Mujaddara

Lentils and rice cooked together and crowned with onions fried until crisp and deeply caramelized, a much-loved dish across the Middle East. It can be served hot, warm or at room temperature, so it is one of the few lunches here that never needs the microwave. The onions are the point and also the one fragile part: store some apart in a small container so they keep their crunch. A cucumber and tomato salad or a scoop of plain yogurt on the side makes it a complete meal. It is vegan, inexpensive and filling, though leaner on protein than the meat dishes, so add a boiled egg or extra yogurt if that matters.