'Rice Rice Baby'

Today was one of those days where I literally had a look in my cupboard, made a mental list of some of the items I have and got creative. I knew I had a can of lentils, a can of low-sodium diced tomatoes, rice and a sweet potato. I did a little perusing on the inter-web (aka internet) to get some ideas and voila, I made this...

My version of Mujaddara (a middle eastern dish)

I made a middle eastern dish called Mujaddara, I just added the sweet potatoes to give it a little flare.

Serves 2-4 people

What you need

1 small peeled sweet potato

1 can of lentils

1/4 can low sodium diced tomatoes

1 clove of garlic

1 tsp of margarine

2 cups brown rice

plain yogurt (Balkan style yogurt is particularly delicious)

1 onion

2 tsp vegetable oil

paprika 

garlic salt

1 baking sheet

1 frying pan

1 pot

1 cutting board

1 knife 

1 strainer

What you can do

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Grab your cutting board and knife. You can start by chopping up your onion into long thin pieces. Throw them in your frying pan with 1 tsp of vegetable oil and cook slowly until they are caramelized (this can take anywhere from 20-30 mins or so). While the onions are-a-cookin', go ahead and peel the sweet potato, chop it into smaller pieces and place on the baking sheet (you can use tinfoil with a shot of cooking spray to line the sheet if you like). Drizzle 1 tsp over the sweet potato bits and flip them with your hands until they each have a little oil on them. Sprinkle a little paprika and garlic salt over the potatoes and place them in the oven for about 20 minutes. While this is happening you can cook your rice. I am going to go ahead and let you figure that one out on your own (read the package). 

Here's the thing, some people like onions that are slightly caramelized and others like onions that are super caramelized. You decide! Once the onions are finished you can place them in a little dish with some tinfoil over them (so they stay warm). 

Open the can of lentils, drain and rinse them using a strainer. Throw them in the same frying pan you used for the onions. Open the diced tomatoes, add 1/4 can to the frying pan and save the rest for another time. add 1 tsp of margarine and let simmer for a few minutes. When your sweet potatoes are finished you can go ahead and add those to the lentil mixture. Mix the ingredients up and let simmer for a few minutes.

When the rice is finished it can be added to whatever serving dishes you like. I find bowls (like the one in the picture) are generally good for a dish like this. I added about 1 cup of rice to the bowl. 

Basically you're just going to layer the rice with the lentil mixture, add 1/2 cup of yogurt next and top it off with the caramelized onions! 

So here's my final thought. 

Next time you're thinking 'oh man, I have nothing to eat', do this:

1. Walk to your kitchen
2. Open you cupboards/open your fridge
3. Make a little mental note of what ingredients you have
4. Do a little research on the inter-web; Use your ingredients as your key search terms
5. Be creative 
6. Make something unexpectedly delicious
7. Thank Bethany for giving me great advice 

Cheers!