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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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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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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.
Family loved it
Loved it
I took others’ advice and reduced the broth to 2 cups and i liked the consistency. Very good!
Are you supposed to add olive oil at the beginning? I didnt and it came out OK but it burnt a little
Family loved it. I didn’t read the comments before making but the liquid amount was fine as-is on the recipe. I did not pre-soak the lentils though as I bought ones that don’t require it. I’ll be making this again.
Sooo good!! Easy to make and stores well for several days in the fridge. Have made a couple times.
It tastes good, but even with half the liquid, it’s mushy. I used regular lentils. I’ll try French lentils next time.
Really good!
Made a few changes based on the reviews, 1/2 the herbs and the broth. Also didn’t presoak the puy lentils. Turned out perfect.
This is very terrible. Does not come out like photo. Huge disappointment.
Liquid amounts are off.
Recipe is good, a little bit less btoth may be better though
I like this recipe
Like it
Easy to cook
So good
Love this recipe
1
Love it
Love
Israeli?! Whats that?!
Misleading name, but very yummy dish.
This is a good dish with some modification. I read reciews beforehand and I’m very glad I did. I used the same amount of liquid stated but added the entire 8.8 oz package of israeli couscous which was about a cup and a half, maybe a little more. I was happt with the end result. If I had followed quantities as stated then i know i would have been unhappy.
Looks good
Tastes good!
Good
Cut liquid by at least half a cup. Had to strain and still came out very sticky.
You don’t need to soak the lentils. I put them in the instant pot dry and bump up the cool time to 15 min. Delicious.
Its very good
Horrible recipe!
The amount of water to include is missing. Tried several amounts. Everything burnt and all the food is ruined.
Result is delicious-substantial yet fresh-tasting. The prep, given large number of ingredients to be chopped, diced, or sliced makes it a little time-consuming. But if you hace the time, totally worth it!
I love this recipe. Its delicious & wasy
My family loved this dish. Took me, a definite amateur, a little more time in the preparation phase. Took some to work and everyone loved it. Definitely a five out of five.
I like this
Delicious! I added more red wine vinegar because I love how it tastes with the rest of the ingredients. Amazing recipe!
Going to makes d use less liquid. Amazing how people don’t read instructions or post such negative comments. Israeli refers to type of couscous!
So good! Added feta and Nam Prik chili sauce. And pressure cooked it for 15 minutes by mistake, but was still delicious!
I absolutely love this! I didnt have lentils so I added More cous cous! If you want instea dof using red wine vinegar, use lemon for a little different taste.
Soaking the lentils overnight is not needed since so much broth is being used during the cooking. I did this how it was written and it was more like stew and the lentils were mushy. Just rinse the lentils under water and tap the excess out before starting.
I loved this! I didnt soak the lentils but just rinsed them with water a few times. I also used crushed tomatoes during the cooking and it was really good. Finally, I used lemon instead od vinegar. So delicious!
This meal was fantastic. My picky children even had seconds. I didn’t soak the lentils but rinsed them really well and I used about 1.5 cups of the couscous. I used 3 cups of broth and that was perfect. Nothing came out mushy or too soupy We aren’t vegan so we added parmesan. Will definitely make this again.
Ok I used green lentils and it turned very mushy. I guess I should have been careful to find french lentils. It’s more like a stew, I don’t think I should add the vinegar and herbs now but what do you think???
SO GOOD! Excellent for lunches, keeps well and doesn’t need to be heated. Bulk cook at the beginning of the week, gets you 8-10 meals worth. I did not soak the lentils, but upped the time to 5 minutes and added 0.5 cup couscous (used the called for 3.5cups veg stock). Perfect, not liquidy at all!
yummy but too salty! I would only use 1 tsp of salt.