five ingredients or less: mujadarrah

It's not much to look at, but the classic Lebanese Mujadarrah is one of my favorite dishes. It works as a side, but also as a vegetarian main course, and it's reasonably healthy in the grand scheme of things. I paired this the other night with the Kafta, which was quite fatty. This is also a recipe that seems to be difficult to screw up, since I messed every step up and it still turned out pretty well. I didn't start with enough water, then overcooked the lentils, then oversalted it, then overcooked the rice. It was kind of a mushy mess in the end, but we still ate it. A ton of it. The best part is the subtle sweetness from the onions, which goes so nicely with the meatiness of the lentils. I was guesstimating amounts, for the most part, so I apologize for the vagueness of the recipe, but like I said, it's hard to really screw this up. Recipe after the jump:

MUJADARRAH
4 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
1 cup green lentils
1/2 cup long grain white rice
salt and pepper, to taste

Place lentils in a medium sauce pan and add enough lightly salted water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low and let simmer about 10 minutes. Add the rice and additional water, if necessary, to just cover. Return to a boil, then again reduce to a simmer and cover for about 15-20 minutes, until rice and lentils are tender but not mushy.

In a medium skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside until rice and lentils are cooked. Mix about 2/3 of the onions into the lentil and rice mixture, then top with the remaining onions to serve.