Mjaddara - Lentil Goodness.

Ingredients:

1+1/2 cups lentils

1/4 - 1/2 cup rice (washed)

2 large onions (finely diced)

Olive oil

Salt

Method:

* Clean up lentils (remove stones, soil, etc).

* Rinse twice.

* Put lentils in saucepan with cold water and ~1tsp of salt, plus about 5cm more to cover.

* In some olive oil (~1/4 cup) and a little water (a few tbsp), begin sweating onions slowly (covered) so that they turn sweet and clear (not brown).

* Bring to boil, then turn heat down to a steady boil for about 1/2 an hour (covered).

* Put onions and rice in with the boiling lentils. Make sure there is still enough water.

* Turn heat down to a slow simmer for 30-60 minutes until soft.

* Add more olive oil and salt to taste.

* Cool for 10+ minutes.

I recommend serving with sliced fresh tomatoes, a big wad of greens (lettuce, rocket, whatever), and a bit of cracked pepper. It's pretty versatile though, I'm sure you'll find several ways to enjoy it.

It's one of those elusive ones that seems extremely simple, yet may take a few tries to get it "right". It will still be tasty in any case! Sorry the directions aren't very precise - I cook more by "feel" than by checklist.

Some tips:

* IMHO, the best lentils to use are either small brown ones or Le Puy green ones.

* If you use brown rice (I usually do), put it in at the beginning with the lentils.

* In general, the longer and slower you cook it, the more tasty it becomes. It should resemble thick porridge. The onions essentially disappear into the mix and the rice is basically at the point of falling apart. If you run out of water before this point, you can add more, but be careful! The more "porridgey" the mixture becomes, the harder it is to evaporate excess water off without burning the bottom and/or ending up with homogeneous sludge. Also, it will thicken or "set" further as it cools down to edible temperatures.

* You will need to stir it often towards the end of the cooking process to prevent it from sticking (and give other parts of the mixture a chance to caramelize on the bottom).

* Don't skimp on the olive oil -- I use about half a cup in total (your taste may vary), but if you wait until later on in the cooking process to get the salt and oil levels right it seems to result in a better texture and a lower risk of it turning out too salty/oily. You can always add more, but you can't take it out again!

* Keeps pretty well (about 5-7 days I guess) in the fridge. I imagine freezing would be no problem but my batches get eaten too quickly for that!

* This is not the only style (or spelling) of mjaddara, just a recipe I was given years ago by a Lebanese friend.