added this 17 years ago
Yummy Lentils and Spinach
What you need:
3/4 cup lentils
5 cups water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 (15 ounce) can chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 handful baby spinach
juice of 1/2 lemon
What you do:
1. Wash lentils. Place lentils and water in a large saucepan. Bring water to a full boil, then lower the heat to medium and cook, covered, for 20 minutes.
2. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, salt, and pepper flakes. Cover the pot, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add spinach, cook 1 or 2 minutes more until spinach is just wilted. Add lemon juice. Remove from heat. Serve with rice.
Preparation Time:
about 1 hour
Cooking Time:
Servings:
4
Recipe Category:
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Have made this many times and it is very very yummy, but the original recipe was a little too runny for my liking. I would recommend draining the tomatoes and then only using 4 - 4 1/4 cups of water. Each time I've made it I've also added more spinach; I think about 3-4 heaping handfuls of spinach is best. Yum!
I reviewed this wonderful recipe earlier, & wanted to add a P.S.-- it also works great as a crock-pot dish. I combined everything except the lemon juice, put it in the crock on low for 6 hours; came home, added lemon juice/ adjusted seasonings... ta-da: easy yummy dinner! I was using frozen spinach, & it did fine, though if I were gonna be home an hour or two before I wanted to eat, I might wait to add the spinach closer to the end... but anyway, it turned out great as a crock meal, & I will surely make it again (both ways!). I like it with 1 cup lentils/ 3 cups water, and eat it as a stew by itself (no need for rice). Really really tasty, especially with extra garlic & Old Bay seasoning added... Yum! :)>>>
This is the first recipe I've made from this site... I'm impressed! I liked it a lot-- surprisingly rich tasty flavor, for such a straightforward/ simple-to-make dish. I used 1 cup lentils/ 3 cups water, for more of a thick stew than brothy soup; also, I used 3 cloves of garlic and added some sprinkles of black pepper and Old Bay seasoning, for a little extra kick... Yum! I'll definitely make this again!
Alrighty, so my big bowl of brown rice and this spinach lentil stuff is steaming away on my coffee table, fresh out of the pot!
I did make a few modifications (which is something I"m loving about this recipe, i can see making it a different way every time)... I used 3 cups of water per 1 cup lentils. Chopped garlic (extra) and onion and put those in the pan FIRST and added a bouillon cube to the water with the lentils. Cooked that probably 30 minutes (as the lentils were still crunchy). Added a can of diced tomatoes, a ton of spinach that I needed to desperately use.
I also spiced it a bit more than the recipe said. I served it with brown rice to complete the protein... and *first bite*... mmmm, it's sort of like a thick lentil stew because of the broth (especially if you add veggie bouillon to it)
YUM YUM!
just made this again and this time i used half a can of tomato paste and added an equal amount of water. i also made the tofu paneer from the 'spinach & tofu paneer" recipe from this site and it was really good together.
this was really delicious - and i too was suprised how much flavor was in it despite the small number of ingredients. i used 1c of lentils and 2c of water, but i coulda probably used a little bit more water cus it all cooked away leaving a few crunchy lentils and came close to burning. i reduced the oil by half and i didnt have a can of diced tomatoes so i just used a small (8oz?) can of tomato sauce and then diced up a medium sized tomato and threw that in along with some extra water. i let that cook up and it got rid of those crunchy lentils. i also didnt have any lemon juice and this was still delicious and flavorful. i ate it on top of some quinoa and it was a good balance.
based on the review of others I used 1 cup of lentils and only 2 cups of water and the final product was the perfect consistency for me. (I did not want 'soupy" lentils)
this was nice'n'easy after a long day of being on the go, plus it was tasty & healthy! booya!
I did not serve it with rice, I just munched it solo and delighted in it.thank you.
My husband and I really liked this recipe. I didn't want it to be soupy, so I used 1 cup of lentils and only 3 cups of water (and no liquid from can of tomatoes). It was still slightly soupy, so I'll probably try just 2 cups of water next time. I also used an entire bag of baby spinach, and 2 cloves of garlic instead of 1. Will probably use more salt and red pepper flakes next time. This one is definitely going into our rotation though!
This was great! I had some extra veggies I needed to use, so I added them. Before cooking the lentils, I cooked an onion, 4 small red potatoes, some zucchini, carrots, and green onions. I added the water and lentils after they cooked for a while and then followed the directions. I also used one cup of lentils and 4 cups of water. When I added the tomatoes, I added a can of chick peas.
Thanks for the recipe!
This was very good. I used the recommend amount of water but a cup of lentils, it was a bit watery, may want to use less water next time, and I added more spinach.
But it was a tad bland so instead of using lemon juice I added apple cider vineger and hot sauce, that spiced it up great! It was delicious.
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