How to Make Easy, Inexpensive, Healthy Brown Rice and Lentils With Crispy Onions (Diabetic Friendly)

This simple dish is one of the tastiest side or main dishes you can make. It's also cheap to make and loaded with nutritious ingredients. If you're on a diabetic diet or want to "eat healthy," the dish is a great option. In addition to the "whole grain" brown rice, the dish includes brown lentils, which are high in protein, fiber, potassium, folate, iron, and manganese, and, when combined with a whole grain, provide the same protein quality of meat. The lentils also have resistant starch and a low glycemic index (low GI) value. The dish is based on "Mujaddara" a lentils and rice dish popular in the Middle East, particularly the Levant, and it includes warm (but not hot) spices and crispy onions. You can certainly fry your own onions, but I don't bother. It's far easier to buy the onions at an "Asian" or "ethnic" grocery store (like Lotte or H-mart), where the onions are sold in big containers for far less money than the small cans regular markets sell to top green bean casseroles. I often serve the dish alongside meat, but with its high protein content, it's fine on its own. The dish is great reheated later in the week and also makes good "work lunches." Enjoy!

How to Make Easy, Inexpensive, Healthy Brown Rice and Lentils With Crispy Onions (Diabetic Friendly)

Brown Rice and Lentils With Crispy Onions (Diabetic Friendly) -- Serves 4+

5 cups of water

1 cup of well rinsed brown rice

1 teaspoon of olive oil

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of onion powder

2 teaspoons of ground cumin

1 teaspoon of salt, divided

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of pepper

1 tablespoon of dried parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander

1 teaspoon of dried cilantro

1 cup of well rinsed brown lentils

1 - 1 1/2 cups of crispy fried onions or shallots, divided

Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan and stir in the brown rice, olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, pepper, dried parsley, coriander, and dried cilantro. Stir the mixture well, and bring it back to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to medium low, and let the mixture cook for 25 minutes. Stir in the rinsed lentils, recover the pot, and let the mixture cook for another 15 minutes or until the lentils are as tender as you'd like (firm or mushy). Stir in the remaining salt (or to taste). Add half of the fried onions (Tip:  Before adding the onions, spread the onions on a plate covered with a paper towel, top the onions with another paper towel, and microwave the onions for 30-60 seconds until hot, then add the onions--it will improve the crispiness and taste of the onions). Sprinkle the remaining onions on top of the rice and lentils before serving the dish.

How to Make Easy, Inexpensive, Healthy Brown Rice and Lentils With Crispy Onions (Diabetic Friendly)