Uber Fast Garlic & Lemon Lentils and Rice

Back when I lived in Colorado, I had a fabulous acupuncturist whom I adored.  Among the many things about her that I loved was her method of first trying to cure various ailments with food – whether she was recommending specific foods or suggesting that something be eliminated from my diet, she consistently looked to food as the first step towards healing. 

Given my contentious relationship with my stomach, she often recommended that I occasionally eat lightly sautéed spinach with olive oil and lemon juice to help calm my gallbladder.  (I have absolutely no idea how this works, but it totally does.)  So, when I found myself thinking about tonight’s dinner menu and suddenly developed a hankering for something – anything, really – involving sautéed spinach with olive oil and lemon, I figured I’d heed the message.  I’m a big fan of listening to my body, particularly its cravings – I mean really, it’s not like I crave Snickers bars the size of 18-wheelers and oil drums filled with cherry Coke – and I’m a proponent of the theory that those cravings are my body’s way of trying to tell me what nutrients I need most.

So, when faced with this specific hankering, it seemed like a pretty good craving to satiate.  I also needed something that could cook while I went running, so I relied on one of the most heavily used appliances in my kitchen arsenal: my old ally, the rice cooker.  (My Betrothed got it for me for Christmas last year, and given that I use it all the effing time, I think it was a good investment.)  I put sprouted brown rice and sprouted green lentils into the rice cooker with a boullion cube, pressed ON, and scooted my butt out the door.

When I got back, only one step was left: sauteeing some garlic and spinach.  That takes, like, two seconds, so I was happily feeding within minutes.  I was ludicrously hungry by that point, so I'm pretty sure I looked like a Conehead while eating dinner...

Uber Fast Garlic & Lemon Lentils and Rice

1/2 C Sprouted (or regular) brown rice
1/2 C Sprouted (or regular) green lentils
1 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped (you can use more or less to suit your taste -- garlic is my homie, so I use a lot of it.)1 fresh lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Put the lentils and rice into a rice cooker with 3 C water or vegetable broth.  (You can also do this in a regular heavy-bottomed pot.  The ratio of liquid to dry is 2:1, but I've worked with thirsty ingredients before -- so adding an extra 1/4 C of liquid isn't unheard of.)  If using boullion, I used an Edward & Sons low sodium vegetable broth cube, and it was perfect.  Cook the lentils and rice until tender and fluffy.

Once the lentils and rice are ready, put 2 tablespoons olive oil into a pan and place over medium-high heat.  While waiting for the pan to heat, finely chop the garlic.  Once the pan is hot, add the garlic and saute until caramelized. Spoon the garlic into a separate bowl to remove from heat.  Next saute the spinach until it's wilted -- about 1-2 minutes -- with a small bit of olive oil.

Spoon the lentils and rice into a bowl, and top with the garlic and sauteed spinach.  Squeeze 1/2 fresh lemon (or to taste) over the whole thing, and add salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with lemon, and inhale your food.