Legumes are a great source of concentrated protein to add to your diet. We often have ‘meat-free’ days in our household and lentils are the easiest option for me particularly those nights when I am in a hurry and have forgotten to soak my whole legumes or purchase a tin of my favourite beans (which BTW happens to be Kidney Beans – oh yum but let’s talk about that another day)
In Traditional Chinese Medicine terms lentils tonify our Ki and even more importantly increase our Life Source Essences – Jing. I have written about Jing previously so if you want to refresh why Jing is important visit the original article.
Lentils are a kidney food, stimulating our adrenals and acting as a diuretic. They are high in nutrients including lecithin, vitamin C, vitamin E and Niacin which makes lentils a great inclusion if you are trying to conceive as it supports all phases of the menstrual cycle.
Being a source of high fibre and great at supporting the heart and circulation Lentils should be included as part of your regular diet if you are pregnant.
Lentils have a neutral thermal nature making it a well-balanced whole food which can be combined with other foods for heat AND cold conditions of the body.
Lately I have been cleaning out my pantry and found ‘excess’ of lentils in my cupboard. So it’s probably safe to say I have been overdoing the lentils a little. Here is just two of my favourite go too recipes.
Lentil RecipesPlease understand I am not great at measuring so I haven't included measurements in these recipes. And in these 2 particular recipes I was just using up what I had at home in my cupboard
Brown / Green Lentil StewRinse Brown Lentils and set aside
Chop Celery (including some leaves), carrots, capsicum, onion and potato into cubes
Chop up (or I like to just tear apart) some leafy greens. For this recipe I picked what I had in the garden – kale, raddico, silverbeet and tomatoes (a canned would also be fine)
Prepare some herbs and spices. For this recipes I used bay leaves, cumin, chilli, paprika and then added some garlic
Have some tomato paste ready to add at the end.
The original recipes did suggest ginger however I was not keen on adding ginger on this night as I felt too much heat going on in my body and felt the other spices were plenty enough.
Add some oil into a saucepan and heat. Once heated add the spices and stir until fragrant. Add water (or broth) and lentils. Bring to boil and simmer for about 45 minutes.
Add celery, carrots, capsicum, onion and potato and simmer for another 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes and leafy greens. Add tomato paste.
Serve this with couscous or quinoa
Lentil SoupRinse Red Lentils and set aside
Chop up whatever vegetables you prefer. For my recipe I used onions, carrots and potato and leafy greens.
In a saucepan heat some oil and add spice powders cumin, paprika, garam masala, turmeric, coriander and garlic.
Add liquid vegetable stock (I use stock powder and add water), red lentils and vegetables (save leafy greens until last).
Boil until cooked (only takes 15 – 20 minutes for red lentils).
Place all cooked ingredients into a blender and puree. Serve with yoghurt and naan bread. Yum!!!
In Traditional Chinese Medicine terms lentils tonify our Ki and even more importantly increase our Life Source Essences – Jing. I have written about Jing previously so if you want to refresh why Jing is important visit the original article.
Lentils are a kidney food, stimulating our adrenals and acting as a diuretic. They are high in nutrients including lecithin, vitamin C, vitamin E and Niacin which makes lentils a great inclusion if you are trying to conceive as it supports all phases of the menstrual cycle.
Being a source of high fibre and great at supporting the heart and circulation Lentils should be included as part of your regular diet if you are pregnant.
Lentils have a neutral thermal nature making it a well-balanced whole food which can be combined with other foods for heat AND cold conditions of the body.
Lately I have been cleaning out my pantry and found ‘excess’ of lentils in my cupboard. So it’s probably safe to say I have been overdoing the lentils a little. Here is just two of my favourite go too recipes.
Lentil RecipesPlease understand I am not great at measuring so I haven't included measurements in these recipes. And in these 2 particular recipes I was just using up what I had at home in my cupboard
Brown / Green Lentil StewRinse Brown Lentils and set aside
Chop Celery (including some leaves), carrots, capsicum, onion and potato into cubes
Chop up (or I like to just tear apart) some leafy greens. For this recipe I picked what I had in the garden – kale, raddico, silverbeet and tomatoes (a canned would also be fine)
Prepare some herbs and spices. For this recipes I used bay leaves, cumin, chilli, paprika and then added some garlic
Have some tomato paste ready to add at the end.
The original recipes did suggest ginger however I was not keen on adding ginger on this night as I felt too much heat going on in my body and felt the other spices were plenty enough.
Add some oil into a saucepan and heat. Once heated add the spices and stir until fragrant. Add water (or broth) and lentils. Bring to boil and simmer for about 45 minutes.
Add celery, carrots, capsicum, onion and potato and simmer for another 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes and leafy greens. Add tomato paste.
Serve this with couscous or quinoa
Lentil SoupRinse Red Lentils and set aside
Chop up whatever vegetables you prefer. For my recipe I used onions, carrots and potato and leafy greens.
In a saucepan heat some oil and add spice powders cumin, paprika, garam masala, turmeric, coriander and garlic.
Add liquid vegetable stock (I use stock powder and add water), red lentils and vegetables (save leafy greens until last).
Boil until cooked (only takes 15 – 20 minutes for red lentils).
Place all cooked ingredients into a blender and puree. Serve with yoghurt and naan bread. Yum!!!
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