Today called for a beer!

This beer is an interesting one. It’s a raspberry wheat beer and tastes like a funky raspberry soda. Very light and bubbly. But I’m not really a girly beer drinker so this isn’t going to top my charts. But it was good enough to distance myself from the work day.

Unfortunately a beer on an empty stomach makes me a little queasy meaning all I really wanted for dinner was some of Will’s pizza. But I know better and refrained.

Despite wanting to eat nothing but bread, I also wanted to make something new. An inspection of the pantry lead me to a bag of lentils that have been left unused for a few weeks.

Here’s the thing about lentils. I know they’re full of wonderful nutritional properties and they are amazing for a vegetarian diet but I think they’re…boring? Of all vegetarian foods, lentils are one of the few where I understand the health food bias. Because they reslly do taste like health food (aka cardboard).

I’m not one to give up on a food though. I see this as an example of not having been exposed to enough variations on lentil dishes and my lack of creativity in coming up with them on my own. Because I only every eat lentils on a grain with a veggie. Boring.

So tonight I set out to change that. How can I change up my lentil dish?

Make it sweet?

And so the warm lentil salad was born! It’s the same three base components as always but I’ve change the flavor profile and that is what makes this special.

Ingredients

* 1/4 cup uncooked millet
* 1/4 uncooked lentils
* 2 carrots
* 1 shallot
* 2 TBS apricot jam
* 1 TBS cornstarch
* 1/4 cup soy milk
* A few handfuls of raisins

1. Cook millet with 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil and then simmer until all liquid is absorbed
2. Bring lentils and 1/2 cup water to a boil and then simmer until all liquid is absorbed.
3. Cut the carrots into bit-sized pieces and sautéed with the shallot (diced).
4. Once the carrots have softened, lower the heat to low and stir in the jam, cornstarch and soy milk. Keep stirring until liquid becomes a thick paste.
5. Combine millet, veggies, raisins and lentils and stir to combine.

Before stirring:

And after:

This turned out really well! I admit I was a bit skeptical (hence no step by step photos) but the end result was flavorful, subtly sweet and the typical lentil taste was no where to be found!

I ate this as a main dish but it would also be great as a side salad along with a heartier dish since this actually feels very light.

I love when kitchen experiments turn out right. God knows that’s not always the case. I need to have a little more faith in myself. I didn’t double the sauce since I was skeptical so I had to think on my feet for tomorrow’s lunch.

I did double the lentils and millet (just habit) so I added some tried and true favors to round out a meal for tomorrow.

Cucs and tomatoes with a sauce made of peach salsa (obsessed with the peach flavor!) and hummus. Not bad but I’m already thinking ahead to the next variation of my sweet lentils. I highly recommend it!