Lentils under pressure:

I have been thinking about my taco lentils for a few weeks and finally got the opportunity to make them for dinner the other day, but I had problem, a very common problem in my life. I was out of time and dinner prep had not even begun. So guess what I did? I pulled out my pressure cooker and completely cooked 2 cups of lentils in 16 minutes!! SIXTEEN minutes!  I mentioned here I wanted to bring the pressure cooker back into the kitchen and this was the perfect chance. My taco lentils take about 70 minutes when I cook them on the stove top ((I like my taco-style lentils to have a creamy refried bean texture so I cook them past the package recommendations)). The lentil-splatter mess is pretty annoying and I usually forget to stir the lentils a few times and the thin layer of lentil-burn on the bottom of the braiser is a real time-consuming pain to clean. Using the pressure cooker solved all three of my problems: speedy cooking time and very little clean-up ((triple yay!)).

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Once the lentils had finished their date with the pressure cooker, I put them in my braiser, added my magic taco spices, stirred and whipped, cooked the tortillas, shredded the cheese & pickled the red onions. Within 32 minutes, dinner was on the table. AND.IT.WAS.SO.GOOD. All four kiddos loved them, two of them had seconds & the hubby ate three YAY!!

For the record: the flash-pickled red onions and the smoky, spicy taco lentils are soul mates. the end.