Lentilles au Vin Blanc

A book I read a few months ago called “Lunch In Paris” had some really wonderful sounding recipes in it. I saved a few and I’ve tried a few. Here is another one.

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The book was a good read (and yet another book that inspires me to want to go to France) and my mouth watered at all the recipes in the book. I wanted to try all of them.

“In Paris for a weekend visit, Elizabeth Bard sat down to lunch with a handsome Frenchman–and never went home again. Was it love at first sight? Or was it the way her knife slid effortlessly through her pavé au poivre, the steak’spink juices puddling into the buttery pepper sauce?”

I tried another recipe from the book and it was a lovely (and fairly easy) recipe.

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I had a bunch of dried lentils on hand that I never got around to using. I’d stocked up when Michael and I were doing the Slow Carb Diet because it recommended lentil soup. Unfortunately, I never got around to making the lentil soup. Time to clean out the pantry.

I had everything else on hand except for the bay leaf. I picked up a package of bay leaves from the store and got to it.

The recipe was simple. I decided to make it for dinner because I was already home taking care of my kitty so I had extra time. I normally would not attempt to make something like this on a week night otherwise.

I used a mixture of both shallots and chopped onion. I wish I could remember what kind of onion I had on hand–it might be a Walla Walla Sweet. I used two small carrots and chopped them up.

I added the lentils to the mix, coated them and then added the rest of the ingredients to simmer for an hour. It took a little longer than an hour for the majority of the liquid to cook off. I’ll admit, I was worried that dinner would be a catastrophe.

To go with the lentils, I made salmon too. Michael cooked two salmon fillets in the skillet seasoned with salt and pepper. The salmon doesn’t take long to cook, so maybe sure the lentils are 99% done before starting the fish.

I served dinner in a shallow pasta bowl. The lentils were cooked perfectly. I topped them with a dollop of light sour cream, add a few springs of parsley and cilantro.

I topped the lentils with the salmon and then squeezed some fresh lime juice on everything.

The verdict: the recipe wasn’t necessarily difficult but it was time consuming. I liked the combination of the salmon and the lentils and the sour cream was a must. I loved the flavors it added.

Lentils can be rather boring in flavor I think. I would add some kind of herb to this recipe if I made it again, but I’m not sure what I’d add…

It was a nice one! And healthy too and if you’re doing the Slow Carb Diet this is a great recipe for you. I halved the recipe and it still made a ton of lentils. I will have leftover lentils for lunches for days.

QUESTION: What’s your favorite lentil recipe? And have you been to France?