Arroz Con Manestra

**reposted from November 16, 2008 on PrairieMama**

I promised Vegetarian meals and you are going to get them!!!!

First of all, we have green smoothies, a lot! I wish I had gotten a picture of our smoothie this morning before we all devoured them, but trust me, they look beautiful!

To make your green smoothie you will need 3 things - water, frozen spinach and frozen fruit. That's it, nothing else. Put about a cup of water in your blender with 4-6 ounces of spinach. Blend well. Add your frozen fruit (2 or so cups) and 1-2 T. flax meal (ok, I know, I said three things and now I'm throwing in the flax! But, it's good for you, so trust me). Blend and drink. It is delicious! I like to add a whole orange to mine and Jeremy adds a banana to his. YUM!

For dinner tonight we had Arroz con Menestra. Jeremy went on his mission to Ecuador. He has often talked about the food there, some of it gross and some divine. This falls into the latter category. It is divine. I love it and better yet, my kids love it! They ask for it all.the.time. We found this recipe on the blog Laylita's Recipes. Jeremy says this tastes just like when he would have it in Ecuador. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 tbs canola oil

1 red onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

3 tomatoes, diced

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp cumin

3 tsp salt

1 tsp achiote

4 tbs chopped cilantro

7 cups of water

1 lb lentils

Preparation:

1. Heat the canola oil on medium heat in a large sauce pan.
2. Add the onion, bell pepper, tomato, garlic, cumin, salt, achiote and 2 tablespoons of the cilantro to make a refrito for the stew.
3. Cook, stirring occasionally, until all the ingredients have softened, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the water and increase heat to bring water to boil.
5. Add the lentils and reduce the heat to medium low, cover partially and cook until the lentils are tender, stir in the remaining 2 tbs of cilantro and remove from the heat.

Now, Jeremy says that it must be served with the arroz on one side and the menestra on the other. Must be how they had it in Ecuador. People also eat it with a fried egg on top. I tried that and didn't love it. So...to each his own. We did have it with patacones (fried plantains) tonight and that was delicious!!!