Koshari Deluxe

Total Time: 2 hrs 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 3/4 cup brown lentils
• 5 cups water
• salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup fideo vermicelli
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup rice (i used basmati)
• 1 3/4 cups water (or vegie or chicken broth)
• salt, to taste
• fresh cilantro, for garnish (my addition-for color)
• 2 large onions, thinly slivered
• 2 -4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 (14 -16 ounce) can whole tomatoes (use fresh toms when in season)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt
• 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
• salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/3 cup wine vinegar (recipe didn't specify which, but i used red wine vinegar)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 -2 serrano chili, seeded and minced

Recipe

• 1 prepare the tomato salsa and green chili vinaigrette first to allow them to marinate.
• 2 tomato salsa: lightly sautè the chopped onion in the olive oil on medium heat. add the garlic and cook another minute to avoid burning.
• 3 place the mixture in a food processor or blender along with the tomatoes. puree to desired consistency.
• 4 place the salsa mixture back in the pan. stir in the cumin and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• 5 simmer, covered about 15 minutes. set salsa aside to cool to room temperature.
• 6 green chili vinaigrette: combine all ingredients and stir well.
• 7 koshari: in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the lentils until very tender. drain well.
• 8 heat up the olive oil in a large pan on medium heat and brown the fideo vermicelli and rice, stirring well to coat with the oil. reduce heat if necessary to avoid burning.
• 9 pour in 1 3/4 cups water (or vegie broth or chicken broth) and add salt to taste.
• 10 reduce heat, cover and simmer until tender for about 20 minutes.
• 11 meanwhile, cook the slivered onions in 2-4 tablespoons of olive oil until the onions are caramelized a dark golden brown and crisp. remove from heat and set aside.
• 12 to serve, place the rice/fideo vermicelli mixture on a large serving platter. another option: the rice/fideo/lentils can be combined then arranged on the platter.
• 13 spoon the drained, cooked lentils around the rice. top the rice with the caramelized onion and garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.
• 14 transfer the spicy tomato sauce and green chili vinaigrette into separate bowls.
• 15 each person spoons some of the spicy tomato sauce and green chili vinaigrette onto their serving of rice/lentils.
• 16 servings are estimated.