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: Koko from Koko's Kitchen, Lalitha from Taylor Nutrition, Trudy from Eat Live Play, and Adam from Kook Channel, 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.
Sweet Korean Lentils
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
Bon appetegan!
Sam.
Heather says
Super easy and very tasty! We really enjoyed it. Thank You
Sonya says
This was delicious! I did not have sesame oil and used brown/green lentils it was so good over steamed rice with chopsticks with a side of seaweed wrapped mori-nu firm tofu!
Kim says
Based on the reviews I thought this would be a slam dunk and I doubled the recipe. After 10 minutes there was still way too much liquid. So I continued to simmer and my red lentils turned to mush. The flavor was good, but not enough. If I were to make this again I would use half a cup less of the water in the recipe. That would make it more flavorful and you wouldn’t have to cook down the liquid for so long leaving mushy lentils. That just my two cents.
Kelly says
The recipe calls for green lentils, not red. Red are known to get mushy after cooking.
Kelly says
Sorry...I looked at green onions below and misread it at green lentils. Whoops.
Natalie says
I don't think so.. in the ingredients list, it calls for red lentils. I checked like 3 times to make sure I wasn't going crazy!
Kelly says
Yes, that's what my second comment was...I accidentally misread it as green lentils (I was looking at green onions). I'm going to make it today with red lentils so I hope it turns out. 🙂
MFla says
Mine too were a big liquid mess. Way too much liquid. Mine look nothing like the photo snd I timed it carefully.
Sophie says
I’m with you Kim. I made this for the first time tonight. I was sure that this recipe would be a keeper. Lots of nice touches like fresh garlic and ginger and sesame oil but honestly, I won’t be making this again. Too much liquid for the lentils and everything just turned to mush anyway. I’d totally transform the recipe we’re I to choose to make it again. It’s been on my “make as soon as you can” list for ages and unfortunately it was a terrible disappointment. I do love some of her other stuff and in fact, I’ve learned to love tofu again thanks to her recipes. But this one? Not a winner.
Cathie says
I have made this MANY times and I add even more water, otherwise I don’t have enough sauce
Arlene says
Does anyone know how big an inch of Ginger is? Is it an inch by an inch? Is it an inch as wide as the whole Ginger?
Sam Turnbull says
A little more or a little less won't really matter much, but picture a 1 inch cube. 🙂
Arlene says
Thank you. I'm loving your book....and up until now I haven't liked cooking at all.
Lisa says
I love this recipe!!! It's delicious! My sister made this for me recently, and it's now my favorite lentil dish. I made it for the first time yesterday & served it over quinoa instead of rice. 🙂
Stephanie Gen says
I made these for the first time last night and omg. OMG! They were so good that my omni husband ate almost the entire pan leaving me just enough for lunch today. Sweet, hearty, savory, and filling and that's coming from somebody that isn't the biggest fan of lentils. solid 12/10
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! Amazing!! 🙂
Laura says
Just tried this recipe, since I’m working my way through all the recipes in your recent book. Anyway, it was delicious! After a short explanation of how lentils are good for your body, my simi-picky eater ate it! Definitely a happy moment for me. I also made a ton of simple vegetable sides to go with it incase he wasn’t going to try it, but it was so nice to see him take a second bite of a new food.
Keri says
Thank you!!! This is amazing!! I was even able to double for extended family today. This is a gift! Thank you!!!
Anat Zamberg says
Tasty and super easy. The kind of recopies I love. Thank you.
Pia says
I love this recipe! I always accompany them with a sunny side up egg on top. Been making them every Monday for months now. My husband who is not a lentil lover devours them every time! Thanks for the great recipe
Wade French says
We love this recipe in my family! It is so simple, easy, delicious, and satisfying; seriously, rice and lentils can really fill you up.
I made a video talking about these Sweet Korean Lentils along with a few of my other favorite vegetarian recipes and I would love it if you checked it out
Toni says
Tasty and easy recipe. I substituted small green lentils for the red and simmered them longer, about 45 minutes. Served over sliced raw green cabbage with a spoonful of kimchi on top. Delicious!
Sara BETH Kreidberg-ortenzio says
Quick question about the lentils- did you have to add more water since they cooked longer
Stefanissima says
I used brown lentils, on a low simmer for 50 minutes, and I needed to add about 1/2 cup more water. They were so good!
Zen Kuszka says
Great dish even for us meat eaters. Ran out of lentils so I made 3 rum and cokes. Delish!
Yan K. Menuts says
kNOWING YOU, iT WAS PROBABLY 3 OR 4 BOTTLES!
Jane says
This was delicious! So much flavour. It will become a regular on our menu! Would be great in lettuce cups.
Michelle says
WOW! These were really wonderful! I made them exactly as directed, and the only thing I will change next time is - double the recipe! Since the beginning of 2020, our family of 4 (including a 17 year old daughter and picky 13 year old son) has been trying to eat more vegan meals. This one was a home run, and all four of us were scraping the bowl more more. I served it with a side of bok choy - and I will making more of your recipes! Thank you!
Shannon says
This recipe was truly delicious! It made plenty for a couple of quick lunches to carry to work and I will be making this one A LOT going forward.
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful! SO happy you enjoyed!
Sheila McEown says
So I made this two nights in a row at the request of my non vegan husband. So quick and easy and so much flavour!
Nancy Morin says
This is my new favorite recipe! I tried it for the first time a few weeks ago and loved it. I made it again yesterday, but doubled the recipe - and I'm only cooking for myself!
Melissa says
Can we use lentils from a can? I don’t have any dried lentils left but really want to try this recipe?
Thanks
Leanne says
I will definitely be making this recipe again. I did substitute a tsp sriracha for the crushed red pepper flakes as I didn't have any.
Stacey Parzik says
Delicious! I did use green lentils and it took 35-40 minutes as other comments stated. I mixed with a little leftover quinoa and ate as lettuce wraps. Very tasty and filling.