Deliziosa marinato lenticchie, aka delicious marinated lentils 🇮🇹

This recipe (especially the lentils) feed our good gut bacteria which helps stabilize blood sugar, boosts immune system and aids in smooth running digestion. This is a great recipe to prep on Sunday to eat throughout the week on baked sweet potatoes, lettuce wraps, flour tortillas or as a protein/antioxidant/vitamin rich side.

Italian Marinated Lentils

4 SERVINGS - 10 MINUTE PREP - 20 MINUTE TOTAL

Ingredients:

✔️ 1 cup green lentils

✔️handful of sun-dried tomatoes (rehydrate in a bowl of water in the microwave or on the stove for 2 minutes)

✔️1/2 cucumber, diced (or whole)

✔️red pepper, diced

✔️4 green onions, chopped

Sauce:

✔️2 Tbsp tahini or olive oil

✔️2.5 tsp red wine vinegar

✔️1.5 Tbsp lemon juice (fresh)

✔️1 tsp maple syrup

✔️1 tsp Dijon mustard

✔️1/4-1/2 tsp salt/pepper

✔️1/2 tsp dried basil

✔️pinch of red pepper flakes

✔️super soft baked sweet potatoes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Rinse sweet potatoes and add to baking sheet. Cook for 1 hour (best to have this done already) or until super soft. You can also microwave them for 5-6 minutes in a pinch, just fork some holes in them first before microwaving.

2. Rinse lentils and then add to a pot of water. Fill water 1 inch or so above lentils. You can save a step by adding the sun dried tomatoes in with the lentils to rehydrate them. Bring pot to a boil then lower to a simmer and cook until tender 18 min or so. Drain lentils once tender but not mushy. If your sun-dried tomatoes are whole you will want to chop them into bite size pieces before adding them into the mixture in the next step..

3. I like to chop my veggies and make my sauce while lentils cook. Add chopped veggies and lentils to a bowl. If you haven’t already rehydrate sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl of water in the microwave for 1-2 minutes and then chop into bite size pieces and add to the bowl.

4. Whisk up the sauce, add to the bowl and mix well. Stuff inside the baked sweets when you are ready to eat otherwise keep lentils cover in your fridge for up to 5 days.