Lentils: Low-Fat, High-Fiber Folate for Healthy Eating

Last year I took a trip to Mexico and I ate lentils for the first time in all of my thirty-two years, I loved them! When I came back home I began looking for recipes, I discovered that vegetarians utilize these tiny beans and that lentils are a good addition to living a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle.

A healthy … well-balanced lifestyle! Considering the fact that up until a couple of month's ago my idea of a really good dinner was a box of pizza dough, some spaghetti sauce, a cup of mozzarella and some deli pepperoni, I'm not doing so bad jumping on the healthy food trolley.

The lentils I sampled in Mexico were green but there are so many colors, so many ways to cook lentils some ways based on the very color of the lentil itself but the possible combinations to actually use lentils in a family's diet is practically endless.

Lentils are green, brown, red, orange, yellow, black and there may be other colors I just haven't discovered yet too! In the U.S. most lentils available for purchase at various stores are green and brown, occasionally I've found the red ones at the supermarket.

Cooking Lentils

Most people believe that since lentils are beans, they should be soaked prior to cooking with them but that's not true at all. The only prep required is a simple rinse with cold water to ensure cleanliness in the food you cook, which is basic. Some lentils purchased in bags may say 'soak' but it's not really required and soaking them for a recipe that has a longer cook time from start to finish at a high temperature may actually make the lentils a little soggy like.

The most common base ingredient needed to cook up some lentils is water but it varies on the amount to add.

When in doubt just use this simple rule-add 1&1/2 cups of water per ½ a cup of lentils and your recipe will turn out fine. Lentils are usually used in soups so the liquid content amount shouldn't make a huge difference even if you're a few teaspoons off mark.

Lentils can be cooked on top of stove, in a crock-pot, in stews, soups and even tacos!

Nutritional Benefits

The benefits, well, they are always mounting. Other than being a good low fat, high fiber bean lentils are high in folate. Lentils in fact contain more folate than any other unfortified food out there and lentils provide 90% of the recommended daily allowance.

If you're wondering what folate is, it's simple! Folate helps our bodies cells grow and divide, it plays an important role in amino acid production plus it reduces the risk of some birth defects, which is why some pregnant women are encouraged to add more folate to their diet. Folate is found in green, leafy vegetables, dry beans, oranges, nuts, poultry and even in fortified cereals.

Lentils contain no cholesterol, very little fat, no sodium and they're a good source of calcium, vitamin A, iron, protein, phosphorus and they provide nearly ½ the recommended daily allowance of fiber.

Just ¼ of a cup, 130 calorie serving of lentils boasts these remarkable benefits … that's amazing!

Ready to Cook?

Lentils can be cooked in tomato sauce with onions, garlic or with potatoes and rice the list goes on and on. There are probably hundreds of thousands of ways to cook lentils. One very basic recipe used widely in the states is really simple to make.

All you need is: ½ cup of lentils, one finely chopped medium sized onion, one can of tomato sauce, a bay leaf, about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Mix together all of the ingredients, bring them to a boil and reduce to a simmer over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes. It makes a really yummy dinner!

One of the tastiest recipes I've tried is called "Egyptian Lentil Soup" and there are too many variations to list just one good one. I tend to be partial to anything with lentils and potatoes in them though. Explore the world of lentils and feast your eyes on the many recipes that are out there, you'll be surprised when you search!