Lentils and Brown Rice

This recipe is my boyfriend's FAVORITE! He asks me to make it all the time. Since it's just the two of us, the left overs last all week- it's an easy lunch! Even though it's July and making this  turned my apartment into a sauna, it was worth it. Here you go:

Shopping List

·         2 tbs of butter (or margarine)

·         2 tbs of olive oil
      1 tsp of sriracha 

·         2-3 stems of fresh rosemary

·         2-3 bay leaves

·         2 tbs of Maggi Seasoning (don't have this?? try balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, or red wine)

·         1 lemon

·         3-6 cloves of garlic

·         1 shallot

·         1 carrot

·         1 ear of corn

·         1 large tomato, two Roma tomatoes, or a handful of cherry tomatoes (I used one large tomato)

·         ½ cup of brown rice

·         ½ cup of lentils

·         2 sausages (your choice)

·         2 cups of water, you’ll be using it one cup at a time

·         3 cups of broth (your choice of chicken, beef, vegetable, bouillon cubes, soup base, etc.)

How to put it all together

·         Put butter and olive oil in the bottom of a big pot or Dutch oven over low/ low-medium heat

·         Add the ingredients to the pot in the following order; after you finish chopping each ingredient (minus rice and bay leaves), throw it in the pot and stir so everything is coated in olive oil and butter!

o   Garlic

o   Shallot

o   Rosemary

o   Bay leaves (don’t need chopping but add)

o   Carrot

o   Corn (cut kernels off the cob)

o   Brown rice

·         Sauté ingredients for 5 minutes 

·         Add 3 cups of broth, Maggi Seasoning, juice from whole lemon, and sriracha

 

·         Cover and bring to a medium boil

·         Wait 10 minutes, then add lentils and stir

·         Cover and cook for 45-50 minutes, keeping it at a boil; stir occasionally to check water levels; when liquid runs low, add water, one cup at a time. You will do this twice during the 45-50 minutes. You will know it’s done by testing the brown rice- it is ready when the rice is fully cooked.

·         While the veggies, rice, and broth are cooking, chop sausage and cook in a dry pan over medium high heat for about 3 minutes on each side, you want to char the sausages just a bit- a little bit of black adds a lot of flavor! Add the sausage and all the juice from the pan into the pot.

·         Dice and add tomato; simmer for an additional 5 minutes, covered (I normally like to pan or oven roast the tomatoes first because the flavor is amazing, but it’s July and I have no A/C so I skipped that step this time)

·         Wait 10-15 minutes or until cool enough to eat before serving

·         Eat it with crusty bread, in a bread bowl, or with crackers and a glass/ bottle of red wine. This makes GREAT leftovers. Happy eating!