Historically, I haven’t liked lentils. I’ve wanted to but I literally could not like them. I mean, lentils? Blech!!! Vegetarians are always talking about how you can use them instead of ground meat and it tastes just as good and every time I’ve tried, it’s been, “Um no, these are lentils. You can’t fool me.” But they are cheap, have a long shelf life, and are a zero waste “pantry staple” so I’ve decided to make it my mission to find some lentil recipes that we actually like. Hence my Google search “lentil recipes for people who don’t like lentils.” One of the first recipes to pop up was this one from the food blog It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken. After reading the comments of “even my husband liked it and he hates lentils,” I decided this was the recipe for us to try. And it was good! And quick and easy! And most of it was ingredients I already had on hand!

Here are my tips:

• Add more salt: I added an extra teaspoon or 2 of salt plus an extra tablespoon or so of soy sauce.
• I definitely used the 3 tablespoons of brown sugar.
• Be aware of your family’s spicy meter when adding the crushed red peppers.
• If you don’t already know how to peel ginger root with a spoon, it’s life changing. All you do is scrape the side edge of a spoon along the ginger peel and it comes right off. It’s so easy and makes using fresh ginger not at all intimidating.
• This was great served with steamed broccoli that had been salted and sprinkled with fresh grated Parmesan. (I promise I make other veggie sides than steamed Parmesan broccoli but when it is so beloved by all, it does get made a lot.)

In the past couple of years as I have become more adventurous with my cooking, I’ve found that some of us have more similar palettes than others. Something that can be “the best” to one person, I will make exactly as instructed and it’s just not very good to me. So here is my last unsolicited tip to you, just keep tasting it as you cook. You will learn when to add more salt or spice or acid. Don’t be afraid to go off script. I have found that most times, when I don’t make it exactly as written, it tastes so much better to me and my family.

Anyway, if the first paragraph of this post rang true for you, give this recipe a whirl and see if you can also start your list of “lentil recipes I actually like.”