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Soaking lentils play a critical part in my traditional cooking repertoire. Low in phytic acid and other anti-nutrients, lentils require only a quick soak before they are ready to cook – unlike beans. If you sometimes have trouble digesting beans like I do, even when properly soaked and cooked, lentils are a wonderful alternative.
There are 3 types of lentils: green, brown, and red. I typically use green lentils as they hold their shape very well after cooking, but I have recently found the red lentil to be simply delightful in soups.
When combined in a dish with homemade stock as shown in this week’s video, lentils make an economical, nutritious alternative to meat. The gallon of lentil soup I make in this video only costs about $5 – and I used organic vegetables and organic lentils! This is about 25 cents a serving!
Even the cheapest fast food can’t beat that!
In tough economic times, incorporating lots of lentils into your meals is a smart way to keep the food budget in check without sacrificing anything in nutrition!
Incidentally, Dr. Weston A. Price considered lentils to be the most nutritious of all legumes as they are loaded with potassium,, calcium, zinc, iron, and B vitamins. I first learned this at the 2007 Wise Traditions Conference during Sally Fallon Morell’s talk on “Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner’. The soup recipe I show you how to make in this video is an adaptation of the lentil soup recipe Sally discussed during that seminar.
I hope you enjoy it as much as my family has over the past few years!
Why Bother Soaking Lentils?
As discussed in the video above, soaking lentils prior to cooking significantly enhances the nutritional value of these tasty legumes. It is a process similar to soaking nuts.
In fact, healthy traditional cultures took great care to soak seeds of all kinds before eating.
Lentils are seeds too!
Soaking virtually eliminates hard to digest lectins, which can cause discomfort and encourage weight gain in some people.
If time is a concern, you can soak large batches of lentils, rinse/low temperature dry and then freeze. This way, when you want to make a recipe using lentils, you can just grab some out of the freezer and cook immediately rather than have to wait several hours or overnight to soak some first.
If you wish to save even more time, you can skip the step requiring soaking lentils and use sprouted lentils instead. I have actually switched over to using sprouted lentils most of the time now that quality organic ones are available at the health food store.
You can use either organic sprouted green lentils or the sprouted lentils trio (black, red, and green lentils). The trio is my favorite.
Be sure to never use the water from soaked beans, lentils, or any other legume for cooking. This modern practice, known as aquafaba, is not traditional. Worse, it is risky to your digestive health.
Soaked Lentils Recipe
Simple recipe for soaking lentils and other legumes to neutralize anti-nutrients so once cooked, their full nutritional value can be enjoyed.
Ingredients
- 3 cups dried lentils green, black or red, preferably organic
- 3 Tbl liquid whey
Instructions
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Put lentils in a large pot and fill with filtered water.
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Stir in liquid whey, put lid on the pot and leave on the counter for about 7 hours but no more than 18.
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Drain soaking water and rinse drain lentils again.
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Your lentils are now ready for cooking and you may use them in whatever dish you choose or proceed to the next step to make lentil soup.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Red lentils basically disintegrate after cooking, so only soak them for use in soup recipes.
Apple cider vinegar or lemon juice may be substituted for the liquid whey.
This recipe works for split peas too!
Recipes Using Soaked Lentils
Once you have a pot of soaked lentils ready, try using them as a base for this curried lentil soup.
Another recipe to try using soaked lentils is German lentil soup.
Reference
Hi Joy, curry powder will work as well. Glad you are enjoying the blog!
I’m assuming curry powder will work just fine instead of paste. The lentils are soaking now! Thanks for the idea. I LOVE your blog! (and I follow quite a few real food blogs, so I’d like to think that means you’re extra special. 🙂 )
Wonderful video Sarah! My daughter and I enjoy it and many others greatly. Hoping for more videos from you as they help us to see how these cooking methods are done. You inspire me to keep going!!!
Cutting onions without tears: http://www.wikihow.com/Chop-Onions-Without-Tears
Hi Jen, sprouting your lentils is terrific! It does add substantial nutrition but does not cut phytic acid significantly according to Rami Nagel. A brief soak in addition to the sprouting would be suggested.
What about sprouting lentils? I usually sprout them for a couple days if I remember. I know it increases vit C and other nutrients, but how much of a benefit does it provide over a 1 day soak?
you can get liquid whey from A. Vogel Bioforce products under the name of “Molkesan”, not to mention other great products for health. http://www.avogel.co.uk or http://www.bioforceusa.com, or check at the local health food store.
Sarah, thanks for all you do….you are awesome….
Lentils are ok on GAPS unlike most beans.
Do you know if lentils ok on GAPS diet?
Hi Olga, I use plastic half gallon containers for freezing soups and stocks. If they aren’t heated put in the dishwasher, or scratched with metal utensils (I use wood utensils when dealing with plastic containers) then any leeching of the plastic is greatly minimized or even eliminated. Glass mason jars work great too, but you have to be careful to leave enough room at the top or the glass will crack.
Thank you, Sarah!