I have red lentils, 2 limes, and 2 cans of coconut milk.

October 20, 2010 9:33 PM

I have red lentils, 2 limes, and 2 cans of coconut milk. What can I make with these (and other ingredients)?

I'd like to use at least two of the three if possible. I also have a large quantity of eggs, and a bit of rice, and a lot of quinoa, not that these need to be worked in necessarily.

I work at a grocery store, so sometimes I end up with odd food that I don't want to throw out but don't really know what to do with.

posted by Slinga to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

I'd make a coconut-red lentil curry (to serve over quinoa or rice) and a lime custard (to use up the eggs).
posted by belladonna at 9:47 PM on October 20, 2010

Put lentils (with rice if you wanna) in rice cooker, replace half the needed liquid (water/stock/whatever) with coconut milk, cook as usual, add liquid if necessary, serve with lime juice (and scrambled egg if you wanna). Repeat as necessary.

You can probably do the same thing on the stove if you don't have a rice cooker, but it's been so long since I did lentils on the stove I couldn't really tell you anything about it.
posted by thirteenkiller at 9:48 PM on October 20, 2010

There's a well-reviewed coconut red-lentil curry on epicurious.com.
posted by purenitrous at 9:48 PM on October 20, 2010

Finely mince an onion, some garlic, and a chunk of ginger. Saute in butter or olive oil. When aromatics are translucent, add 1 T or so or garam masala or your favorite curry spice mix. (I use cumin, coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, and mustard seed). Toast spices.

Add lentils, stir for a minute or two. Add coconut milk and a can of water. Stir well, cook until lentils become kind of mushy. Loosen up with more water once lentils are cooked, if necessary. Serve over rice.

One of my favorite garnishes for Indian food is grated lime zest and crushed coriander seed mixed with good plain yogurt. You could also add lime juice to the dal (oh -- that's what you just made: dal) if it tastes good to you.
posted by mudpuppie at 9:53 PM on October 20, 2010

This coconut red lentil soup is pretty good.
posted by kitty teeth at 10:18 PM on October 20, 2010

Yeah, I'd go the soup/dal route, because red lentils basically aspire towards the condition of mush once you start cooking them, and any attempt to get the tender texture of green or Puy lentils is doomed.
posted by holgate at 10:39 PM on October 20, 2010

All the Ottolenghi recipes I have tried have been great - haven't tried this Thai Red Lentil Soup, but I bet it is yummy!
posted by AnnaRat at 1:02 AM on October 21, 2010

Google lentils limes coconut milk recipe. I pull dinner together that way all the time using whatever's in the fridge and it usually works out pretty well (my kids may disagree).
posted by headnsouth at 4:16 AM on October 21, 2010

Make Thai style Tom Kha soup. Add chicken broth (liquid or cube), coconut milk, few drops of fish sauce, fresh lime juice, galangal/ginger and fresh lemongrass/kaffir lime leaves if you can find some. If you don't want to go through the trouble of finding the exotic ingredients, then the first 4 ingredients combined should leave you with some pretty tasty soup.
posted by cynicalidealist at 5:25 PM on October 21, 2010