Meatless Monday - Curried Lentil Patties

Once upon a time, I was a very, very poor woman, living in Tucson and working for a cooperative, natural foods warehouse. When warehouse items were broken open, employees had first dibs on whatever the item was, and one summer, a 50 lb bag of lentils broke. We all had pounds and pounds of lentils (it was a small company). I had my first lentil patties soon after the infamous bag break, and frequently thereafter...and not just because it was cheap food, it was delicious! I bring my recipe to you:

3 cups water
1 cup lentils, washed
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup flax meal
1 med chopped onon
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 large egg
2 teaspoons of your favorite curry blend. Garam masala is particularly nice for these.
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil for sauteing

Put water, lentils, rice and 1 tsp salt in saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer 45 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat and let stand a few minutes. Leave in the cooking water, and mash (I find a stick blender works GREAT for this - but you could also blend it in a food processor, or just mash by hand). Stir in flax meal, onion, carrot, spices and egg. Allow to stand 5-8 minutes so the flax meal can soak up any excess water. Shape into patties. Saute in olive oil, serve hot with lots of condiments.

These patties can also be made from chickpeas, or black beans, or any legume, really. Seasonings can be changed to suit individual tastes (the black beans work especially well with cilantro, chipotle and sour cream).

Enjoy, and please let me know your favorite combos in the comments!