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                              -~ Special Lentils&Rice ~-
                     /         an indian inspired meal         \
                     \            written by nnorm             /
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# Ingredients
For 4 servings:
 - 2 tablespoons canola oil
 - 12-16 mushrooms (chopped, button mushrooms or shiitake)
 - 1 medium/large onion (medium dice)
 - 4-6 cloves of garlic (fine dice/paste)
 - 1 thumb of ginger (fine dice/paste)
 - 2 medium/small carrots (small dice)
 - 1 large zucchini (medium dice)
 - 1 medium turnip (small dice)
 - 1 tablespoon tomato paste (double concentrate)
 - 1 teaspoon miso (any kind will workn I prefer the darker ones)
 - 3 teaspoons garam masala
 - 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
 - 2 fresh bay leaves (dried is fine but the flavor is muted)
 - 2 tablespoons light soy sauce (or any other variety)
 - 200g lentils (soaked for at least 8 hours prior in salt water)
 - 240g brown rice (washed and soaked for 1 hours prior)
 - salt and pepper to taste

For dressing:
 - Any chili crisps (lao gan ma is my go to, the kolhrabi variety in particular)
 - Fried shallots
 - Fried garlic
 - Nori flakes

# Instructions
 In a large pot (5-6L in volume) add the canola oil and let it heat for a few 
minutes on medium. Start by stir-frying the mushrooms with a pinch of salt until golden 
brown and all the water has evaporated. Then add the garlic/ginger/onion and let them 
warm up until fragrant. Add the rest of the vegetables and let them sweat and lightly 
caramelize. Add the tomato paste and miso, along with all the spices. Stir fry until 
fragrant and the pastes have caramelized a bit, but be sure not to burn the spices! 

 Meanwhile, drain, rinse and add the lentils to the pot. Cover with hot water (or broth 
of your choice) and mix well. Add The light soy sauce as well. Bring the whole pot to a 
gentle boil and then reduce to a low simmer, and let it cook uncovered for 15 minutes. 
Drain the brown rice and add it to the pot. Mix well then add a bit more hot water. 
You'll have to figure out the quantity as it all depends on how much has evaporated. 
You're aiming for around a centimeter of liquid above the solids. Bring to a boil then 
reduce to a very low simmer and cover. Let it cook for 20 minutes. Uncover to mix and 
check for doneness on the rice, cover again and let it carry on for another 10 to 15 
minutes depending on how done the rice is. We're aiming for a rather soft consistency. 
In any case the last 5 minutes should be done uncovered to allow for excess water 
to evaporate away. The final consistency of the dish should not be mushy or soupy, 
the rice should be sauced up a bit but not drowning in broth and it should not be 
over cooked. 

 To serve, make a pile of the dish in a bowl and lightly pack it. Add a nice teaspoon 
of chili crisps with some of the oil, a generous pinch of fried shallots and garlic, 
and a dusting of nori flakes.

# Bonus notes
 This is a dish that I've developped over a couple of years in pursue of find more 
balanced dishes to add to my regular rotation. I wanted something vegetarian/vegan 
with enough protein, carbs and fibers to keep me well fed for at least 6 hours 
without feeling bloated and support my goal of getting fitter. As a bonus once your 
pantry is stocked with the special ingredients (which you don't need a lot of), the 
dish is relatively cheap as lentils and rice usually are.

 I wanted this to be made in batches so that I had multiple meals covered too. This 
remarkably keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days, but I believe that the texture would 
get mushy in the freezer so I would avoid it. 

 As far as inspiration goes I started with some indian rice lentil dish then added some 
japanese ingredients that I like and that I think goes well in there. You can also 
keep that general idea and replace the tomato paste or miso with some other fermented 
bean paste, I suspect gochujang would do great in there. Another thing I really like 
with this is that you can absolutely switch up the vegetables and use completely 
different ones. This recipe is more tailored for winter veggies that I find in my area, 
but it can definitely be arranged for a fall or spring vibe! In the summer I think you 
could twist the recipe and turn it into a big salad or keep it a hot dish if that's 
your thing. It's very flexible. You could add some meat or fish and make this omni if 
you really want to, you could reduce the quantities per serving and use this as a side 
dish too! Finally you can use other types of rice, I used brown because I like it in 
there, but I think it would work great with black rice, riceberry or even simple white 
basmati rice.
 
 DISCLAIMER: Before I get into this, I think it's important to point out that there are 
basically no benefit of counting calories and inspecting macros in general. It's only 
interesting if you can avoid yourself falling into an eating disorder, which is 
incredibly common among people who do that and very damaging. This was relevant to ME 
because I wanted to have an approximate idea of what I was ACTUALLY eating both in 
terms of quantity and content. That was my way of re-adjusting my eating habits after 
years of really crappy unhealthy food habits. 

 Depending on the calculator (which are not very accurate and largely unnecessary) this 
recipe should yield per each servings: 640kcal, 26g protein, 115g carbohydrates and 
lots of minerals, vitamins and fibers. I've used verywellfit.com recipe analyzer to 
produce these numbers, which I have rounded for simplicity.