What are your favorite type of lentils, what do you use them in, why are they preferred for that dish than others?
I recently realized I have only had maybe 1 or two types, and upon searching them found they all supposedly taste different and have different textures.
Wherher it is for cheap decent soup or an old family recipe; slap me with some knowledge
Once a month I fill the pressure cooker with a variety of beans, brown and/or red lentils, peppers, onions, jalapeños, garlic, and sometimes kale, mushrooms, whatever is around. I overcook just slightly so the lentils break up and become my “meat”. Then I freeze most and slowly work through it over the month using it at work for lunch burritos, nachos, in ramen, over rice, etc. Cheap and handy and is the staple of my diet.
How do you tell when they are cooked enough vs slightly overcooked?
Trial and error. The lentils always cook faster than the beans and my recipe is 1c lentils and 4c of mixed beans. In my cooker running about 8min longer than the recommended time will leave my beans tender and intact but reduce the lentils to a filler consistency like ground beef. The same method works well for making vegan chili.