Eat it. · PickleRadio
Warm lentil and rice bowls with pickles
Freshly cooked rice, warm spiced lentils and carrot, with cold diced pickles and mustard yogurt added when you serve.
In this guide4 sections
Keep the cold topping separate until serving
This bowl brings together warm rice and lentils with a cool, sharp topping. Cook the rice while the onion and carrot soften, then divide everything between two bowls. The pickles stay crisp because they never go through the frying pan.
Canned green or brown lentils keep the cooking short and hold their shape. Drain them before weighing. Red split lentils break down differently and need their own cooking liquid, so they are not a direct replacement in these steps.
Yield: 2 servings. Prep time: 15 minutes. Cook time: 25 minutes.
Ingredients
- 150 g dry long-grain white rice
- 300 ml water, or the amount specified on the rice packet
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 100 g onion, finely diced
- 120 g carrot, cut into small dice
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 240 g canned green or brown lentils, drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons water for the lentils
- 100 g drained dill pickles, diced
- 80 g plain thick yogurt
- 1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
- 1 tablespoon pickle brine
- 10 g fresh dill, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Method
- Rinse the rice in a sieve. Put it in a small saucepan with the measured water, following the packet if its ratio differs. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat and cook according to the packet, usually about 12 to 15 minutes. Rest covered for 5 minutes.
Cook the rice using the water ratio on its packet. - While the rice cooks, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot and cook for 8 minutes, stirring, until the onion softens and the carrot is tender enough to bite.
- Stir in the paprika for 30 seconds. Add the drained lentils and 2 tablespoons of water. Warm gently for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring carefully so the lentils keep their shape. Add the pepper.
Warm the drained lentils gently so they keep their shape. - Mix the yogurt, mustard and brine in a small bowl. Drain any loose liquid from the chopped pickles. Fluff the finished rice with a fork and divide it between two bowls.
Fluff the rice and keep the cool toppings separate until serving. - Spoon the warm lentils and carrots over the rice. Add the pickles and dill, then finish with the yogurt sauce. Serve promptly, keeping the cold toppings separate from any warm food you plan to save.
If you are saving a portion
Follow the Food Standards Agency’s rice guidance: cool leftover rice quickly, ideally within one hour, refrigerate and eat within 24 hours. Reheat only once, until steaming hot throughout.
Pack the pickle and yogurt topping separately so you can heat the rice and lentils without warming the sauce. Label the rice portion when it goes into the fridge rather than relying on remembering which evening you cooked it.
For a warm meal without rice, choose the potato and chickpea traybake. The chickpea pickle wrap is the quicker no-cook option.
Keep the jar open
Browse all recipes
Dinner
Cabbage, potato and pickle skillet
A broad pan of browned potatoes, softened cabbage and onion, finished with mustard, caraway and chopped pickles.
Make this recipe
Dinner
Pickle macaroni and cheese
A cheddar macaroni bake with finely diced pickles and a crisp breadcrumb lid. Add the pickles after the sauce is smooth.
Make this recipe
Dinner
Potato and chickpea traybake with pickles
Roast potatoes and chickpeas until golden, then add cool pickles and a mustard yogurt sauce. Keep the wet ingredients off the roasting tray.
Make this recipe