Instant Pot Mexican Taco Lentils. V. GF.

Mexican taco lentils.

This week we weren’t able to partake in Taco Tuesday due to an away swim meet so Wednesday it was!  We aren’t fans of missing our favorite cuisine.  So Wednesday I had a much needed day off & was excited to create a meat substitute for our taco bar.  I took a traditionally Indian lentil and did a bit of Mexican fusion by adding salsa and roasted poblanos.  These lentils came out perfectly & cooking in the Instant Pot made this dish exponentially easier.

These lentils would be lovely as a side dish, atop a salad or mixed greens for lunch or straightaway with tortillas or naan.  Lentils are packed with protein, iron and potassium.  We also love lentils with scrambled tofu for breakfast.  Just some ideas to incorporate lentils into your menu.
Ingredients:

1 small red onion, diced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 roasted poblano pepper, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
15 oz jar of salsa
2 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp of chipotle pepper
1.5 cups of green French lentils
2 cups of vegetable stock
Optional toppings:  sliced jalapeños, cilantro leaves or green onions

Method:

First begin by roasting your poblano peppers on the stovetop over a medium flame.  Be very cautious when doing this with the peppers.  The outer skin needs to blacken. Rotate around until the entire pepper is blackened then set aside to cool.  Once cool to the touch, remove the black skin and then slice up the peppers (remove the seeds and discard).

My apologies for the steamy pics.


In the meantime, heat the olive oil over the sauté setting and then add your onion and poblanos for about 4 minutes.  Then add your garlic for another minutes, stirring often.  Add your spices and stir to coat your veggies.  Cooking the spices is key to remove the raw flavor from them.  Then add your salsa, lentils and veggie stock.  Give that a good stir and then turn the Instant Pot to manual for 15 minutes.  Make sure the vent is positioned to close.  The machine will automatically turn on and build up pressure.  Allow the pot to cook and naturally release (which takes about 10 minutes post cooking).  Once that is done, release and open the lid.  Serve immediately or store cooled lentils in an airtight container or freeze.    
Enjoy!


Sunday: 11 outdoor miles
Monday: Strength training/core/functional moves for my knee, spin (1h 30m)
Tuesday: 9.52 miles (8:52 pace) with a bit of speed work thrown in.
Wednesday:  1 h of weightlifting (bi’s/tri’s/lats, abs, adduction/abduction, leg press & quads for legs)
Thursday: 8.25 miles/kettle bell workout

~ox

— Knead to Cook

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3 Comments

  1. Hi Robin. Thanks for the recipe. Forgive me if I am missing something, but the method jumps to “Once the lentils are done cooking, stir well” without describing how to cook them. Did you cook them prior to the 15 minute pressure cook mentioned in the recipe? If so, how long? Thanks much!

    1. Sorry Paul for that comment being above the cooking instructions. I removed it so not to confuse anyone else. The steps are all noted and then season as needed after cooking. Hope this helps. ox