A few weeks ago I was at Whole Foods and someone was doing a demo for black lentil hummus. I loved it and decided I would try to make it at home, but I only had red lentils, not black lentils like they had. And since I make hummus all the time at home, I figured ‘How hard can it be if I just use lentils instead of garbanzo beans?” And so the food adventure began.
This morning, I decided I needed a healthy snack. A quick peak into the fridge: I had kale leaves I picked up at my local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm. And I had the lentil dip from a few days ago. Hmm, that should make a tasty roll up, no?? It DID!
And so I created a yummy little roll up!
If you want to try this at home, here is the (really simple!) recipe for the red lentil dip:
Red Lentil Dip
Ingredients:
– 1/2-3/4 cup red lentils, soaked overnight up to 24 hours in water
– 2 tablespoons roasted sesame tahini (use Marantha)
– juice of 1 lemon
– 1/4 cup of either onion, shallot or chives, diced
– 1 clove of garlic, sliced
– 1 tsp cumin seeds
– 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
– sea salt to taste
– up to 1/4 cup of water as needed
What to do:
Soak the dry red lentils in 3 cups filtered water at least 12 hours, but no more than 24 hours. Drain, put into a pot with 1-2 cups water, enough to cover the lentils by 1 inch.
Boil for 15-25 minutes until soft. Drain, let cool (or can let cool, then drain).
Put cooled lentils into a food processor, add the lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt, garlic, onion and cumin seeds. Let that process/blend until smooth. Usually this is where it is still chunky. So stream the water in until it is smoother. You might need to add more or less depending on how the lentils are.
Note: You may want to add a bit more water – 1-2 tbsp – to make it almost liquidy. The lentils will continue to soak up water, so it will be harder and less spreadable as you store in the refrigerator. If it is a paste/dip now, it might be less of a paste, but perfect for the roll up!
A day or two later it is even better, especially if you like cumin. The cumin flavor with the lentils really makes this dip amazing!
Then you can use it as a dip like hummus! Spread it on raw zucchini slices, dip sugar snap peas or carrots into it. I used it in the fresh kale leaves from the farm into a Lentil Dip Roll Up and it was delicious! You can use collard green leaf or a romaine leaf if you are not quite brave enough for a kale leaf! The options are there – you just need to be creative!
You could add shredded carrots or cabbage into it, too or chicken strips for a meal. Which will not be lunch 🙂
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did (am)!
If you have any recipes you would like me to create based on a product you purchased, send me a photo of the product, the ingredients list, (and maybe a donation?) and I will try to re-create it for you! You can send your product photos and request to [email protected] and I will make it within the week. Or you can choose the Recipe Make-Over option and I can try to make the recipe with healthier ingredients.