Warm lentils and quinoa with kale and feta
Lentils and quinoa cooked in one pot and tossed warm with garlicky kale, a lemon-Dijon dressing and salty feta, a high-protein dinner for two that packs well for tomorrow’s lunch.
- 35 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 2
- About $3.01 a serving
- 720 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- ¾ cup lentils, brown or green, rinsed
- ½ cup quinoa, rinsed
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- ½ bunch kale
- ½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
- 2 tbsp almonds, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 6 cups water
- 1¼ tsp salt, divided
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 720 calories, 31 g protein, 80 g carbs and 33 g fat, and costs about $3.01 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No kale? Baby spinach works.
- No feta cheese? Goat cheese works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Bring the water and 1 teaspoon salt in a over high heat.
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.
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.
High heat
Add the lentils and 8 minutes.
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: 8 min
Add the quinoa and 12 to 15 minutes more, until both are tender, then well in a fine-mesh strainer.
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: 13 min
Dolly’s tip: Quinoa slips through big holes, so use a fine strainer.Shake 2 tablespoons of the oil with the lemon zest and juice, mustard, garlic, of salt and the pepper in a jar until creamy.
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.
Dolly’s tip: Shaking in a jar is the easiest way to make a dressing come together.Strip the kale leaves off their stems and them.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Heat the last tablespoon of oil in a large over medium heat and cook the kale with of salt 3 to 4 minutes, until and bright green.
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.
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.
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 heatTimer: 3 min
Add the lentils and quinoa and the dressing and 1 minute to .
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Heat through. Heating through means warming food that’s already cooked until it’s hot all the way to the center. You’re not cooking it more, just making sure no part is still cold.
How you’ll know: It’s steaming, and a piece from the middle is hot, not lukewarm.
Medium heat
Top with feta and almonds and serve warm.
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.
