Ground Lentils

I am not a fan of the fake meats. They are overly processed and completely unnatural plus I do not like meat or anything that is suppose to taste like meat. I do want to add more protein to our diet and my husband is a meat eater so I am working on some more meat like vegetarian substitutes. So this is my ground beef substitute it passes our families picky taste buds and has become a regular addition in our recipes.

Ground Lentils

½ cup Barley

1 ½ cups water

1 cup lentils

2 ½ cups water

1 cup walnuts

1 tbs soy sauce*

Place lentils and barley in 2 separate pots with water. Bring both pots to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to med/low. Simmer lentils for 45 min and barley for 35 min or until most to all of the water is gone. Grind the walnuts in a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor. Pulse the mixture until well mixed, do not over mix you want it chunky not pureed. Spread the lentil/barley mixture into a large shallow pan and bake at 350º for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to evenly dehydrate mixture. Remove from oven when the mixture is very dry. Depending on how you want to use the mixture you may want it to be slightly moist.

I make it very dry when I am adding it to sauces but more moist if I want to make tacos with it.

 
Store the ground lentils in the fridge for a week or freeze in portion sized containers for 3-4 months. 

 *Try adding other spices, onion, or garlic to the mixture.