Lentil picadillo with rice
Lentils simmered Cuban-style in a garlicky tomato sauce with sweet raisins and salty olives, spooned over white rice, a sweet-savory dinner that tastes far fancier than it is.
- 55 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.77 a serving
- 600 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 1 cup lentils, brown or green, rinsed
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice, rinsed
- ¼ cup Kalamata olives, chopped
- ¼ cup raisins
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- 1¾ tsp salt, divided
- 2½ cups water
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Each serving has about 600 calories, 19 g protein, 106 g carbs and 11 g fat, and costs about $1.77 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No tomato sauce? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No Kalamata olives? Black olives work.
- No raisins? Dried cranberries work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the onion and pepper and cook, stirring, 7 minutes, until soft.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Stir in the garlic, cumin, oregano and cinnamon and cook 1 minute, . Add the tomato sauce and cook 2 minutes.
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, broth and ¾ teaspoon salt and .
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
Cover and on low 25 to 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until tender.
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.
Low heatTimer: 27 min
Dolly’s tip: Taste a few at 25 minutes. They should be tender all the way through, with no chalky bite.About 10 minutes into the lentils, put the rice, water and 1 teaspoon salt in a and over high heat.
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
Stir once, cover, and cook on low for 18 minutes. Leave it covered off the heat until the lentils are ready.
Low heatTimer: 18 min
Stir the olives, raisins and vinegar into the lentils and cook uncovered 5 minutes, until thick.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Taste for salt, fluff the rice, and spoon the picadillo over it.
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.
More dinners like this
Puerto Rican rice and beans
45 min
Black beans and rice
40 min
Slow cooker Cuban black beans
500 min
Creamy white beans and rice
45 min
Vegetarian dinners ›Pantry dinners ›What to make with rice and bell peppers ›What to make with canned tomatoes and bell peppers ›What to make with canned tomatoes and rice ›