Kid Friendly, Mother Approved: "Cheesy" Lentils

My daughter (who is gluten, dairy, egg, soy, and peanut sensitive) eats more vegetables than most kids her age, probably. Not always though. She's a normal three year old that seems to eat a ton one day and hardly anything the next. If she had it her way, she would survive on rice cakes and sunbutter...oh and some raisins and juice.  We have to limit fruit or she won't eat anything else!

 We eat a lot of beans and lentils for a cheap but delicious protein. She gets pretty adventurous and eats curried chickpeas with us. Her favorite, however, is "Cheesy" Lentils that I created one day. I had bought some Nutritional Yeast and was searching for recipes to figure out how to use it. I saw some recipes for "cheesy" sauces, but wanted to make something that could be a main dish and all in one pot.  I tweaked a recipe a bit and made it work with red lentils. This is what I came up with. We make this often now because it was a hit! I like to think it's our healthy version of good old Mac N' Cheese (which she has never had). I have mixed up a "cheesy" sauce and put it on gluten free noodles also, which she loved. This is cheaper and something we can all enjoy without overdoing the carbs.

"Cheesy" Lentils

8 cups water
3 cups red lentils, rinsed
1 can coconut milk
2 GF bouillon cubes
2 TB Nutritional Yeast
1 TB garlic powder
Salt to taste
Dash of parsley

Boil water. Add all other ingredients and cook until desired consistency (about 25 minutes).

~Caroline