Lentils with bacon and sweet potato

I have a goal in life. Well, not just one goal but a small goal regarding cooking and recipe creation. I want to make something that impresses the Baker. Sure I can impress my mom, maybe my sister and perhaps a gaggle of friends on occasion, but it is a much harder thing to impress someone who is routinely surrounded by the best food you can get your hands on. Like is one thing, impress is another. I am sure he has liked at least some of the things I have cooked, but been impressed by, blown away by, running home to recreate over and over again? Not quite yet. Someday I will accomplish that. Until then, I am just going to work at it and create dishes and hopefully come up with enough good ones that I can make a cookbook out of them. Ha, right. Dreams are what they are…

On Friday, I was hankering for some lentils. Lentils are something I have not spent any time cooking, but definitely enjoy. When I bought a few bags of lentils at the co-op I was sort of wondering what the heck I was thinking. All I knew was that I wanted Lentils, Bacon and Sweet Potato. The combo sounded delicious. I poured over a bunch of recipes for ideas and technique, but found nothing exactly like what I was looking for. There are plenty of Lentil Bacon Salads, but I wanted something warm and warming.

While this recipe may not have taken down my small goal, it was pretty delicious.

Lentils with Bacon and Sweet Potato

Ingredients:

1.5 cups french lentils
1 large sweet potato, diced
water
1 onion , halved
1 carrot, halved
7 pieces bacon, cut into thin strips
½ tbsp. olive oil
½ cup red onion, diced
½ cup carrot, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt
4 tbsp. whole grain mustard
1 ½ tbsp. red wine vinegar

Directions:

Place lentils, halved carrot and onion and sweet potato in a medium pot and cover with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer until the lentils are cooked. Turn off heat, add a dash of salt. Remove carrot and onion.

Meanwhile in a large skillet before turning on the heat, place the bacon and the olive oil in the pan. Raise heat and cook bacon. Add diced carrots and onions and cook for 3-5 minutes, until slightly tender. Add a dash of salt and the garlic.

Drain lentils and add to skillet, tossing to coat (gently). Turn off heat. Add mustard and red wine vinegar. Adjust seasoning.