of the dish. But reasonable people can differ. And now for the recipe:
1 c. lentils or split peas
3-4 onions, sliced (they add an immense amount of flavor)
1 c. long-grain rice
3 c. stock (see note, above)

Cook lentils or peas till slightly crunchy. Caramelize onions; the more onions you use, the less fat you need. You don't have to go all the way to dark brown, just as much as you feel like. Add rice and enough oil to saute the rice till transparent. Add pulses and stock, simmer, covered, till rice is done. Taste, decide what seasonings and sauce you want.
Andy's notes: Don't burn the onions! Brown them in some sesame oil or olive oil or a mix of the two, and use less as desired. I use the top recipe with the cinnamon - makes for a very tasty dish. For more nutrition and keeping it a vegetarian meal I add some So Soya slices to the hot liquid drained from the lentils and let them soak about 10 minutes to rehydrate before adding them to the lentils, onions, etc. Quite yummy!

[trish_ks]

there's an Ethiopian restaurant in town here that has this awesome Spicy Red Lentil side dish...wonder if I can find a similar recipe....

[trish_ks]

Sounds kind of similar to this:
http://food.cookinglight.com/cooking/display/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=671007