Lentils 101

An overview of lentil types, nutritional characteristics, cooking tips, dried vs. canned, and a recipe for "Brown Rice & Lentils" from "The Best of Chef at Home".

Ingredients:
1 cup (250 mL) brown rice
1 cup (250 mL) dried green lentils
4 cups (1 L) water or chicken broth
½ teaspoon (2 mL) salt

Directions:
In a medium saucepan with a tight fitting lid, combine rice, lentils, water, and salt. Bring everything to a full boil then lower heat, just enough to maintain a slow, steady simmer. Continue cooking until rice and lentils are tender and liquid is absorbed, about 45 minutes. Turn off heat, let stand for a few minutes, and you are ready to serve and share.

Variation: You can add any fresh or dried herbs you like to this dish. Rosemary, thyme and tarragon all work well.

[jayyyzeee]

That lentil puree tip is gold! I often make a lima bean soup that needs to be thickened so I usually use some of the lima beans, but then I'm left with a soup with 30% less lima beans. From now on, I'm going to use lentil puree instead! Thank you!!

[DrHappybone]

I never thought | would be so entertained by lentils lol

[Trytocookthis]

I can't believe this video is eight years old and I'm watching it today feeling like it is brand new. I'm a d/a. But I love the video's information on lentils. ❤

[tootstoyou]

I’ve been successfully cooking lentils WITH tomatoes 🍅 AND vinegar in my instant pot. I add other vegetables along with sautéed onion and garlic then cook on high pressure for 3 or 4 minutes.. Let the IP depressurize naturally for 15 minutes and everything is cooked perfectly. Nothing has been undercooked, just tender & delicious. BTW... great

[bitchybitch]

Because this guy is a chef who knows what he's talking about, and knows the nutritional values of foods, herbs, spices, etc., he has my respect already!

[rosem]

I cooked lentils with quinoa a couple of days ago. It was so good that I ate quite a bit before the rest of the meal was ready. So good! Don't forget to add chopped onion tossed with a bit of oil beforehand.

[diisis]

I'm an RD in training, there is actually no such thing an an incomplete protein, incomplete amino acid profiles do not form what would be called a protein. What is true is that plant foods are typically lower in some amino acids as compared to animal sources such as leucine etc however this would only be an issue if you only consumed one specific plant food and nothing else. Lentils are a great protein source.

[c_farther]

I made my lentils in the slow cooker tonight and they were so much better than boiling. They are just not watery, didn't say mushy, but not watery in the slow cooker. Cover and in about 3 hours with half pound, they are perfect. Nothing like peppers, onions, tomatoes in the slow cooker with them and served it on white fully rice. Best meal this week.

[youwhatmadeidk]

Wow. I just say, this is one of the best food videos I’ve watched all year! Great cook and very charismatic and friendly, excellent information and productions values, great video quality! Well done!

[redpanda]

Okay, when you first mentioned what a great recipe lentils and rice is, I thought yeah, right, two bland foods together. Can't be that great. Well, tonight I needed to cook something and I had some wild rice and lentils on hand, so I thought I would go ahead and make the recipe, knowing that I would probably not be impressed.
I was wrong, very wrong. Lentils and rice will be a staple at my house from now on. So delicious. Looking forward to making it again. Thanks for sharing that.

[auberjean]

My mom taught me to add a couple of bay leaves to the lentils while they simmer. They add a great dimension, along with vinegar at the end. Great video with a friendly, upbeat, hunky chef!

[worldcitizeng]

when I was traveling all over Turkey during summer of 2019 for 22 days, everywhere I went, I was looking for lentil soup, so good! Turkish chef Refika cooked her lentil until it's ready, then add salt. She added some lemon juice + olive oil when serving it.

[TraceyKorol]

so glad to see you on the screen again Chef M!! I used to watch you every sat for a reciepe for sunday dinner with the kids. It was actually the best time i had cooking for my husband Watched too. We would go to the store afterwards, pick up what we needed for the meal and cook it together on sunday ! thank you so much for all this info on lentils! i can not wait to try them, and esspecially sprouted for we eat alot of salad as a starter to all meals. Thankyou agian and i am looking forward to watching more of your videos on here...yes i guess it was in 2012 but im late to the veggie game but never too late to go veggie!!

[stevewisniewski]

Sir, you are helping to educate my children and myself as a train Chef, you show us how to do so with humor And simplicity. Nothing fancy, just pure basic simplicity. Thank you. If you ever need help in your kitchen, I’d be willing to help and work for you. My children I will look up more of your videos. Best.

[wuld]

Tip: Soaking the lentils for a few or couple hours before cooking decreases bloating and gas compared to when I've cooked them straight up instead--substantially--for me.

[DavidNPS]

Glad I stumbled upon this video. I have a big bag of lentils I have been wanting to make. perfect recipes for them, so easy I am eager to try making. Thanks

[suzywernet]

Thank you for this! I love lentils, too. I love the idea of pureeing them and I never thought of that!!

[chloethemessenger]

Love that this is Canadian 🇨🇦 yaayyyy!!!

[xvgonzales]

what a cute kitchen area. Love the design

[joseluisgonzalez]

Muy buena sus recetas y explicaciones Chef Michael. Saludos desde Argentina.