Wild Rice & Lentils

One of my goals this year was to eat healthier and to adapt my cooking style from heavy carbohydrate dishes to a more balanced menu. The Mediterranean style of cooking is one great way to meet this goal. It focuses on whole foods, fruits, veggies, low-fat protein, etc.

I love trying new combinations of my favorite foods with new spices and sauces. Growing up, we always had a traditional lentil soup, but never paired it with wild rice or the rich spices included in this dish. The cumin and allspice are atypical of the Italian foods that I grew up eating, but they play an important role in the flavor profile of this dish.

Makes 8 Servings

Time to Gather Your Ingredients!

1 cup dried lentils

3/4 cup uncooked wild rice

2 large onions, thinly sliced

1 bay leaf

1.75 teaspoons ground cumin

1.5 teaspoons ground allspice

0.5 teaspoon ground paprika

0.5 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

3 cups of chicken broth

Extra virgin olive oil for various stages of cooking

For the Sauce

1 cucumber - peeled

1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream

For the Garnish

Pita bread cut into mini triangles

Parsley or cilantro

Optional Ingredients For Fun Variations

Garlic to taste

1/2 teaspoon Nigella seeds

Salt to taste - if you are using broth with sodium, you can skip the additional salt

Replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth or water for a vegan-friendly recipe

Get Set! Chop! Prep!

Are you ready to prep the ingredients?

1. Rinse lentils and sort

2. Peel and thinly slice onions

3. Rinse and drain wild rice

Set the ingredients aside until it is time to incorporate them into the recipe.

Time to Cook!

Grab your favorite Dutch oven and heat 1/4 cup olive oil. Add the sliced onions over medium heat and cook for 15 minutes, until golden and crispy. Stir occasionally so that the onions will not burn.

Remove the onions and set aside.

Add rice to the remaining olive oil plus 1 additional tablespoon. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the rice is toasted.

Add 1/2 cup cooked onions back to the Dutch oven. To the mixture, add cumin, allspice, paprika, cinnamon, bay leaf, and red pepper. Cook for 1 minute.

Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the lentils in a saucepan and cover with water. Once the water is boiling, reduce to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse the lentils in cold water.

Add the lentils to the Dutch oven after 30 minutes and continue to cook until the broth is absorbed and the rice and lentils are tender. This will take about 15 minutes.

While the rice & lentils are finishing, peel the cucumber and trim the ends. Grate the cucumber with a box grater, using the large holes. Drain the excess water from the cucumber before blending with the yogurt/sour cream. Add salt to taste.

Are You Ready to Feast?

When all of the liquid has been cooked off, it is time to serve the rice and lentils. Plate the rice and lentils from the Dutch oven in a serving platter and garnish with the reserved onions. Place the pita bread and cilantro around the edges of the dish, with the yogurt mixture to the side.

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I hope that you enjoyed this recipe. If you try it, please let me know how it came out.

Check out my other recipes in the links below:

Stuffed Peppers

Sunburst Fruit Salad