The Frugal Foodie: The Lovable Lentil

In a woman’s magazine I picked up recently, an entire section was devoted to the lentil. Which got me to thinking, what is so great about lentils? And honestly, why had I never tried them?  What were they, really?  If they’re all the rage with the hip moms in Cookie Magazine, then I wanted a piece of the action.

The recipes in the magazine were a little too strange to appeal to my children.  So, I went online in search of the perfect lentil recipe for my own frugal family.  What follows is what I ended up with based on the ingredients I had at home:



Crock Pot Lentil Stew
1 1/2 C lentils, rinsed and drained
2 cans diced tomatoes
3 carrots, diced
2 onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. paprika<
4 C. chicken broth
1/2 C. white wine
1 ring bologna or sausage, cut into 1" pieces
1 C. Herbs: Rosemary, parsley, basil

Saute onions and carrots in extra virgin olive oil approximately 10 minutes.  Stir in paprika.  Combine onion/carrot mixture in crock pot along with other ingredients.  Cook on low at least 5-6 hours.  Serve topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

During dinner my husband asked,
“So, exactly what is a lentil?"   Wanting to appear like a culinary expert I quickly responded, “They’re in the same family as peas and chickpeas.”  Really, I wasn’t completely sure what they were either.  So, behind his back a little later I looked it up to see if my answer was right.  This is what the dictionary has to say about lentils:

Lentil: (species Lens esculenta), small annual legume of the pea family (Leguminosae) and its lens-shaped edible seed, which is rich in protein and one of the most ancient of cultivated foods

I really wasn’t sure if a food of such a mysterious origin would be so well accepted from my suspicious husband and finicky kids.  However, when my husband suggested I make it again and my kids didn’t turn up their noses I knew I had a hit on my hands.  I happily report that lentils will be making an encore performance on our dinner table some evening soon.  -- FF