Lentils with Bay Leaves and Thyme

Lentils and beans in the Instapot are the easiest ever. Love them.

Actually, crock pot might rank up there on easiest, mightn’t it? So - equally easy, perhaps, but the Instapot sure is quicker.

One cup of lentils to two cups water: easy enough. 

For those of you who are new to cooking beans or lentils from dried, sort through them - I just do it pouring into my hand a few at a time - because dried beans are so little processed, sometimes there is grit or small rocks in them. (Can you believe it, in this age of processed food, that we still get rocks in our beans? But - yeah.)

Who’s used to cooking with bay leaves? These things take some getting used to. They come in WHOLE LEAVES, you see: you toss them in for flavoring when cooking, and then remove them before eating. 

Toss your two bay leaves in whole, with your lentils and water/broth and plenty of thyme. Set it for the Beans/Chili setting for 8 minutes. 

And there it goes! 

-Make sure you remove those bay leaves when it’s done!

I’m tossing these lentils on top of my quinoa, with some spinach and topped with a dollop of Greek yogurt to make it into a Buddha bowl for lunches this week. But they’d be good as a side, or with rice, or over whatever you like to eat your lentils on.

Bento-box-Buddha-bowls ready to go!

INSTAPOT LENTILS

1cup lentils

2 cups water

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon thyme

Add to Instapot. Set for 8 minutes on Beans/Chili. 

Let stand for 10 minutes then release pressure manually.

Servings: 4

Calories per serving: 110
(Calories for just the lentils, not the Buddha bowls)