Black Lentil

Here’s the answer to your question: “What can I make on Sunday night that will taste great for my desk lunch on Wednesday?”

These soy-garlic-braised black lentils are a sweet, salty delight and excellent served warm or cold along with rice.

The famous lentil and rice dish is versatile and takes well to a number of grain and bean substitutions. Don’t skimp on the sizzled spiced onions.

Looking for something new to do with the lentils sitting in your pantry? Fry ’em until crisp, then pair with juicy sausages and a citrusy mojo sauce.

Any crunchy vegetable or fruit can live in this colorful slaw—try fennel, small turnips, or Asian pear.

Tearing the sweet potatoes creates more surface area to char and glaze. (It’s also fun.)

All the satisfaction of a hearty, rich, bean-based cassoulet with none of the painstaking hours of cooking.

Roasted lemony broccolini, lentils, and salty feta are doused in a spiced oil that’s even better on day two.

To make this endlessly riffable salad, pair whatever produce you’ve got with 7-minute eggs, a mustardy dressing, and your favorite protein.

This filling, endlessly riffable bowl is perfect with roasted sweet potatoes, but any hardy vegetable you have on hand would be just as delicious.

Poaching eggs right in the stew is so obviously genius, we are still trying to figure out why we didn’t think of this recipe sooner.

Calling all savory breakfast people: This beans-and-greens egg bowl is for you.

Yes, there is butter in the sauce of this roast trout with lentils, but the key ingredient is verjus. If you can’t find it, use half white wine and half unseasoned rice vinegar.

Aptly named beluga lentils look like little beads of caviar. They cook quickly, and they hold their shape. Use them in this recipe, or substitute.

This urad dal recipe comes out quite thick, which is why it’s usually served with flatbreads such as naan or chapati rather than rice.

Pakistani haleem is a warmly spiced, satisfyingly thick stew made from long-simmered lentils, barley, and bone-in chunks of lamb or goat.

Let’s be honest, this salad is a vehicle for eating crispy, melty cheese for dinner. Not just any cheese, but rich and dense grillable cheeses like bread cheese, Halloumi, or paneer. When grilled or seared, these varieties brown and crisp on the outside while becoming soft and meaty inside, without melting into a puddle.

Pan-searing, then quickly braising, celery in wine turns the humble vegetable into something worthy of a main course. (Of course, adding marinated lentils, crusty bread, and a fried egg doesn’t hurt.)

Stirring a simple vinaigrette into warm just-cooked lentils helps them drink up flavor so they taste anything but plain. Use French green or black beluga lentils as they will hold their shape best. You can keep a batch of these dressed lentils in the fridge and add to salads, pastas, soups, and more all week long.

Serve creamy sweet potatoes and crispy-edged mushrooms over a bed of herby feta-tahini sauce for a dinner that’s easy, comforting, and perfect for fall.

If you’re reading this, you’re alive. But if you’re not taking advantage of nature’s most underrated legume, are you really living?

This appetizer is a total fake-out and a lot of fun to serve. Ellen and Portia absolutely loved these the first time I served them. They both had fond memories attached to caviar, and this recipe brought back those fun times without compromising their vegan diet. Serve these little morsels with a glass of Champagne and share them with some cool friends.