Red lentils and rhubarb with Indian spices

A savory rhubarb dish? This is a little odd, but pretty good. I don't think I'd make it every week, but I'd make once every rhubarb season. It certainly is healthy!

The recipe here is pretty much a half recipe of this recipe . That, in turn, is apparently from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian .

1/2 cup dried lentils, washed and picked through for any defective ones 2 stalks rhubarb, diced into 1/4" pieces 1 tbsp. minced fresh ginger 1 tbsp. minced garlic 2 cardamom pods 1/2 tbsp. mustard seeds 1 whole clove (the spice, not garlic) 1 dried mild chile (the recipe calls for ancho; I used California), seeds removed and diced salt freshly ground black pepper

Add all of the ingredients to a saucepan and add water to cover by 1/2" or a little more. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to simmer.

Cook for 20 - 30 minutes until the lentils are soft and it's not too soupy. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste. It would probably be good to pick out the clove, but I couldn't find mine.

Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve with rice.

It's vegan (and therefore also vegetarian, dairy-free and lactose-free). It's also gluten-free. It's also non-fat, as there isn't even any cooking oil in it. Lentils are high in protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals, including iron. So I guess maybe I should make this more often!

From caloriecount.about.com (not including the rice):