Black Beluga Lentil with Tomato, Three Kinds of Kale, and Bok Choy, served with Jade Pearl Rice with Carrot and Onion (No Added Fat)

I have some new clients for whom I provide personal chef services. They have been enjoying the food that I have prepared for them, but asked that I prepare something with less spice and no onion. I decided to try a dish with black beluga lentils. They are easy to cook with a 1:4 ratio lentils to water, pressure cooked for 10m. I made a big batch today of a dish that I thought would work well for them. Here is what I did:


Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups black beluga lentils
• 5 cups (i.e., 4 times as much as lentils) water
• 1 vegan bouillon cube
• 1T miso
• 2 cloves garlic, finely (approx. 1/8") chopped
• 1 medium tomato cut into 3/8" cubes (approx. 1 1/2 cups); ideally, it should be a green unripe tomato, but the best I could find was one that was barely ripe and showing on maybe 30% of its surface green
• 6 leaves kale (I used two leaves from each of red, green, and lacinato kale), stems left for compost, and leaves roughly hand torn into small approx. 1/2" squares (compressed, about 2 1/4 cups)

• 4 stalks bok choy cut into 1/4" cubes (I could have used it all, but ate up the leafy portions to give a consistent white cube)
• 2T fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 t turmeric
• 1/2 t salt

Process

1. I put the lentils, water, bouillon cube, miso, garlic, tomato, and kale into the Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked on high pressure for 10 minutes.
2. When I was ready to serve, I slowly let out remaining pressure slowly and opened the pot.
3. I added the bok choy, lemon juice, black pepper, turmeric, and salt, mixed, and served.

I also made some Jade pearl rice, cooked with onion and carrot.

Results

Wow, the lentils (and, as always, Jade pearl rice) were great! It was fun making this dish without onion - the garlic added enough flavor that onion was not needed. In fact, as we were eating, I asked my wife if anything could be changed, and she liked it just the way it was. The lemon added a really nice fresh flavor that reminded me of a Greek or Middle Eastern thick soup, more than of an Indian dish.

Ideas for the future

Maybe a bit of carrot would be good, but I also agree with my wife's assessment that the lentil dish was great as is. I had forgotten but could have used some ginger - that would have been a nice addition. I like the flavor of ginger and its healthfulness; perhaps adding just a bit, 1t or so, of ginger would be good to give a slight flavor. I generally prefer lentils more like a stew, but the liquid in this was just right to me.  A little bit of preserved lemon or lemon zest could be good.

It's easy cooking with black beluga lentils - 1:4, 10m high pressure, and that's it! I should use these lentils more often, perhaps in thicker preparations that are then served within, perhaps, a tortilla roll or atop an uttapam, for example. Yum!