Strange Bedfellows

I would never in a million years have thought to combine lentils with simmered fruit, onions and garlic. Even typing it here it doesn't sound good. Trust me, it's delicious. I have a whole room full of co-workers who will say the same thing.
I got the recipe idea from my great big book of everything vegetarian (again) and then switched out some ingredients to make it my own. (again)

Fruity Lentils

4 servings 256 calories 38 from fat.

these are about 1.5 cup servings, so if you wanted to downsize the portions to 1 cup, and get 6 servings, you'd have 171 calorie servings.

• 2/3 cup lentils
• 4 cups water
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium apple, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 pineapple, coarsely chopped
• 3 plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 medium (almost ripe) banana, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt

Place the lentils (you can use green lentils, or pinto beans too) and water in a pan, bring to a boil reduce heat and simmer about 40 minutes, don't let the lentils get mushy. Drain lentils, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, heat the coconut oil (recipe called for double the amount of vegetable oil, but I didn't see the need, and coconut oil tastes so much better) add the onion and garlic and cook until just starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the apple and cook until golden.  add the pineapple and cook until warmed through, Stir in the lentils, add some of the cooking liquid if it seems too thick. Add the tomatoes and banana, stirring to combine the flavors. Season to taste with the cayenne and salt. The measurements I used were approximate. Garnish it with some fresh cilantro, and serve warm.

Go ahead, try it...

Alisha xoxoxo