Cooking
They’re cheap and quick to cook, and they make dishes like this one-pot chicken even more hearty and satisfying.
I had my first lentil as an adult, and I want to say it was somewhere in France. (My mom, a terrific Japanese home cook, didn’t keep dried or canned lentils in the pantry; they didn’t figure much into her cooking, nor mine when I moved out.) I think those first lentils came to me in a simple salad, pebbly little de Puys dressed in a mustardy vinaigrette, maybe with some carrot or onion in there. I can’t remember the specifics, just the lentils: tender but not mushy, earthy but not too beany, and adorably small.
Now I keep lentils of all kinds and colors in my pantry: skinned and split red lentils, whole brown lentils, onyx black belugas and those marbled French green ones. It doesn’t feel like overkill, this lentil abundance. They’re inexpensive, easy to come by and easy to prepare. I may not have grown up cooking or eating them, but I’d like to think I’m making up for lost lentil time.
My friend and yours Ali Slagle has put together a guide to cooking and using lentils. “They’re good to have around because their gentle flavor and creamy texture add body to many meals, from soups and dals to salads and pastas,” she writes. Make a batch of basic green, brown or black lentils and use them all week, or — as I’m going to do — cook Yasmin Fahr’s beautiful new one-pot chicken and lentils for your Saturday supper. It’s a comforting dinner that’s warm with turmeric and cumin and bright from a finishing squeeze of lime. Or do both! There’s no lentil limit.
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One-Pot Chicken and Lentils
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More legumes, this time a little plumper: Sarah DiGregorio’s slow-cooker butter beans with pecorino and pancetta. Inspired by pasta alla gricia, her dish is creamy and luscious, the sort of rib-sticking meal you’d want to tuck into after a busy day. (I don’t eat pork, so I just leave out the pancetta and up the olive oil and salt; one reader suggests stirring in a spoonful of miso, a brilliant idea.)
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