Lebanese Mujadara with Crispy Onions and Farmers-Market Tomato and Herb Salad

Simmer the lentils in 4 cups of unsalted water for 15 minutes, until just tender but still holding their shape. Drain, saving 2 cups of the cooking liquid.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups brown or green lentils, picked over and rinsed
• 1 cup long-grain rice, rinsed until the water runs clear
• 3 large yellow onions, halved and sliced thin
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• Salt and black pepper
• 3 ripe farmers-market tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, torn
• Juice of 1 lemon, plus wedges to serve
• Plain yogurt, to serve

Instructions

1. Simmer the lentils in 4 cups of unsalted water for 15 minutes, until just tender but still holding their shape. Drain, saving 2 cups of the cooking liquid.
2. While they cook, fry the onions: heat the olive oil in a wide heavy pot over medium and add the sliced onions with a good pinch of salt. This takes 20 to 25 minutes and you cannot rush it.
3. Stir often as they go from limp to gold to deep mahogany. Pull out about a third of them onto paper towels when they are crisp and dark — these are the garnish, and they will keep crisping as they cool.
4. Add the cumin and allspice to the onions left in the pot and let them bloom in the hot oil for 30 seconds.
5. Stir in the drained lentils and the rinsed rice, then pour in the reserved lentil liquid plus enough water to cover everything by about half an inch. Season well with salt and pepper.
6. Bring to a boil, then drop to the lowest heat, cover, and cook 18 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the lid on for another 10 minutes to steam.
7. Toss the tomatoes, cucumber, parsley and mint with the lemon juice, a splash of olive oil and salt just before serving so the salad stays crisp.
8. Fluff the mujadara with a fork, pile it onto a platter, crown it with the reserved crispy onions, and serve warm or at room temperature with the salad, yogurt and lemon wedges.
9. Mujadara is the dish that gave rise to the Levantine saying about selling a birthright for a pot of lentils, and it has stayed a staple for the same reason it started as one: it costs almost nothing and eats like something far richer. The whole trick lives in the onions. Half of them dissolve into the pot and sweeten the grain from within; the other half stay crisp on top. Lebanese cooks serve it at room temperature as often as hot, which makes it a genuinely good August lunch — cook it in the cool of the morning and let the tomato salad, cut at the last minute, do the refreshing.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 480 kcal
• Protein: 16g
• Fat: 18g
• Carbohydrates: 66g
• Fiber: 12g
• Sugar: 7g
• Sodium: 390mg