Lentils—they don't seem like the most exotic ingredient to cook with, they don't scream "flavor!," and they have a bad rap as being hippie-ish '70s vegetarian food. But you should push all of those ideas out of your head because lentils, when used properly, can actually be the base for a delicious dish.
One of my favorite uses for lentils is in small, crispy cakes, and one of my favorite recipes for these is from VegCooking.com. You form the cakes with rice, veggies, and bread crumbs or flour, and then pan-fry until browned on the outside.
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Many recipes for lentil cakes have an Indian flare, but this recipe goes in a different direction by omitting some of the usual Indian spices and by topping the cakes with a creamy horseradish-red pepper sauce that definitely has kick.
Most of us have tried lentil soup, but if you haven't tried lentils in any other recipes, then I suggest this one. Go ahead—give it a try!
Lentil Cakes With Creamy Horseradish Sauce
For the Lentil Cakes:
1 cup dried lentils
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 rib celery, chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
2 cups cooked rice
Salt, to taste
1 cup ground bread crumbs or flour
• Place the lentils in a large pot and submerge, adding an additional 2 inches of water. Boil for 20 minutes, or until tender.
• Sauté the onion, pepper, and celery in the olive oil until the onions are slightly browned.
• In a medium bowl, combine the lentils, vegetable sauté, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, parsley, rice, and salt, then mash slightly. Form into small patties.
• Roll in the ground bread crumbs or flour, and refrigerate while preparing the sauce.
• When the sauce is done, pan-fry each patty until nice and brown.
For the Horseradish Sauce:
1/4 cup Vegenaise
1 Tbsp. prepared horseradish
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper, to taste
•In a small bowl, whisk all the ingredients together until blended.
• Serve with the lentil cakes.
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Comments ( 9 )
I love this recipe!! I will have to make this. I think its brillant!!!
Posted by Jay | September 18, 2008 8:21 PM
Posted on September 18, 2008 20:21
This looks delicious! And my husband has been bugging me to make him a vegan version of Arby's "horsey sauce."
Posted by Rita | September 19, 2008 12:52 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 12:52
I loved the taste of the lentils and ate the whole thing by myself. I encountered a problem making the patties (I just ate everything mixed together). I wasn't able to get the patties to stay patties. The fell apart. Any suggestions?
Posted by Liliana Freeman | September 23, 2008 7:28 PM
Posted on September 23, 2008 19:28
What herb is used for garnish in the photo?
Posted by Heidi | September 24, 2008 12:35 PM
Posted on September 24, 2008 12:35
Heidi,
The herb on the cakes is curly parsley.
Liliana,
Hmm, i'm not quite sure why your patties didn't hold up. It is probably an issue of the ratio of liquids to dry ingredients, but I can't really say which needs to be increased with out knowing more about the consistency of your mixture. You could also try letting the patties rest longer, up to 30 minutes, before pan frying.
Hope that helps!
Amy
Posted by Amy | September 24, 2008 2:16 PM
Posted on September 24, 2008 14:16
OMG! this makes my mouth water just thinking about it, can't wait to try this one.
Posted by Helen | September 25, 2008 12:30 AM
Posted on September 25, 2008 00:30
I hope to make this at some point today, I love horseradish sauce :)
Posted by Angela | September 26, 2008 8:44 AM
Posted on September 26, 2008 08:44
My patties didn't stick together either, I just added a little flour to the mixture and then they stuck together better. Really yummy!!!!
Posted by Katie | September 30, 2008 9:40 AM
Posted on September 30, 2008 09:40
hello I write from Chile, I want to cook vegetarian food for my and my small children, I need prescriptions in Spanish.
you have them available in Spanish?
thank you very much
Posted by patricia miranda | October 10, 2008 5:07 PM
Posted on October 10, 2008 17:07