A Middle Eastern dish with lentils, rice and carmelized onions.

1 cup lentils (I used 1/2 cup red and 1/2 cup brown lentils)
2 large onions, or 4 small ones
3-½ cups water or vegetable broth
1 cup white rice
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoons pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Slice the onions lengthwise. Heat 1 table­spoon of veg­etable oil and half an onion over medium heat in a large pot. Cook until onion is caramelized.
Add lentils, water, salt and pep­per. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and sim­mer covered for 20 minutes.
After 20 min­utes, add rice and cumin. Simmer covered for another 20 minutes.
In a frying pan over medium heat, add the remain­ing 1 table­spoon of veg­etable oil and the remain­ing onions and cook until caramelized.
Recipe adapted from The Confused Homemaker

Bennett liked this a lot; I was surprised how much he liked it actually. He kept asking for more and more! Cole barely touched the stuff though. I managed to get him to swallow a few bites but it was clear he really didn’t care for it. I thought it was kind of bland, especially for a Middle Eastern dish, which I tend to expect to be full of spices and flavour. On the plus side, it was really easy and fast, and it’s made with ingredients I usually have on hand. It’s also very good for you. I recommend using vegetable broth instead of water to give it flavour, and though it seems like a lot of onions you definitely want a lot in this case. Also, I would double the cumin next time and add some other spices. I’ve seen recipes for this meal that use cinnamon and allspice, and I think that would be a nice touch.