MEGADARRA

INGREDIENTS
2 cups large brown lentils, soaked if required and drained
1 onion, finely chopped
Olive oil (about 1/4 cup), divided
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
1 cup long-grain brown rice, rinsed
2 onions, sliced into half-moon shapes
6 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted to aromatic
3/4 cup whole-milk plain greek yogurt*

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pot, boil lentils in a fresh portion of water to cover for 45 minutes (add more water if needed).
2. At the same time, put rice on to cook in 2 cups of boiling, salted water.
3. In the meantime, fry the chopped onion in 2 tablespoons olive oil until soft and golden. Add it to the lentils.
4. Fry sliced onions in 2 tablespoons very hot oil until they are dark brown and sweet – almost caramelized.
5. Serve the lentils atop the rice in a large, shallow dish, garnished with fried onion slices, with toasted pine nuts and plain yogurt as accompaniments.
– Adapted from “A Book of Middle Eastern Food,” by Claudia Roden
Makes 6 servings. Nutrition analysis per serving: Calories, 467; Protein 20g; Carbohydrate 63g; High in potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, Vitamin B6 and folate. Approximate cost per serving: $1.24. Planning: Pantry: pine nuts. To have on hand: (buy large quantities): extra virgin olive oil, salt, onions, carrots, lentils, brown rice (store in freezer).
*Yogurt is not calculated in the analyses.