Mejadra (Lentils, Rice, and Onions)

This is a dish my mom makes for my family.  It's a Middle Eastern dish that contains rice, lentils, and onions.  In this recipe I deconstructed it to make it a little healthier and easy for the non-cook.  You can have the lentils and the onions alone or on top of rice, white or brown, or even quinoa!  I bet it even would be great over a salad too!  Here's a link to Wikipedia to read more about this dish and where it comes from etc.

Mejadra
(serves 2-3)


1/2 cup dry lentils (I used a variety of lentils)
1/2 of a large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups of cooked rice or quinoa (I used 1 Uncle Ben's Ready Brown Rice Pouch)

Boil the lentils in a pot for about 20 minutes until tender, drain and put aside. In another pot saute the chopped onions with the olive oil on low heat for about 15 minutes.  Keep an eye on the onions and mix them around every few minutes.  They should be a dark brown, see photo. Pour the cooked lentils into the pot of the sauteed onions and add the salt and pepper.  Add the cooked rice to the pot, stir, and serve!!  Enjoy!

Sauteed onions

Cooked lentils

Mix it together

And...It's as easy as that!!  All you need to do now is mix it with cooked rice and enjoy!

Burrito Bites

All you need is wonton wrappers and the ingredients from my Laughing Planet Burritos. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, make sure they are not warm. Next spoon filling into the center of each wonton wrapper. Make a triangle shape and seal the sides using water. This process takes some time, but the end result is worth it! These Burrito Bites would be great for a finger food party or even a snack for children!

To cook the Burrito Bites I first sprayed a pan with olive oil or non stick spray. Then place about 6-8 wontons in the pan and let cook on one side for a minute of two. Flip the wontons to the other side. Now take some water and pour a little in the pan to steam the wontons. Be sure to cover the pan so you don't get splattered with hot water and oil!!! After about 3 minutes the wontons are done. Enjoy them with some of your favorite salsa!

Laughing Planet Style Burritos

I went to college at Indiana University of Bloomington. During my years in Bloomington I discovered one of the best burrito restaurants I ever ate. I don't think I even ate burritos before this time. Everything was organic and freshly made to order. The restaurant is called the Laughing Planet Cafe. I would eat there at least twice a week. What I loved about the burrito was that it had brown rice rather than spanish rice inside. I don't like spanish rice in my burritos. When I graduated from IU, I was very sad to leave Laughing Planet burritos behind, but luckily I got to go back for homecoming the following year!

When I did come back the year after graduating I told my friends that I was going to find a way to bring some burritos back to NYC. There was no way that I would leave Bloomington without a burrito or 2 or 10! I actually did bring back 10 burritos. I carried them in a lunch box and even got stopped at airport security with them. They asked me to see what was inside and I have to say I was pretty embarrassed. One of my friends does have a picture of this day, however, I need to get it scanned to my computer. (If any of you have it, please send it my way!)

So the burritos and I got back to NYC safely and from that day on for lunch or dinner I ate one of the burritos. They were delicious still! Last year I had the chance to go back to Bloomington once more for my friend's bachelorette party and of course we had a meal at Laughing Planet. I got the black bean and spinach burrito! Ohhhhh did I miss it!

There just isn't a place in NYC that is like Laughing Planet, at least none that I have found. I like to be able to hold my burritos without my hands getting dirty, like brown rice and fresh ingredients in them too! I used to like Burritoville that was the closest I ever got but then the one on the upper east side closed down! If you know of any good burritos in NYC please leave me a comment. Until then I will be eating my own version, that comes pretty darn close to Laughing Planet. The calorie count for my burrito was a total of about 515 calories and 22 grams of protein! That's a great lunch or dinner option! Here's my version...

The Ingredients: 1/2 cup brown rice, 1/4 cup mexican cheese blend, 1/4 of an avocado, 1 wheat wrap, sauteed spinach with Pam Spray, 1/2 cup black beans, and salsa (as much as you like)

All the ingredients for the filling was already warm when placed in the wrap (spinach, beans, and rice). The burrito after I folded it like a fool. The problem was that my wrap was to small and my fillings were too much for the wrap I used. It didn't really matter though because I was careful when I flipped it in the pan, so nothing came out. See photo. The key is to keep it together in the pan to get crunchy, if you can succeed doing that then you will be golden!

After both sides were crunchy and the filling was warmed through I wrapped the whole burrito with aluminum foil. I tried to get it nice and tight in the foil so that it wouldn't fall apart as I ate it.

I have to say that usually I'd want a side of guacamole to eat it with, but putting the avocado inside the burrito saved me a step and actually tasted wonderful! I liked how it got all warm and mushy, avocado in each bite!