Cheap and Easy Lentils

My Mom loves to shop. Growing up, she loved to take my sister and me clothes shopping and her motto was and still is…”if it looks good on you, it’s in style”. Wise, Momma! She also taught us how to stretch our dollars, shop the sales, and appreciate and find great items at thrift shops. My sister and I still crack each other up with our catch phrase, “Nope, sorry…I found something cheaper and better”. I guess you had to be there. Anyway, these lentils are easy on the pocketbook, nourishing, low-maintenance too…one pot..set it and forget it, CHEAPER and BETTER! And, they taste delicious too.

Cheap and Easy Lentils

Servings

4

servings

Cooking time

1

hour 

30

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

40

minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups vegetable broth

• 3/4 cup brown lentils, rinsed

• 1/2 cup medium grain brown rice, rinsed

• 3/4 cup diced onion

• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 cup macadamia nut topping*

• abundant love

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
• Combine lentils, rice, onion, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and vegetable broth in 2 1/2 quart round baking dish with glass lid. An 8×8 pan covered with foil would work well also.
• Bake covered for 70 minutes.
• Remove the lid and top with macadamia nuts, then bake uncovered for an additional 20 minutes. Top with your favorite hot sauce if you’d like a little spice. You can serve over a salad as well. Enjoy!

Notes

• * Toss macadamia nuts into a food processor and blend until they resemble “crumbs”. Please do not over mix, notice texture in photos here. It will take under 30 seconds. And, if you want this dish even cheaper, skip the mac nuts and just bake the additional 20 minutes uncovered with no topping.