Lentils and Kale with Lemon Pepper

A couple of days ago there was about a cup and a half of leftover cooked green lentils sitting in my fridge and a bag of chopped Tuscan Kale that I had no clue what to do with. I didn’t feel like searching up a recipe to follow because sometimes it’s difficult to juggle cooking and referring back to a recipe on my computer screen. It sounds a bit ridiculous when I type it out, but it truly is an obstacle for me to follow a recipe to the tee. Also, I tend to like to stray away from recipes. Perhaps that’s why so many of my cooking has turned out disastrous…hmm…

Up above is a simple concoction of what I whipped up with the ingredients I had. The more colorful a dish is, the more variety in taste and nutrients it’ll have. With some roma tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and garlic added to the lentils and kale, this simple dinner is surprisingly flavorful even without the lemon pepper. However, I currently am obsessed with the taste of lemon pepper and try to use it whenever possible.

When I cook during the daytime, I usually use natural light to take photos. Cooking after work, however, doesn’t make natural light an option. Taking these photos on my phone in kitchen lighting also limits some of the photo quality. Yet alas, I do the best with what I can. Up above are some of the healthy ingredients for this dish. It’s vegan! My boyfriend ate his with some leftover steak, so you can do that too if you’re into eating meat and that sort of thing.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 yellow onion (diced)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 3 roma tomatoes (diced)
• 1 1/2 cup cooked lentils
• 3 cups tuscan kale (de-stemmed and chopped)
• 2 cups baby spinach
• Lemon Pepper to taste

Note: You could definitely add more kale or spinach if you’d like to, or even more of any of the other ingredients. Just season to your taste. It’s such a simple and flexible recipe, that you can definitely tweak it to your liking.

Instructions:

1. In a large pan add the olive oil and stir in the minced garlic. After the garlic has sizzled and turned a golden color, add the diced onion and cook until it is a golden.
2. Add the mushrooms and cook until it starts to slightly brown, then add the tomatoes.
3. Once the mushrooms and tomatoes are cooked, add the kale and spinach. Cook them until they are wilted before adding the cooked lentils in.
4. Stir all of the ingredients until they are well mixed together, add lemon pepper to taste.

SO EASY, right? It’s the perfect after work, I need to cook something super fast dish. It really hits the salty, a little sour, and umami parts of your taste buds. Not to mention that it also provides you with protein, fiber, and vitamins that’ll keep your human body up and running like a well-oiled machine.

 

I love the vibrant shade of green coming from the kale. It’s so pretty. I’m starting to think that green is becoming my favorite color…

To be honest, if I could do this again, I’d add even more kale. I just couldn’t fit it all in my pan. The staple to any vegetarian/vegan dish is garlic and onion. It definitely helps add some sweetness and more fragrance. The tomatoes give it a bit of the tartness to balance out the sweetness. Either way, you have a bowl of tasty nutrients sitting in front of you, and I’d devour it if I were you. I mean, nothing this healthy can taste this good, right?