Sunday Recipe

It's time again for my weekly recipe (because I tend to have more blogging time on the weekends, I randomly picked Sunday as my recipe posting day-- at least once a week you'll get a post, even if it's only a recipe).

I've decided recently to cook my way through The More with Less Cookbook.  This cookbook encourages vegetarian/frugal/regional cooking, which really aligns with my life philosophy quite well, especially lately.  There are several particular reasons I decided to embark on this cooking adventure:

1) I am working less this year so that I can be home with the girls, which tightens up our grocery budget a bit.  I'm constantly looking for ways to save money at the grocery store, and vegetarian cooking is a great way to do this.
2) M and I are both trying to be more healthy in our eating habits-- for the sake of our waistlines, our digestive systems, and our long-term health.
3) We want to teach our girls to try and like a variety of (healthy) foods.

So, the recipe I'm sharing this week is a vegetarian one... from the first week in which our diet was almost entirely vegetarian.  I sort of thought we were in for a week of bland, uninteresting meals... boy was I wrong!  I had trouble choosing a favorite.  Here it is:

Kusherie (Egyptian Rice and Lentils)

Heat in heavy saucepan or covered skillet:
2 T oil

Add:
1 1/4 cup lentils
Brown lentils over medium heat 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add:
3 cups boiling water or stock
1 t. salt
dash of pepper
Cook uncovered 10 minutes over medium heat.

Stir in:
1 1/2 cup rice
1 cup boiling water or stock
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 25 minutes without stirring (I had to add more water during this cooking period)

Sauce:
In a saucepan, heat together:
3/4 cup tomato paste
3 cups tomato juice, tomato sauce, or pureed tomatoes
1 green pepper, chopped
chopped celery leaves
1 T sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cumin
1/4 t. cayenne pepper or crushed chilis to taste
Bring sauce to boiling, reduce heat, and simmer 20-30 minutes.

Browned Onions:
Heat in a small skillet:
2 T oil
Saute over medium heat until brown:
3 onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced

To serve, put rice-lentil mixture on a platter.  Pour tomato sauce over.  Top with browned onions.

The caption over this recipe reads "Although it looks like a production, Kusherie is surprisingly easy to make and contains high-quality protein.  In Egypt plain yogurt is served as a side dish."

I can now say I have sampled Egyptian cuisine!  Fancy.  :-)