Lentils make the best fake minced meat

It took me a few extra laps around the adult truck to find the genes in my culinary. My life was previously spent convincing the people closest to me that the bowl of cereal I poured and the scrambled eggs were well cooked. There was a takeaway for everything else —Or my wife.

Just typing those words makes me feel like a terrific Schmack. I wasn’t going to be one of the desperately incompetent CBS Sitcom husbands waiting for dinner while relaxing on the couch. Sure, I cooked, but cooking for someone is arguably one of the most perfect expressions of love in life. And if I have one thing to share with Dope Sitcom’s husband, it’s that I got married. Needless to say, I had to start losing weight in a pan or pan.

Awakening happened in my early thirties Dive deep into my Ashkenazi Jewish heritage It ignited the genes in my cooking for the first time, turning me into a crazy man with a frying pan.Over time, I always try new recipes and even Create your own..

The actual experience of my food is one of the many factors that prompted me to rethink eating meat. Our kitchen quickly runs out of meat and neither of us has missed cooking meat ever since. We found how versatile and delicious vegetables, especially legumes, can be useful when treated with the same affection, care and seasonings as meat. Lentils have replaced minced meat in all its flavorful glory.

Lentils: A new best friend of vegetarians

In our home we make Greek Bolognese and Pastitsio —Grilled pasta dish topped with tubular bucatini noodles, minced meat and bechamel sauce. These are important dishes for my wife’s Greek-American family. My big fat Greek wedding It is quoted regularly. “You don’t eat meat !? That’s okay.. I will make you a lamb. “

Permanent bans on pastitsio were not an option. At the same time, these are more than just meat-dropping dishes. Needs replacement —It does not have to be a highly processed formulation to simulate meat. Lentils are more than just work.

If you’re a baby vegetarian, or just trying to reduce meat consumption, lentils will be your new best friend. Of course, they can stand out in many dishes by themselves —The lentil freekin soup comes to mind —However, they also serve as a delicious alternative to the minced meat found in traditional pastitsio.

I learned the technique in a vegetarian moussaka cooking class. Moussaka is similar to pastitsio in that it is a layered dish of minced meat, usually eggplant or potatoes. Our instructor, an Albanian Greek woman named Klara, taught us how to replace meat with the delicious help of cooked lentils.

How to use lentils instead of minced meat

The technique is simple. Treat lentils with the same care as minced meat. Fry in your favorite cooking oil over medium heat (usually extra virgin olive oil) for a few minutes, season with spices, and add 2 cups of liquid to each cup of lentils (ideally vegetable stock). Bring the pan to a boil before boiling with the frying pan or pan almost covered.

Check after about 10 minutes for lentil consistency.If you want to add them to a typical oven-baked meat dish like pastitsio, you’ll want to stop cooking for a few minutes. Previous Al dente. Otherwise you risk burning them muddy. When making a Bolognese-type sauce, remove it from the heat when you are satisfied with the bite of the lentils.

Greek food may have been our inspiration for using lentils, but they can be used throughout the spectrum of food and culture. (We have something to rely on Vegetarian pastitsio recipe You may want to start by featuring a layer of lentils seasoned with cinnamon, nutmeg and oregano. )

Place the lentils in tomato stuffing, peppers, spicy stir fry, shepherd’s pie and lasagna.The possibilities are endless.