Skip to main content

Lentils Like Baked Beans

This great side dish has a bit of a Quebecois-lumberjack-in-Bollywood taste. It is red lentils cooked like dahl, seasoned like baked beans. It is a pork chop’s best friend, or will mate with a hefty breakfast.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Serves 4

Ingredients

4 slices bacon, finely diced
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups (400 g) red lentils, picked over and rinsed
4 cups (1 liter) water
1/4 cup (60 ml) ketchup
2 tablespoons maple syrup, plus more as needed
2 tablespoons neutral oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar, plus more as needed
2 tablespoons Colman’s dry mustard
1 teaspoon pepper, plus more as needed
1 bay leaf
Salt

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). In an ovenproof pot with a lid, fry the bacon over medium-high heat until crisp. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for about 4 minutes, or until softened. Then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.

    Step 2

    Add the lentils, water, ketchup, maple syrup, oil, vinegar, mustard, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir well and season with salt. Bring to a boil. Cover, place in the oven, and bake for 45 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.

    Step 3

    Taste and correct the seasoning with salt, pepper, maple syrup, and vinegar. Serve hot now or later.

Cookbook cover of The Art of Living According to Joe Beef: A Cookbook of Sorts by Frédéric Morin, David McMillan, and Meredith Erickson.
Reprinted with permission from The Art of Living According to Joe Beef by Frédéric Morin, David McMillan & Meredith Erickson, copyright © 2011. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.
Read More
Like potato pea chowder and green goddess grain bowls.
Keep this easy frittata recipe on hand for quick breakfasts, impressive brunches, and fridge clean-out meals.
Thinly sliced and cooked hot and fast, pork tenderloin is the juicy, cook-quicking weeknight champion of this vegetable-heavy stir-fry.
Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.
Like spicy carrot rigatoni and weeknight-fancy ravioli with peas.
This lasagna soup delivers rich, baked-pasta flavor without an oven. Made with Italian sausage and spinach, it’s a fast, weeknight-friendly take on the classic.
Like lemony risotto and tandoori-style cauliflower.
Chopped kimchi and soy sauce transform mellow tuna salad into your new favorite riff on the classic diner sandwich.