Garlicky lentils with fried eggs
Tender lentils tossed with garlic, cumin, smoky paprika and spinach and topped with crispy-edged fried eggs, a protein-packed dinner for two made from pantry staples.
- 40 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 2
- About $2.40 a serving
- 610 calories
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Most of the time here is hands-off, so you can sit down while it cooks.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- ¾ cup lentils, brown or green, rinsed
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt (optional)
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 cups water
- 1 bay leave
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 610 calories, 32 g protein, 53 g carbs and 31 g fat, and costs about $2.40 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
- No plain Greek yogurt? Plain yogurt or sour cream works.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the lentils, water, bay leaf and of salt in a and over high heat.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
20 to 25 minutes, until just tender, then and fish out the bay leaf.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Medium heatTimer: 22 min
Dolly’s tip: Taste one at 20 minutes. You want tender lentils that still hold their shape.Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook 3 minutes, until soft.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Stir in the garlic, cumin and smoked paprika and cook 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Add the lentils, vinegar and ½ teaspoon salt and cook 2 minutes. Stir in the spinach until it , then divide between two plates.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Medium heat
Wipe out the , heat the last tablespoon of oil over medium heat, and crack in the eggs. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, until the whites are set and the edges are .
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Dolly’s tip: If the tops of the whites stay runny, cover the pan for the last minute.Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Slide two eggs onto each plate of lentils and finish with pepper, a spoonful of yogurt and parsley.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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