Lentils with Veggies

In yesterday's blog post I mentioned having food pre-prepared so that when I get home from work I don't have to worry about what to eat. Well, this week's lunch worked out really well. Of course food eaten fresh always beat eating something that's a few days old, sometimes things get so hectic that I just don't have the luxury. This week's mass production was lentils. I made 4 servings of lentils - and on each day I steamed some veggies to add to the dish, so at least they were fresh. To add a bit of a different texture to the veggies I'd lightly spray a nonstick pan with nonfat cooking spray (1 short spray) and heat the veggies in the pan to crisp them up a bit. I know this means that I had the same thing for lunch 4 days straight -- but lately I'm choosing boring + healthy over creativity.

(I know, not the most flattering photo - but I promise it tastes much, much better than it came out in the photo!)

Ingredients:

1 cup red lentils

4 cups water

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1 large tomato, cut into wedges

1 jalapeno, diced

2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves

salt to taste

Directions:

1. Wash the lentils thoroughly

2. Put lentils in a pot, add the water, turmeric, and chili powder (and salt if using) and simmer for 40 minutes

3. Add the tomato wedges and diced jalapeno and bring the lentils to boil. [The longer you let it boil the thicker the mixture will become] (5-10 minutes)

For the vegetables:

1. Steam the vegetables

2. Spray (just once) a nonstick pan and add the veggies to crisp up (2-3 minutes)

Serve veggies on top of the lentils.

Nutritional info (4 servings)

Lentils

183 calories

13 g. protein

31.5 g. carbohydrates (15.5 g. fiber)

0.8 g. fat (0.15 g. saturated fat)

Mixed vegetables (1 serving)

40 calories

1.5 g. protein

6.1 g. carbohydrates (3 g. fiber)

0 g. fat (0 g. saturated fat)