Rouler quelqu'un dans la farine: lentils

it's not that i dislike lentils. i like them fine in stews and soups... ive always enjoyed dal dishes when out at an indian restaurant... and i KNOW that they are good for me. like, super good. like, they are an iron superfood. i know that. and yet, i have a hard time getting excited about lentils.

the other day i read that a lovely friend's partner had made lentil hummus that their 10 month old was over the moon about. and i thought to myself, that's IT! i can make something i lovelovelove with something i needneedneed! perfect (thank you, q!).

i took 1/2 cup dried lentils and cooked 'em, waited for them to cool, and then into the food processor they went along with:
tahini
lemon juice
olive oil

and what i got was a beautifully creamy yummy tasty treat. victory is mine! HA! take that, body! you shall have your lentils!

but then i thought, hmmm, we need to eat this hummus with something.... so after poking around ye olde internet, i found a recipe for flatbread i wanted to try.











and then i went ahead and made us a nice salad for lunch, with grapes, kalamata olives, hummus, and flatbread.

for dinner, i made shrimp and rice. these spices worked well with the hummus, but would be equally scrumptious on their own.

i used:
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
shrimp
cranberries
fistful of fresh parsley
whole almonds
good squeeze tamarind juice
curry powder
cumin
lots and lots of coriander
sprinkle of anise
basmati rice
good knob of butter, melted

i let the onion and garlic dance with some oil in the pan, then i added the shrimp and parsley.  meanwhile, i prepared some basamati rice.  i added the spices to the shrimp, once the onion and garlic were browned, and then the tamarind juice, cranberries, and almonds.  I pulled the mixture off the heat.

once the rice was prepared, i set it aside.  i melted some butter in my fondue pot and then poured it into a separate bowl.  i layered the rice and shrimp mixture in the fondue pot, poured the melted butter on top, put on a lid, and let it steam on low heat for about 30 minutes.  my hope was to make the bottom rice layer crispy--i miss this crispy rice dish we used to get in china.  i failed at that.  but i did not fail to make something awesomely tasty.