Week 5: tri-color lentil and mushroom risotto

The legume of the week is tri-colored lentils. I found these in the bulk bin at Whole Food last week (Where I went to town on dried beans - they have a $1 off coupon for the packaged dried beans in the Jan/Feb whole deal. Limit one per transaction, but no limit on the number of transactions!)

Tri-color includes black, red, and yellow/white ones. The red ones looked like normal red ones - slightly smaller than the typical green/gray lentils. It also seemed like black took longest to cook, but then again, maybe they just stood out the most. Overally I would say you could use these in place of any dish which has red lentils in it and you want a more interesting color scheme.

Here's what I planned on using for the dish:


That's white rice, powdered chicken broth, tri-color lentils, white wine, mushrooms, green onions and smoked jack cheese. I ended up using onion and garlic as well (onion was already in the pot when I took the photo) and replaced the smoked jack cheese with Parmesan since I had it, although I still think the smokey flavor works well in risotto.

1. finely mince 1 small onion and 2 cloves garlic and coarsly chop 2 cups (1/2 a package) of mushrooms and saute with olive oil over medium heat until onions are translucent.
2. add 1 cup short grain white rice (aborio is the typical one for risotto, mine was unlabeled, so I'm not sure) and 3/4 cup tri-color lentils and mix well



3. add a good splash of white wine - about 2/3 cup and stir constantly over medium heat until it is absorbed.
4. gradually add chicken broth (mixed mine from the powder and water), mixing well. I add about 1/2 a cup at a time for the first 3 times, letting each get fully adsorbed. After that I added about 2 cups more and put the lid on and left it over low heat, checking on it.
5. when the rice and lentils are done (add more water and cover and cook additional 5-10 min on low as necessary) add 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese and 4-5 scallions, finely minced.

Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan and a glass of white wine! A delicious full meal!