Author: I WON I WON I WON! I'm so subtle, I know. I'm sure you have heard by now, but if not, Canadian Lentils chose me, along with 4 other awesome bloggers to go film a cooking show in P.E.I. with Food Network Star Chef Michael Smith. Oh boy, was that an experience!
My entry was this YouTube video where I featured one of my favourite lentil recipes, Lentil Tacos with Avocado Cilantro Sauce. Apparently, the recipe and my quirky personality were well received, as before I knew it, I was on a terrifying little plane on my way to see Chef Michael Smith.
A full day of filming was dedicated to just little ol' me! At first, I wondered how in the world, it would take so long to film a 15 minute recipe, but the day quickly flew by.
Filming in front of this giant crew and eight (yes eight) cameras pointing at me, was such a fun/stressful/scary/amazing/exciting/awkward experience... and I absolutely loved it. Someone give me a cooking show please. I want to do this all the time!
That's not to say it was easy, because it certainly wasn't.
The director and Chef Michael Smith would give me a 627 instructions (or something like that): look here, say this, don't say that, don't talk about what you're doing, but talk about something, don't say that you are chopping an onion, tell me why you're chopping an onion... "errr... so that it's chopped?"
It went on like that. Then they follow up all of these instructions by saying "act natural". See how natural I am ↓↓↓ haha! 😁
I would be chopping up an extremely underripe mango (apparently the camera can't tell) and then suddenly someone would run in to do a close-up of my mango chopping skills (which are hugely lacking p.s.).
Meanwhile, I'm inching away from the camera afraid of injuring the expensive technology with Michael's large chef knife and the camera man keeps chasing me getting closer and closer to my awkward chopping.
Regardless of my chopping skills, and lack of knowing what to say, I seemed to work my way through filming, and I was even able to break the entire crew at one point and make them all burst into laughter when they weren't supposed to. FINALLY!!
Hardest part for sure was that there was a roomful of people that I was having a completely one-sided conversation with. I literally couldn't tell if anyone was remotely interested in what I was yabbering on about, because they couldn't respond.
At least I know that everyone enjoyed the food. After every cut, the crew would swarm my tacos and quickly devour them all. Wooing the world one delicious vegan meal at a time. Muhahaha!
I can't reveal all the secrets, because there were some fun (and slightly evil) surprises they had in store for us, but I just can't wait to see/ I am terrified to see the final videos!
Update: You can now see the final video here.
Isn't that a lovely looking crew?? It's so much fancier than the crew I am used to (me, myself, and I).
To celebrate the end of the festivities, Chef Michael Smith taught me how to use a knife to cut the top off of a champagne bottle.
A big thank you to Ethan from Food Bloggers of Canada for taking all of these photos (and driving my hungover self around P.E.I. the day after the shoot).. what... champagne... And to Rachel from Canadian Lentils for filming this video (and just generally being awesome).
I wanted to share a recipe in celebration of this super fun event, and since I already posted the Lentil Tacos with Avocado Cilantro Sauce, I decided to make a brand spanking new lentil recipe, cause can you ever have too many lentils? The answer is no.
So here we go my friends. All you need is 15 minutes, a few go-to ingredients, and boom, flavour-packed Sweet Korean Lentils are on the table. These lentils are sweet and mildly spiced, a serious nod to Korean BBQ.
These Sweet Korean Lentils reminds me of when I lived in LA, and my roommate Ashely and I would frequent this little Korean restaurant. They always served this sweet and tangy beef. Now obvi I wasn't going to make that, but this is why I love lentils, anywhere a recipe calls for ground beef, you can pretty much sub lentils. A much healthier and friendlier option, and oh so delicious.
To make Sweet Korean Lentils: mix all the sauciness together. Um, hello delicious looking sauce!
Sauté up some onion.
Side note: Are you supposed to use signed wooden spoons, or are you supposed to display them? I decided the spoon would have a lot more love and appreciation if it was used in my daily life, so I am going to cook with it. My mom sometimes wishes I was more sentimental... oops.
Now add your lentils and sauciness to the pan.
Cover and simmer for around 10 minutes until the lentils are cooked and tender, and most of the sauce is absorbed.
Serve over rice and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. I also used this as a lettuce wrap filling and my oh my it was scrumptious.
A big final thank you to Canadian Lentils and Chef Michael Smith for having me. ❤️
Bon Appetegan my friends.
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Sweet Korean Lentils
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Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 2 cups water
- ¼ cup soy sauce (or gluten free tamari)
- 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic,, minced
- 1 inch piece of ginger,, minced
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
For the Lentils:
- 1 tablespoon light oil, (such as canola, vegetable, or peanut oil)
- ½ yellow onion,, chopped
- 1 cup red lentils
- 2 green onions,, chopped
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- Cooked rice for serving
Instructions
- In a medium bow, mix together all the sauce ingredients.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, then add the onion and sauté for a few minutes until the onion softens and begins to brown. Now add the lentils and the sauce. Cover and bring to a gentle simmer until the lentils are cooked and tender, and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Serve by spooning over rice, and garnishing with the green onions and sesame seeds.
Nutrition
⭐ Did You Make This Recipe?
I’d love if you left a rating and comment, it helps others find the recipe and makes my day! 💕Bon appetegan!
Sam.
Andrea says
pretty quick to make. Picky eater here and new to lentils - it's very good. I'm new to lentils and not vegetarian. I did a separate pan with beef, some of the onions and made 1/3 of the sauce recipe. I did the lentils recipe as stated above and put the beef on top after it was done. it all went on top of rice. I will NOT be telling my boyfriend what lentils are. It's just too good to let any biases not make him try it
Sam Turnbull @ It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken says
Haha I love this!! So happy you enjoyed it, Andrea! 🙂
DawnMM says
Looking for a delicious new recipe for red lentils, I'm so pleased I found this one. Absolutely delicious!!! I sauted in an instant pot and pressure cooked for 3 minutes, leaving for natural release for 10. I added a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes and 20g of tomato paste (reducing the water to 300ml for 200g of lentils) and it was the perfect consistency for me, not too loose or mushy. I also added 3x more garlic, ginger and onions (as I usually do for most recipes!), with 10g of chilli flakes for the right amount of heat. With a portion of peas and air fried salmon, this was perfect for lunch, with plenty of leftovers for the freezer. Although I'll reduce the sugar to 15-20 next time as it was sweet enough for me (especially eating it with peas), I will certainly be making this again, and again, and AGAIN! Thank you!
Sam Turnbull @ It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken says
Amazing!! So happy you loved it, Dawn! 🙂
Julian says
Easy, tasty, fairly quick. One of my favourites.
Sam Turnbull @ It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken says
So glad you enjoyed it Julian! 😊