A month with lentils

March 12, 2016

I ran into this lentil farmer I know at the grocery store about six weeks ago. By the time I was done talking to her I was not only ready to cook with lentils, I was pretty sure I might want to bathe in them.

She told me that 2016 is the International Year of Pulses. As it turns out, this is not a campaign by the American Heart Association to check your blood pressure regularly.

According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, pulses are foods harvested only for their dried seed, which include dried peas and beans, chickpeas, and yes… lentils.

And as any lentil enthusiast will tell you, they also happen to be packed with protein and fiber, and very easy to prepare.

Pulses are a primary food source for a large portion of humanity, but they aren’t really a “foreign” food. Turns out, there are thousands of homegrown lentil farmers right here in the United States.

North Dakota leads the U.S. in pulse production, with Montana being the second largest grower.

In honor of the Year of Pulses, I decided that I would cook lentils at least once a week for a month.

Within a few days of my resolution, my lentil farmer friend was at my door with bags of lentils from her downtown store. I was armed and ready.

My top priorities when cooking are easy and kid friendly. Healthy fits in there somewhere as well, but like most Americans I’m a slave to convenience.

You can cook with lentils as the only protein source, or you can add it to a meat dish to give it depth and texture.

(Using terms like “depth” and “texture” to describe food makes me feel sophisticated and worldly, which is yet another bonus of this lentil project – I so rarely get to be cool.)

The taco recipe the lentil farmer shared with me was far and above the biggest hit at my house. The lentils more than doubled the size of the filling, so I had plenty of leftovers to freeze for later.

We also added lentils to spaghetti sauce, pork stew, and shredded chicken. All were glorious.

The only meatless main course I prepared was sloppy joes. I happily gobbled them up, and to the kids it was just dinner as usual. My husband declared it was like eating air.

(A disclaimer here… I believe my husband felt it was his duty as a man to defend meat’s rightful place at our table.)

For dessert I tried a chocolate cake, which was dense and moist and heavenly. My kids didn’t even know they were eating lentils!

It felt good that I was sneaking extra nutrition into food we really enjoyed.

And then, there was the hummus…

For eight long years I’ve been searching for a homemade hummus recipe to replace the hole left in my life after moving away from the Midwest and all the delicious Middle Eastern restaurants.

If you are going to be a true lentil aficionado, you have to be up on the lingo. For example, decorticated means to remove the husk or rind from something. Lentils have what my farmer friend described as “jackets,” which give the lentils their shape.

Taking off the outer shell of the lentil makes it creamier, thus… smooth, rich, authentic hummus.

Oh, decorticated lentils, where have you been all my life?

All these years, the rest of the world has been enjoying these delightful little pulses and I was missing out. But no more!

Welcome to the family, lentils.

This article first appeared in the Lewistown News-Argus and the Sidney (Mont.) Herald on March 12, 2016.