Lentil Cakes With Creamy Horseradish Sauce

Published September 18, 2008 by PETA Staff. Last Updated December 5, 2013.

Lentils—they don’t seem like the most exotic ingredient to cook with, they don’t scream “flavor!,” and they have a bad rap as being hippie-ish ’70s vegetarian food. But you should push all of those ideas out of your head because lentils, when used properly, can actually be the base for a delicious dish.

One of my favorite uses for lentils is in small, crispy cakes. You form the cakes with rice, veggies, and bread crumbs or flour, and then pan-fry until browned on the outside.

Many recipes for lentil cakes have an Indian flare, but this recipe goes in a different direction by omitting some of the usual Indian spices and by topping the cakes with a creamy horseradish-red pepper sauce that definitely has kick.

Most of us have tried lentil soup, but if you haven’t tried lentils in any other recipes, then I suggest this one. Go ahead—give it a try!

Lentil Cakes With Creamy Horseradish Sauce

For the Lentil Cakes:

1 cup dried lentils
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 rib celery, chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
2 cups cooked rice
Salt, to taste
1 cup ground bread crumbs or flour

Place the lentils in a large pot and submerge, adding an additional 2 inches of water. Boil for 20 minutes, or until tender.
Sauté the onion, pepper, and celery in the olive oil until the onions are slightly browned.
In a medium bowl, combine the lentils, vegetable sauté, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, parsley, rice, and salt, then mash slightly. Form into small patties.
Roll in the ground bread crumbs or flour, and refrigerate while preparing the sauce.
When the sauce is done, pan-fry each patty until nice and brown.

For the Horseradish Sauce:

1/4 cup Vegenaise
1 Tbsp. prepared horseradish
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a small bowl, whisk all the ingredients together until blended.
Serve with the lentil cakes.