When was the last time you packed lunch for your kids? For me, the date was March 15, 2020. Then, last week, when my 13-year-old started back to school in-person/hybrid, I went back to packing lunch. I’ve grown used to making lunch at lunchtime, or simply setting out items for my kids (ages 13 and 17) to reheat or leaving them to scrounge around the kitchen to put together lunch on their own. It's going to take a while to get used to post-pandemic schedules. On my daughter's second day back to school, I realized a few minutes before she needed to leave that I'd forgotten to pack her lunch! Because I happened to have a batch of my 15-Minute Lentil Ragout and rice on hand, I was able to reheat it and fill a thermos in just a few minutes!
If you're like me, you're always looking for simple, new lunch ideas. I thought I'd share the recipe with you since one of my go-to lunch items is lentils and rice and having a batch on hand saved me last week.
This quick and easy Lentil Ragout has a hint of summery tarragon and a splash of Champagne vinegar to add brightness to the dish. It tastes great over rice or farro. Sometimes, I top it with grated cheese or toasted pecans, or a poached egg. The ragout also makes a great side dish for my Mustard Roasted Salmon.
You can see here just how easy it is to make my 15 Minute Lentil Ragout! Don't want to chop the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic? You can buy them pre-chopped at most grocery stores.
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If you love lentils, you’ll love my Lentil Salad recipe that also uses Trader Joe’s steamed lentils.
What’s your favorite lentil recipe?
15-Minute Lentil Ragout
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 celery stick diced
- 2 carrots peeled and diced
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 garlic clove peeled and chopped
- 1 teaspoon Red Diamond Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon dried tarragon
- 1 container of Trader Joe’s steamed lentils
- 1 ½ cups water or vegetable or chicken stock
- ½ teaspoon or a splash of Champagne vinegar
- Freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Peel and dice the carrots, onion and garlic. Dice the celery.
- Add olive oil to a medium sauce pan. Add the chopped veggies and turn the heat on to medium.
- Add 1 teaspoon Red Diamond Kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon dried tarragon.
- Stir the ingredients together and sauté for 5-10 minutes or until the veggies begin to soften just a bit.
- Add the package of Trader Joe's steamed lentils to the pan. Break them apart with a spoon.
- Add freshly ground pepper.
- Add 1 ½ cups water, turn the heat up to medium high and bring to a low boil. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add ½ teaspoon of Champagne vinegar (or white wine vinegar).
- Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
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