Warming Red Lentils & Rice

This can be varied to use any veggie you have on hand. I make a pot of rice — white basmati if I am in a hurry, brown if I have more time. With either kind, pop a stick of cinnamon into the pot while cooking. The aromatic sweetness compliments this dish beautifully!

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic, minced fine 
• 1 large onion, chopped fine
• 3 tbsp butter or ghee
• 2-3 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
• Sea salt to taste (I like a lot!)
• Lots of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup yellow or red lentils
• 2 1/2 - 3 cups water (Larger amount if you want it soupy…)
• 4-6 medium carrots, sliced into rounds

Instructions
Mince garlic and set aside. Letting it sit for a few minutes activates allicin, a compound kills the strep bacteria.

Melt butter of ghee in pan. Add onion and cook until partially soft (3-4 minutes). Add ginger, garlic, chili flakes, salt and pepper till just fragrant.

Add lentils, water, and carrots. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn down to simmer. Cook 20 minutes. When soft, serve over rice. I love to put a large dollop of yogurt on mine…

The ginger, garlic, and chili flakes are warming and delicious — they are also antibacterial, and perfect for winter weather! The ginger is highly anti-inflammatory. The dish is high in fiber —- soluble fiber to snare ‘bad’ cholesterol, and insoluble fiber to aid digestion and feed healthy gut bacteria. The high fiber content also means blood sugar gets released slowly into the system after you eat. Lentils are rich in magnesium, folate, molybdenum, copper, iron, and phosphorous. protein. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, and fiber. Basically, just a bunch of good stuff!