0

What do I do with yellow split peas?



Yellow split peas, or dal, have a special place in my heart. I ate them frequently on my mission in Fiji. I will never forget the wonderful, loving people that fed me countless times.  

Despite the fact that yellow lentils are a comfort food for me, they really should be a part of everyone's diet and food storage. Even though we moved out of state for an internship, we made sure to bring some of these yellow gems with us.

Why do we buy them?
  • They are cheap
  • They contain protein, fiber, vitamin B1 and folate 
  • They are low in calories but high in nutrition
  • There are many ways to prepare them
  • They store almost indefinitely
  • They look pretty on our counters (That's important for me when I don't have a lot of room to store food.) 
Where do you buy them?
any grocery store carries them in the "dried bean" section. They are sometimes called yellow-split peas. We prefer to buy them from the bulk bins, at Winco or health food stores. Store them in an airtight container until use. We like to store our dry goods in glass containers and old mason jars.

How to cook yellow lentils
We like to make curry, and soups although there are a lot of options. Yellow lentils don't necessarily have to be soaked over night, but it will increase cooking time so I like to put them in a bowl of water overnight. Yellow lentils can also be cooked beautifully in the crock pot. Just be sure in any method you use, to rinse the lentils thoroughly, until there are no more bubbles coming from the lentils. (I find it is harder to digest your food if you skip this step.)

 Here's one of the recipes we like: 

 Curried Vegetables with Dahl (Adapted from the Moosewood cookbook)
11/2 cups of yellow split peas
4-5 cups hot water
====
1 onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 fresh green chile, minced
3 TB oil
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (about 4 cups)
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 TB mild curry power (please buy this from bulk spice bins so you don't get a grainy, salty, overpriced curry powder)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp mustard seeds (optional)
1/2 tsp tumeric (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
2 TB fresh grated ginger root
2 cups water
1/2 head of cauliflower (about four cups of florets)
2 green or red bell peppers, chopped (about 2 cups)
10 ounces of fresh spinach
2-3 TB fresh lemon juice

 Rinse the split peas. In a covered saucepan, bring 5 cups of water to a boil. Reduce the heat, uncover, and simmer for about 30 minutes or until tender.
In a large soup pot, saute the onion and chili, garlic and ginger in the oil for several minutes. Turn down the heat a little and add the cumin, curry powder, mustard seed, turmeric, and salt, mix together for a minute to combine the fragrances. Be careful not to burn the spices! Add in the sweet potatoes, with two cups of water. Cut the cauliflower into florets and add to the pot. Add the bell peppers, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. While the vegetables simmer, rinse, stem and coarsely chop the spinach. When the yellow peas are tender, combine them with the vegetable mixture. Simmer until the cauliflower and sweet potatoes are tender. Add the spinach for two minutes so it wilts, add salt to taste, and serve immediately with rice.

*If using a crock pot, saute all the spices, onion, garlic, ginger, and pepper together. Then add the rest of the ingredients with the lentils in the crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.
*The yellow split peas will cook faster if you allow them to soak for a few hours before
*This recipe can also be made with red lentils.

 It is true that this recipe uses a lot of fresh produce, so if you want a more "food storage friendly recipe" look here.


If you are unfamiliar with some if these spices, check this out 

Unknown

Krysta is a twenty-something young lady who loves her man, her Savior and her family. When she is not at her day-job, she enjoys nature,photogrpahy, cooking, biking, writing, painting...well, basically anything creative.

No comments:

Post a Comment