Are you looking to eat healthier? But, either you do not know where to start or need more recipe ideas to help you get there. Then, you are just like me. I really do want to eat healthier more often. I am not ready to give up meat that is for sure. I could, though, eat more vegetarian and vegan meals more often. To that end, I have really come to like lentils. Lentils are really good for you and they are pretty hearty.

Lentils are a legume a bean.  They are great to work with because they cook pretty quickly and absorb whatever flavors are in the dish.  They retain there shape after cooking.  They are super high in nutritional value (see link provided at the beginning of this paragraph).  Do you know where they originated and how long ago?  The links I found suggest that lentils originated in Greece some 13,000 years ago.  Not quite as long ago as that, they they showed up in Syria and Turkey 8000 and 6000 years ago, respectively.  My Moroccan Lentils owe there origins to these regions of the world.

I can’t believe that I am eating lentils.  If you told me, only a few years ago, that I would be eating lentils, and liking it, I would tell you that you are lying.  Come on now, lentils.  I did not even know what they were.  If I had heard of them it was from some vegetarian friend of mine.  No way, I was going over to their house for dinner.  Am I alone here?  Now, I am looking for more and more ways to eat them.

The spices for this recipe are all Moroccan but I build the texture with vegetables I love.  This Moroccan Lentils recipe includes peppers – you knew that was coming – onions and garlic.  Combine the onions, garlic with the Moroccan spices and the combination would be good on anything.  This dish is really easy to prepare.  Mix the spices into the onions.  Add the rest of the veggies for texture.  The lentils are cooked in water separately and then mixed with the vegetable spice mixture to come together for the final dish.

The Recipe

Moroccan Lentils

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Lentils spiced with the flavors of Morocco for a great vegetarian dish.

Prep5 minutes mins

Cook25 minutes mins

Total30 minutes mins

Servings4

Scale

1x2x3x

Ingredients 

• ▢ 1/2 pound of Lentils
• ▢ 1 medium yellow onions
• ▢ 4 sweet peppers, various colors
• ▢ 3 tomatoes on the vine, diced
• ▢ 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• ▢ 1 – 10 ounce bag of spinach
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Moroccan spice mixture, bought at my local spice shop
• ▢ 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 2 tablespoons safflower or avocado oil

Instructions 

• In a pot of boiling water, cook the lentils according to the bag instructions. Drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, in a skillet on medium heat, warm the oil.
• Add in the onions, peppers and spices.
• Cook for 3 – 4 minutes until the onions and peppers begin to soften.
• Add in the tomatoes and cook out most of there liquid.
• Add in the spinach and cook until just wilted.
• Finish by adding the drained lentils into the pan and let the flavors meld for a few minutes.
• While the flavors are coming together, fry your eggs. Leave them sunny side up.
• To serve, take the eggs and top the lentils.
• Enjoy!

Onions with spices; then peppers, tomatoes and finish by adding spinach.

The final dish all assembled and topped with a fried egg.