A Healthy Lunch

Now that the kids are back in school and I'm not besieged with questions from them about "what's for lunch," I find myself flummoxed by that very same question day after day. I stand in front of the pantry and the fridge trying to find something to eat that, 1. tastes good 2. is healthy and 3. isn't fattening. There aren't many quick foods that fall into all those categories. Oftentimes I settle for a frozen diet meal which is great (actually, a lot of them are) because they taste good and are really easy. "Convenience" being the operative word.

Today I was faced with this same conundrum and decided to fall back on an old favorite. Lentils make one of the best meals as they fill all three of the above requirement, they taste awesome, they are extremely healthy and they only have 70 "good carb" calories. I make them with whatever veggies I have on hand that add flavor and texture.

Lentils my way start with a small onion, chopped. I cook this down in a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. I then add whatever other vegetables I can find in the fridge. Today it was 1/4 of a red pepper, 10 baby carrots, and a celery stalk. I chop all these up into a small to medium dice and add them to the pot. Then I throw in 2 chopped garlic cloves - added at the end so it doesn't burn, a little salt and pepper. When the veggies are soft, I throw in a chicken bouillon cube (I like Knorr) and 1 cup of lentils. The lentils "toast" up in the hot pan while some water boils in the kettle. Adding boiling water (2 cups) to the sauteed vegetables ensures that the simmering process starts right away. Simmer the lentils for about 10 minutes and then add a can of diced tomatoes. Let the lentils cook for another 30-35 minutes on LOW until all the liquid has absorbed and they are soft. At this point you can eat them hot, cold, room temp or over brown rice, and they are also really yummy as a side dish.

I got the kids to eat some when they came in (see picture). The good news is, they are really filling too and give you tons of energy (again, the "good carb" factor). So now, they won't be hungry again for, oh, at least an hour...K