Rice Lentil Polou

The only problem with these beautiful warm fall days we've been having is that the daylight hours are too short. Just when I realize it's a nice day out, it's time to make dinner and then it gets dark.

I pulled this out of the depths of my recipe box a couple weeks ago, made it, and then spent the next two weeks wishing for more. So I made it again last night. It's somehow very satisfying and comforting, reminiscent of rice pudding, but a little more savory. And you can feel good about eating it. I like the way it looks to serve it in one of my lidded casseroles after it's been baking, and it's nice that it can sit for a while before you eat while you finish up the rest of the meal. It makes good leftovers, too. It doesn't quite make a full meal by itself, so I've been making some kind of a curried vegetable side dish. Try the curry roasted butternut squash and chickpeas. I've been making something a little more saucy, like aloo gobi. I got it from the "Laurel's Kitchen" cookbook years ago, liked it, and then forgot about it.

Rice Lentil Polou

1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbs. oil
1 cup raw brown rice (I like Lundberg Farms nutrigrain short grain brown rice for its chewy nuttiness - I usually get it at the co-op, but recently found a bag at Costco)
1/4 cup raw lentils
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth or water (I threw in a cube of Knorr's vegetable bouillon with water)
1 Tbs. tomato paste (I freeze the leftovers in a snack size baggie and then cut off chunks as needed)
1 tsp. salt (I used half because of the bouillon and the bit of salt on my almonds)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup pine-nuts, sunflower seeds or chopped almonds (I used sliced toasted almonds)

Saute onion in 2 Tbs. oil. Add rice and cook, stirring, for several minutes. Add tomato paste, water, cinnamon, and lentils. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, cover tightly, turn heat very low, and simmer for 30 min. Preheat oven to 350. Stir in salt, nuts, and raisins. Coat a baking dish with cooking spray. Pour in rice mixture. Cover and bake for 20-30 minutes. Serves 4-6.