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Vegetable Lasagna With Basil Ricotta
Israeli Couscous and Lentils
| By : |
There are many reasons why I love this recipe and think you will, too. For starters, it’s a dump-everything-in recipe that requires no hands-on cooking. I think that’s reason enough, but I have more reasons to share. Second, it’s hearty enough to feel like a main dish thanks to the protein-packed lentils, but still feels light and refreshing, in part due to the grassy flavor of fresh dill. And finally, this recipe yields a lot of food, so it’s an ideal weekly-meal-prep-with-individual-containers situation. Or if you’re feeling generous, you can bring it to a potluck, summer picnic, or barbecue.
I use French green lentils in this salad (and most lentil-based salads) because they hold their shape during cooking. Typically, there is no need to soak lentils, but soaking them here reduces the cook time to just 3 minutes, allowing you to cook the lentils at the same time as the Israeli couscous.
This is one of those dishes that gets better the next day, as the lentils and couscous will have had a chance to thoroughly absorb the flavors of the vinaigrette and herbs.
I use French green lentils in this salad (and most lentil-based salads) because they hold their shape during cooking. Typically, there is no need to soak lentils, but soaking them here reduces the cook time to just 3 minutes, allowing you to cook the lentils at the same time as the Israeli couscous.
This is one of those dishes that gets better the next day, as the lentils and couscous will have had a chance to thoroughly absorb the flavors of the vinaigrette and herbs.
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 15 minutes |
| Servings |
4 servings
|
Ingredients
COUSCOUS AND LENTILS
- 1 cup French green lentils Puy
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 2 red yellow, or orange bell peppers, diced
- 2 carrots diced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup Israeli or pearl couscous
- 3 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 leaves bay
- Handful of fresh thyme sprigs
TO FINISH
- 2 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 cup fresh dill finely chopped
- 1 cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
- 15 pitted green olives sliced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved or quartered
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Ingredients
COUSCOUS AND LENTILS
TO FINISH
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Instructions
- Soak the lentils in water to cover for 8 hours or overnight. Drain the lentils.
- Place the soaked and drained lentils, onion, bell peppers, carrots, garlic, couscous, vegetable broth, salt, pepper to taste, bay leaves, and thyme sprigs in the Instant Pot and stir well to combine.
- Secure the lid and set the Pressure Release to Sealing. Select the Pressure Cook setting at high pressure and set the cook time to 3 minutes.
- Once the 3-minute timer has completed and beeps, allow an natural pressure release for 10 minutes and then switch the Pressure Release knob from Sealing to Venting to release any remaining steam.
- Open the pot and discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
- Transfer the couscous-lentil mixture to a large bowl and allow to come to room temperature.
- To the couscous-lentil mixture, add the extra-virgin olive oil, vinegar, dill, parsley, olives, tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine and taste for seasonings, adding more salt and pepper as needed, or a splash more vinegar for acidity.
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A new and vibrant vegan cookbook authorized by Instant Pot, from the creator of the Rainbow Plant Life blog.With food and photos as vivid, joyous, and wholesome as the title of her popular cooking blog–Rainbow Plant Life–suggests, Nisha Vorashares nourishing recipes with her loyal followers daily. Now, in her debut cookbook, she makes healthy, delicious everyday cooking a snap with more than 90 nutritious (and colorful!) recipes you can make easily with the magic of an Instant Pot pressure cooker. With a comprehensive primer to the machine and all its functions, you, too, can taste the rainbow with a full repertoire of vegan dishes. Start the day with Nisha’s Homemade Coconut Yogurt or Breakfast Enchilada Casserole, then move on to hearty mains like Miso Mushroom Risotto, and even decadent desserts including Double Fudge Chocolate Cake and Red Wine-Poached Pears. The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook will quickly become a go-to source of inspiration in your kitchen.
About Nisha:
Nisha Vorais a food blogger, photographer, and author of The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook: Wholesome, Indulgent Plant-Based Recipes (June 2019, Avery). After graduating from Harvard Law School and working as a lawyer for four years, she exchanged her casebooks for cookbooks and launched a career in her dream world of food by creating Rainbow Plant Life, a popular vegan Instagram account,blog, and YouTube channel.
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Looks good!
Yummy!
So good
Love it
love
So good
Love
Tasty but came out mushy
Mushy and good!
Love how easy it was to make. So fresh!
love
Followed recipe exactly but it came out mushy. Next time will use way less broth. Tasted good though
Delicious meal. Served with rice and most fulfilling.
Mine didn’t turn out as pretty as the picture (looked like lentil stew, lol), but it was very tasty! I’ll use less broth next time.
I reduced liquid to under 3C abd it was still a little soupy. I couldnt find Ftench Lentil so they got mushy. Still tastes good!!
Way too much water! I halved all ingredients including the broth and everything was mush and I poured at least 1.5 cups of liquid off
Tasted very good. My family loved it.
Good!
How much less broth would everyone use if 3.5 cups is too much?
This is not Israeli cuisine , this is from Morocco. Stop lying to people
This is not an Isreali dish
3.5 cups of broth is WAYYYY too much. I recommend 2 cups only and cook for 4mins.
Aftet reading other reviewers’ recommendation to include less vegetable broth, we only use 2 1/2 cups. This was still a little runny, so before I transfered the cooked dish to a bowl to cool I strained it. I also didn’t soak the lentils overnight, but brought them to a boil and let them cook for about 25 minutes. The couscous I put in dry. Both came out quite well. My major complaint is that a full cup of both dill and parsley was so overpowering we had to give up after a couple of bites.
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Best recipe on http://www.instantpot.com
Israeli Couscous and Lentils https://recipes.instantpot.com/recipe/israeli-couscous-and-lentils/
I should have read this before attempting to make it twice. Way too much liquid. The 3rd time i cooked the old fashioned way in a pot. Takes the same amount of time if you soak the lentils. You can control the liquid and i only used 2 cups and added the cous cous after turning the heat off. Now i don’t have a pot of mush.
We took the advice of others and cut the liquid down to 2.5 cups and it did not come out watery. It was mushy but i think that comes from the lentils so next time we are going to 1/2 the lentils and up the coucous and see if that helps the texture. Taste was very good. We are not Vegan so we are going to try low sodium chicken broth next time to see how it changes the flavor….
Way too much liquid. Too much garlic. Button in recipe cooks for 15 minutes, not 3.