LENTILS

Lentils are high in purines, which means if you suffer from gout or arthritis you need to limit them in your diet.

I believe that our digestive system including kidneys , liver etc do a pretty good job of flushing out any toxins in our system but if the bowels are sluggish more fibre, including greens and lentils would presumably speed things up. Other than that it is all a marketing ploy which most of us fall for!

Tabbouleh is made from cracked wheat, not couscous.

Thanks, that's solved my lunch problem... lentil soup!

Staple of Scots cooking....lentil soup made with onion and carrot! Love it. I also love semolina. Now what have I got in store cupboard......

I love lentils, the small red ones make a great, traditional soup and the green ones are good in dhal, curries, spicy soup.

I'm not doing dry january (see other thread) but the meatfest over the holiday period has left me yearning for more veg and pulses and much less meat

I use the dark brown(not black) lentils from France, although they are not my favourite food. I love couscous which I buy in a Türkish packet and make according to their instructions. I found many instructions used too much water and boiled too long and it really did taste like the baby version of the semolina which it is.
But I never would serve them together. I serve couscous with lamb ragout or with ratatouille.

When I do my lenils I cook them without salt with root veg and onion and then add tablesp vinegar. Then I fry bacon and add bacon fat and then season with salt. Then we go two ways. I finish mine off with a dollop of creme fraiche and DH puts tomato puree in his. We don't eat any sausage with ours but the rest of the fried bacon sprinked on top.
I have to go to a lot of trouble to eat them at all- but every now and again as DH loves them.

I tend to use couscous in Tabbouleh Its not fully authentic but it saves buying packs of both products.

One of my favourite meals at present is a red lentil dal made as spicy as you wish it to be. Eat with spinach and roasted sweet potato. It's comfort food and very inexpensive.

For more robust dishes I use small green lentils which keep their structure.

My DD who is Vegan (for health reasons, not through choice), and has coeliac disease, uses lentils (dal) on a daily basis. She has a cupboard full of various kinds of lentils and makes the most wonderful and tasty dishes from them. She uses recipes from all over the world, she even incorporates them into cakes and biscuits. Everything she makes is yummy.

Cari you do pick such fascinating threads to pop up on.

Go on! Give a contentious one a blast.

The giant couscous is even better than the ordinary kind, nicer texture and not so mushy.

Got a feeling that lentils are on the "banned list of foods" for gout suffering OH

Bulgur, you mean. Great for salads and for stirr fries.

Always add a tin of lentils to bolognese, really improves the taste and also makes the meat go a lot further- same for lasagna.

The little brown turkish lentils are great too, as they only need an hour soaking.

granjura* we can now buy giant couscous in British supermarkets, it's just the same as the ordinary kind but bigger (obviously)!

www.merchant-gourmet.com/products/cereals-grains/item/wholewheat-giant-couscous

The ingredients listed on the packet just state: wholewheat flour 100%
Well worth trying if you can

BTW - a quick scrabble through my larder in search of lentils for making soup tomorrow and I've got some that says Use by October 2006. Should I throw them away or can I chance using them?

sounds like some good recipes with lentils..wouldn't mind giving some a try.

Lentils can be nice, not just cheap and nutritious. I have a spicy lentil recipe that includes lime juice, an addition that seems to take most people by surprise, but it really perks the recipe up.
I would also suggest using tinned lentils, they are a really useful ingredient to keep in the cupboard.

baby lentils.... from 2006. Never bother with SBD for things like that- just go for it.

A little story. We were in Tuscany, by a Lake with a picnic area, and there was a group of older students revising for exams. One of them heard us speak English (we were with sil and bil) and came over to ask if we could help. Of course, we said. So he asked us to explain what 'past the sell by date' means. We tried to explain then sil said- just like us really. We all had a good laugh.

Apparently you don't have to worry about lentils and gout.

I love lentils and DS said I make the best Dahl, I think so too.

Ok granjura, it's lentil soup for lunch tomorrow then. Must admit I don't usually bother with use by dates but these did seem rather ancient!

Thanks for that info Faye, the gout list of banned foods is very confusing. How is it that you can have broccoli but not cauliflower. Mushrooms should be avoided too apparently along with all sorts of other food.

If you are trying to reduce your meat consumption a tin of lentils added to a lb of mince means more portions and less meat in each.

I cook the traditional French sausage and lentils and use them in soups and stews.

Forgot to add I always add garlic in big chunks ,when cooking my lentils, good blood purifier.

Lentils are brilliant as dhal, or in soup and I often male lentil burgers, for which there are many recipes. They are cheap, fat free and an excellent source of protein. What's not to like?

I made a lentil and sausage stew last night - lovely! Used red and green lentils, onion, cumberland sausages, chopped tomatoes and chicken stock, with a few dried red chillies...

Don't know what it is, but I have yet to meet a bloke who likes couscous! OH likes a tagine(in fact he bought me a terracotta tagine for my birthday...yes, I'm sad... I actually love cooking gadgets as pressies!) but he has to have rice as the accompaniment...durr! He's not over enthusiastic on the lentil front either. Your recipe sounds delish feetlebaum... may launch it on the OH, substituting mild chorizo for the Cumberland sausage as the nearest we have to that is Toulouse sausage and he 'don't like' that either. I'm making him sound like a gastronomic grouch... he's pretty adaptable really all, things considered.

absentgrandma, my son, formerly a chef, makes a lovely couscous. Maybe it's a generational thing... oh no, his brother can't stand it!