Sunday, January 6, 2013

{tasty} Spicy Buffalo Lentils

There are some things I am just simply not good at.

Time management may top that list. I confess, I am a procrastinator. You give me a hard deadline and you bet I will get it done, albeit I will surely wait until the eve of said deadline to start it. No deadline? Let's just say I have projects I started over 3 years ago that still sit unfinished. I have a never ending to-do list of ideas for home projects, craft projects, recipes...and simply not enough hours, or sometimes desire, to get them done.

Also on that list? Creating recipes. I am, however, one heck of a recipe follower. There are times that either I or my husband have a recipe idea and I make it happen. There is that little detail however of remembering how I made it. Of course, I can't make it that easy on myself and just write it down as I go. Or when I do write it down I throw it away or bury it in the mail pile and it's never seen again. Or I write down my ingredients and the meal turns out exactly as I hoped for but I didn't take pictures. Who wants to take pictures every 30 seconds while they are trying to get their family fed? Yep, that sounds like me but eventually I get my act together, even if it means making the same thing 4 times in a month.

I am still struggling to find a decent place to take natural light pictures in my house. It's proving to be quite difficult. We should move.


 Spicy Buffalo Lentils:
  • 2 cups cooked Lentils
  • 2 Carrots, peeled and diced
  • 2 Celery stalks, diced
  • 1/2 small Onion, diced
  • 3 strips of Bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • 1/3 cup Franks hot sauce
  • 2 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1 1/2 TBSP Olive Oil, divided
  • 1-2 cloves Garlic, minced
  • 1 TBSP Honey
  • 1/3 cup Blue Cheese, plus more for topping
Cook bacon and set aside. 

Cook lentils according to package directions. Drain off any excess liquid. We always have either brown or french green lentils on hand and both work well for this dish. 

In a small dish combine hot sauce, vinegar, 1 tbsp olive oil, garlic and honey and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Heat remaining 1/2 tbsp of olive oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook until softened, about 6-8 minutes. Add crumbled bacon and 2 cups of lentils and stir to combine. Add sauce and blue cheese and stir to fully coat lentils. Served topped with additional blue cheese.



You can certainly enjoy this dish on it's own, but serving it up with slow cooked pulled pork is a fabulous idea too!

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