Delicious AND Nutritious!

Since I've reinstated my mostly-vegan diet recently, I have found a new favorite dish: Lebanese-Style Lentils and Pasta from Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes. Here's what it looks like:


And here is the recipe:

5 c. low-sodium vegetable broth
1 c. uncooked brown lentils, rinsed
2 med. onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
4 c. chopped chard, kale, or other greens or 1 package (10 0z.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
4 oz. spaghetti, broken into 4"-long pieces
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Bring the broth and lentils to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to low, cover, cook about 25 minutes or until lentils are tender but still hold their shape.

Steam-fry onions, garlic, and cumin in a large, heavy nonstick saucepan, stir-fry pan, or deep skillet until soft, adding very small amounts of water as needed to prevent sticking and burning. (Or place in microwaveable dish, cover, and micro on high for 7 minutes.)

Pour lentils and broth into pan with onions. Add greens, pasta, parsley or cilantro, and cayenne. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook, uncovered, about 10 minutes or until pasta is tender and most of the broth has been absorbed, leaving a sauce. Add the lemon juice and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

This was SO AMAZING! that I decided I'd post it here so I could have an easy future reference for when I want to make it again. It made about 4 servings, as the book says, so I had plenty left over for lunch the next day...and it was just as good then as it was for dinner.

However...Ben said he likes meals that "assault the senses" and this dish didn't do that for him, apparently, so if you have an eater who wants the spices to slap him in the face rather than gently unfold in your mouth, you could add more cayenne and/or lemon juice and/or mess around with it some other way. But I thought it was perfection just the way it was.

Wait, actually, I only used one onion. And I used green lentils, and rainbow chard. And I used angel hair instead of straight spaghetti. Just to be precise here.

So, that's one example of what a vegan eats for dinner. Oh, and I had an apple with it for dessert...mmmmmm, Pink Lady apples, the best food on the planet.....

I have no desire for meat and dairy after eating this meal, that's for sure!