The Rug Merchant - Comfort Lentils and Rice

At home, Ushman makes rice and lentils. As he and Farak did when they had many people for dinner, he sits on the rug in the living room, with his bowl in his lap. There is a soccer match on TV. The game keeps him company. He accepts his loneliness with resolve. It is familiar to him. There are no surprises in it.

-The Rug Merchant by Meg Mullins

Aside from living vicariously through other people's sadness, it has been a while since I have experienced my own permeating melancholy. So when I sit here wondering what food it is that I prefer to have when I am swimming in the blues, I come up empty-handed. There was a time when I'd go out and buy myself chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, and a good amount of string cheese - but these days I'd like to think that I'd choose a healthier fare like Ushman did.

I normally make lentils as a soup with tomatoes, so I was definitely interested in expanding my horizons. I scoured the internet for Iranian lentils and rice recipes, and finally came across Persian Lentil Rice. I used the recipe mainly as a guide, as I didn't have some ingredients on hand and I forgot others. The end result was probably not what it was supposed to be, but it did come across as a comfort food.

Comfort Lentils and Rice

• 1 cup lentils, sorted and rinsed
• 1 cup jasmine rice (the original recipe called for basmati, but I bought jasmine by accident instead)
• 1 cup ground beef or ground beef substitute (I used Gimme Lean Ground Beef Style)
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• Light cooking oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Soak the rice in water for about 3-4 hours. After it has soaked cook it in salted for 10-15 minutes until it is tender. Do not overcook it, otherwise it will be mush. If it is still watery when it is done cooking, drain it and allow it to sit for a few minutes.

Cook the lentils for about 25 minutes in salted water until the desired tenderness. Keep in mind that you will be cooking the lentils a little more a little bit later, but they should be close to the consistency that you like.

Sautee onions in a tablespoon or two of cooking oil until they start to turn slightly golden. Add the ground beef or beef substitute and salt and pepper, and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

If you are using Gimme Lean Ground Beef Style, you may want to consider using a potato masher to get it to break up into smaller pieces.

In a medium to large cooking pot add 1/2 cup of water and about a tablespoon of oil. Add to this half of the rice, followed by the lentils and meat mixture, and finally put the rest of the rice on top. Allow this to cook over low heat for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Take the pot off the heat and mix well, then serve.

When tasting this I knew that something was missing. In fact, there were a few things missing. The original recipe called for raisins, dates, and saffron. I kept the raisins and dates out purposefully, thinking I would add them into my own dish later as my husband is not fond of sweet and savory flavors mixing in a main dish. I did try to find saffron at my local grocery store, but had no luck, so that, too, was missing. In the end I forgot the raisins and dates entirely, and wound up putting a healthy dash or two of Killer Cajun Seasoning from Garlic Gourmay on the mixture.

I am not sure that I will try to make this again. It was very time-consuming and involved, and the flavors were too bland for my taste. Then again, if I made this closer to what the original recipe called for (red lentils, basmati rice, saffron, raisins, and dates) I might not be so disappointed.