Lentil and its species

While in the past, practically only "ordinary" brown lentils were available here, now we can choose from other types as well. Among the most famous are red lentils, but yellow, green, orange or black lentils are also available.

Brown lentils have the largest seeds and are therefore the most commonly used - they are easy to harvest and less work to process because they do not peel. Other types of lentils have smaller grains and peel off, which is why they are also more expensive.

How to prepare different types of lentils

Like other legumes, lentils should be soaked in water before cooking. Thanks to the smaller beans, however, this time is significantly shorter than, for example, with large beans, and it can be shortened even more if we use hot water from a kettle. Then just rinse the lens and you can start cooking.

The advantage of other types of lenses is that they do not need to be pre-soaked. The popular red lentil soup is cooked in a few minutes compared to the classic lentil soup.

Among the most famous recipes are brown lentils for sour with egg or lentil soup . These classic recipes can also be prepared with other types of lentils, such as black lentils with smoked meat or red lentil soup.

However, it is also worth trying cold preparation of lentils - boiled grains can be mixed into salads or excellent lentil spreads .

Lentils are in 3rd place in the amount of vegetable proteins contained and therefore are very popular in vegetarian, vegan and fitness recipes. If you want to use lentils in a healthy way, prepare some of the light lentil dishes .

Legumes are very popular in Asia, especially in India, where a significant percentage of vegetarians live. Oriental lentils can be part of various curries, or you can mix them into cooked rice as a healthier side dish.

Health benefits of lentils

Lentils inevitably belong to the diet of athletes, bodybuilders and dieters, but they can be beneficial for everyone:

  • thanks to the high content of soluble and insoluble fiber, it has a beneficial effect on digestion and bowel activity
  • contains a large amount of iron necessary to prevent anemia or hyperactivity
  • contains folic acid, which is especially necessary during pregnancy
  • contains provitamin A and vitamins B, C, E
  • is a source of calcium
  • helps with the excretion of bile and harmful cholesterol
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