A recipe (sort of) for @aracauna_man

May 24, 2011 Filed Under: (non)recipes, food
I’m happiest about cooking when I don’t have a recipe in front of me.  I like to combine good, basic ingredients to taste and see what happens.
I tweeted about my leftover lentil concoction today, and @aracauna_man pointed out that if I’m going to tweet about good food, I should at least offer up a recipe.
I’m way too lazy to try to figure out how to explain my mad scientist approach to lentils in 140 characters, so here’s an almost recipe for my new favorite meal.  There are no amounts listed.  I just eyeball the amounts for our meal needs and what I’m in the mood for.

Veggies, etc.
Precooked lentils
Fingerling potatoes
Frozen artichoke hearts (thawed)*
Onion
Garlic

Liquids
Sesame Oil
Fish Sauce
Rice Vinegar
Lemon Juice
Bragg Aminos (I can’t eat soy sauce, if you can, you could probably use that instead)

Spices
Chipotle Chile Powder
Chili Powder
Chinese Five Spice
Dried Basil
Ground Pepper

I cut the potatoes into small rounds and brown them in sesame oil in a big frying pan on high heat, adding chopped onion and garlic once the potatoes are cooked through and browned.

I add splashes of fish sauce, lemon juice, rice vinegar, and aminos once the onions & garlic have browned slightly and started to soften.  Then I turn it down to medium heat, add the artichoke hearts and lentils, and season with the spices in whatever amount I feel like using.  I also splash some more of the liquids and/or a little of the thawed artichoke liquid if it all starts to look too dry.  I add Sriracha at the very end, because I feel like it gets lost in all the other flavors otherwise.

It’s not the prettiest of meals, but it’s one of my favorites.  Cold leftovers for lunch the next day are even better.

* I use fresh broccoli instead of the artichokes, if I have it, separated into bite-sized sections.  I add it after the onions & garlic, and give it extra time to steam before adding the lentils.

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