Sometimes I get an urge to try something new for dinner. On the weekends I like to experiment. Along with variety I have been looking for healthy food options that will help me combat my high cholesterol. This past weekend I stumbled onto lentils, flax and quinoa. All are high in fiber and help fight cholesterol. I thought I would share a couple of my experiments.
First we will venture into a lentil taco recipe. Lentils are very popular in Germany so I had no trouble finding them. They are a legume that provides fiber and protein without much fat. When I went to allrecipes.com to find a recipe for a salad, this taco recipe was featured on the front page. Knowing I had a box of lentils in the pantry and seeing that the recipe got 4 stars, I decided to give it a try. I love tacos so I was a bit skeptical about the success of this recipe.
Ingredients:1 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup salsa
12 taco shells
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
1 cup chopped fresh tomato
1 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat
Cheddar cheese
6 tablespoons fat free sour creamDIRECTIONS:
1. In a large nonstick skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the lentils, chili powder, cumin and oregano; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Uncover; cook for 6-8 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Mash lentils slightly.
2. Stir in salsa. Spoon about 1/4 cup lentil mixture into each taco shell. Top with lettuce, tomato, cheese and sour cream.
I followed the recipe and was pleasantly surprised. They don't taste exactly like meat tacos but they are pretty close. I didn't cook my lentils long enough so I couldn't get them to mash. I'll have to work on that part next time.
I don't really like taco shells and usually make taco salad. Tonight for dinner I made a huge salad with spinach and iceberg lettuce and tossed the taco mix, sour cream, tomato and cheese in with them. I found this more than satisfactory and I think I will have this for lunch tomorrow at school.
As a cultural note. I have always been struck by how shelves at the grocery store can show what a culture values. In France the cheese aisle is almost 2 times as long as a normal US shopping aisle. When looking for ingredients the other day, I thought "I have to take a picture of this - no one would believe me!" The middle shelf is all bread crumbs for making snitzel (breaded tenderloin). The bottom shelf has 7 different bags of lentils before it turns into things like dried peas, dried white beans etc. I look at this and wonder why you need so many boxes of bread crumbs and bags of lentils - answer: they are a staple here.
