recipes as requested

January 18, 2008

For the Tempeh sloppy joes I used

2 8oz. packs of tempeh

1 can sugars-free sloppy joe sauce

1 8oz. can sugars-free tomato sauce

I usually make sloppy joes with 1 lb tofu + 1 can sloppy joe sauce,

plus additional seasonings as needed. But I didn't have tofu on

hand so I substituted the tempeh. I cut the tempeh into smaller

chunks and put into a adequate sized pot with some water to

steam/boil for 15-20 minutes until expanded and tender. I used my

potato masher to break it up several times along the way. I'm sure

you could use broth or whatever to add flavor. I drained the water

when it was soft, and then added the sloppy joe sauce, but it wasn't

enough sauce for all that tempeh, so I added the can of tomato

sauce, and voila. I'm sure you could use a large jar of tomato

sauce and and spices on your own as well. It's simple, and I

portioned it in 4oz containers and it freezes & reheats really well.

My mujadarrah is a take on this recipe I found online somewhere:

First the original recipe:

5 med onions

3 Tbl olive oil

1 c lentils

3 1/2 cups cold water

1 cup long grain brown rice

2 tsp salt

Dice 3 onions, Heat a large skillet and add 2 Tbl oil and the

onions. Saute until quite brown and set aside.

Pour lentils and H2O in a large covered pot. Bring to a boil,

covered, then simmer for about 15 minutes. Add cooked onions to

lentils along with rice and salt. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.

Rice and lentils should be soft. Remove from heat + let stand 5

minutes.

Slice the remaining 2 onions into rings. Heat skillet again and

saute in remaining oil. Top lentils with rings.

I'm not an onion person. They don't agree with me unless they are

super-cooked. That said, I adore mujadarrah, and there is a

restaurant in town that will serve it over a lovely big salad with

homemade dressing. I would eat this everyday if I could, but I

couldn't afford to eat out anymore, so I starting making it at home

out of self defense, lol. Often I cook in large batches for many

recipes. So if I cook brown rice or lentils, I cook them by

themselves and then divide them between whatever recipe they will be

components of. Like last weekend. I wanted to try 2 new recipes

and make lentil-tomato soup & sweet potato cornbread, and the rest

of the planned-over lentils went into mujadarrah that I was going to

use with the whole wheat pita.

My 'quick and dirty' (add your own brown) version.

I have whatever amount of cooked lentils already prepared and

waiting. I take my largest skillet and clean and dice as many

onions as necessary for the amount of mujadarrah I want to make

(over-estimate, as they will cook down when appropriately browned

and this is the largest base of the flavor). Add tons of garlic if

you wish. I use a lovely green extra virgin greek olive oil, and

saute until very brown, but do not burn. (I always cook the onions

in a little water first to make them translucent, this seems to make

them a little more digestible). Sometimes I add cumin, or cinnamon

or coriander, maybe even saute with a bay leaf. I always add sea

salt and fresh ground pepper. Then when this is done add the

lentils and mix everything up until nice and flavored. My only word

of caution is not to use so many lentils that you lose the onion

flavor. My last batch I had too many lentils, and today, I will

saute another pan of onions to fix it before I portion and freeze.

Happy cooking. Tina

January 19, 2008

All I could think of all day long at work was brown rice, lentils, and

onion!! I just bought all ingredients I needed and will make some

lovely mujadarrah tomorrow. I'm practically drooling right now... )

Cinzia

, " shadowedorchid "

<shadowedorchid wrote:

>

> My mujadarrah is a take on this recipe I found online somewhere:

January 19, 2008

Thank you! I can't wait to try them both!

Tina C.

shadowedorchid

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:33:45 +0000