Colombian Lentils Recipe

Lentils can be a love or hate type of situation… thankfully my husband and I are in the love love love. Especially Lentejas Colombianas (Colombian Lentils). These are special because you make a charred veggie salsa of sorts and serves as the flavor backbone for it. This is not something my Colombian mother would do, but a Colombian neighbor during my foster care years taught me.

Incredibly easy, can be enjoyed with rice with plantains (my favorite way), thinned with more broth to make a soup, or blended for a creamy experience with a chunk of crusty bread is perfection!

For 6-8

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried green lentils

• 3 ripe plum tomatoes

• 1 yellow onion

• 4 garlic cloves

• 1 jalapeño (taste for heat and use as much of chile as you’d like)

• 4 tablespoons olive oil

• 3 medium carrots, diced ¼ inch

• 5 scallions, chopped. Or a small onion

• ½ tablespoon smoked paprika

• 1 tablespoon regular sweet paprika

• 2 bay leaves

• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano

• 8 cups of broth

• Optional but very delicious: ¼ cup red wine

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Directions:

Rinse the lentils and cover with cold water in a medium bowl. Soak for 1 hour

Heat a medium-sized pan over high heat until hot. Place the tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeno onto the pan and char, training occasionally with kitchen tongs so that all sides get nice and charred, about 7 to 12 minutes. This is what gives such a delicious flavor to the lentils. Don’t be scared of getting really charred. It’s flavor!

Turn off the heat under the pan and allow the vegetables to sit for 10 minutes. Peel off the skins of the tomato, discard the skins.

In a blender add the charred vegetables with one teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of black pepper. Set aside. You can even make this mixture 4 days ahead (I do it the night before)

To cook lentils:

in a large Dutch oven or soup pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat and add carrots, onion, green onions, paprika, bay leaf and oregano. Cook until the onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the drained lentils and wine (if using), stir. Allow the wine to bubble and evaporate for two minutes

pour your veggie puree and give it another stir. Cook for five minutes. Add your stock, season with salt and pepper to taste and bring to boil. Give the lentils a good stir then lower the heat to medium low. Cook for a 30 to 45 minutes. This depends on how long your lentils take to cook. Make sure to stir and scrape the bottom of the pot every 10 to 15 minutes, until the lentils are tender but still hold their shape. Add the vinegar, stir, adjust seasoning as you feel is necessary. Lentils require more seasoning than you think!

serve the lentils with white rice and sweet plantains (recipe to follow) we love it with a simple arugula salad or cilantro and avocado on top.

Bean Soup with Masa and Queso Fresco Dumplings

Ingredients

Makes: 6 servings

How to:

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 to 6 minutes until it has completely softened, the edges are golden brown. Add the whole garlic clove and cook for another minute until the garlic is fragrant. Stir in the tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook for 5 minutes until the tomatoes have cooked down to a soft, thick paste.

Add the beans along with 2 cup of their broth, as well as 6 cups of the chicken or vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, cover partially and simmer for 10 minutes. The beans should be completely soft.

Meanwhile, prepare the masa for the dumplings. In a medium bowl, combine the corn masa flour with the water, 1/4 teaspoon salt, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, queso fresco, cilantro, and mint, and mix together until the dough is very soft, about 1 minute. Set aside, covered.

Working in batches, puree the bean soup in a blender until completely smooth or use an immersion blender directly in pot.. Set over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low.

Begin forming the dumplings. Scoop a tablespoon of masa to make small, 1-inch balls, roll them between your hands (moisten your hands with water if they stick and, one-by-one, gently drop them into the soup. Once all the dumplings have been shaped and added to the soup, gently stir with a wooden spoon to make sure none stick to the bottom. Cover the pot partially with a lid and let the soup simmer gently for 15 to 20 more minutes until the masa dumplings are cooked through. They will thicken the soup as they simmer. You can add more broth if you would like your soup thinner.

Taste the soup for salt and add more if need be. Serve hot, add toppings that speak to you.

Delicious!

Frijoles de la Olla (beans of the pot)

Although you can buy canned beans, if you make them at home they have a much nicer flavor, are creamier and are so incredibly easy. You can make a large batch refrigerate for about 4 to 5 days. You can also freeze which will last for months.

Two tips, if you make them at home:

1. Don’t add the salt in the beginning or it will toughen the beans. Add it at least after an hour of cooking when the beans are already a bit soft.

2. You don’t need to soak them the night before cooking. Yes, that helps to reduce the cooking time, and phytic acid but it is not necessary, especially if you add hoja santa (a dried herb that is amazing at breaking down acid and components in legumes). If you do soak them, don’t soak them more than 12 to 14 hours, because they may begin to ferment and that’s not the flavor you want. I like to soak for an hour or two.

I like making them with any bean, most popular are black beans and pinto beans. 

Traditionally Frijoles de la Olla are cooked in an earthenware pot. It does impart a special Pueblo style flavor. I have one that I gifted myself from Plaza Bolivar. It is my all-purpose pot. A normal pot is just fine. You can use the instant pot but that’s a different recipe.

Makes: 5 cups beans, 2 cups cooking broth

Ingredients

• 1 pound (or about 2 1/4 cups) dried beans

• 1/2 white onion, outer skin peeled off

• 10 cups water may add more if necessary

• 1 tablespoon sea salt or to taste

• Optional: dried Hoja Santa. Available online and in Latin American stores.

How to:

Rinse the beans in cold water and drain. If soaking, place in a bowl and cover with warm water.

Place beans in a large pot and cover with enough water to come up to at least 3″ above the top of beans, about 10 cups of water. Add the onion and Hoja Santa (if using) and bring to a boil. Let the beans simmer, partially covered, for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours, until the beans are so soft they come apart if you hold one between your fingers, and the broth has thickened to a soupy consistency. If the beans are not yet soft and the broth is drying out, add more water. Before eating, remove the cooked onion with a slotted spoon and then add the salt.