Rice, lentils and noodles bowl – vegan

This recipe is for the rice, lentil and noodle bowl that I served with the Israeli tomato-cucumber salad the other day. Together with grilled corn on the cob and French baguette it made a lovely summer patio dinner, all plant based. I also made Rosemary lemonade to cool us down, love lemonade in the summer.

I cooked everything together pilaf style so the rice, lentils and noodles are ready at the same time. If you want to make the dish with leftover rice and lentils just add them to a skillet in which you sauteed a little onion in olive oil and let everything combine and warm up together. In this case though the noodles would have to be pre-cooked as well.

I have learned to soak grains and legumes before cooking them. You can soak them for an hour on the counter or even overnight in the fridge. It makes them cook quicker and apparently, more digestible.

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Ingredients:

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2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup thin vermicelli noodles

1 cup rice, soaked in water for about an hour then drained

1/2 cup green lentils soaked in water for an hour then drained

2 cups vegetable broth or water

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 tablespoon herbs: thyme or oregano, chopped

A handful flat leaf parsley, chopped

1/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped

Additional olive oil for drizzling over

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Directions:

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Heat the oil in a skillet, add the onion and cook until it is translucent.

Add the noodles and cook, stirring occasionally, until they turn golden.

Add the drained rice and lentils and stir to coat the grains and legumes with the oil.

Add the broth or water and bring to a boil.

Lower heat, add the salt, cover and cook until the rice and lentils are tender and cooked through. All the liquid should be absorbed.

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To serve:

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Transfer the rice mixture to a serving bowl, add chopped parsley, herbs and pistachios. Drizzle with additional olive oil if desired and serve warm.

The next day I had leftovers rice and also leftover grilled corn. I scraped the kernels off the corn and added them to the rice dish before warming it up in the microwave. Nice addition.

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