Lentil-Lunchbox Goulash

 I grew up on American Goulash - made with hamburger meat, canned tomatoes, noodles, some paprika and maybe bell peppers. As an adult, I became acquainted with German Goulash, which is more of a stew and is spicy and flavored with something like this Univer Goulash Cream plus additional spices. I LOVE the German version, honestly, for lunches I need something less saucy so I'm not worried about it spilling in my bag, with it's starches built in so I don't need to add noodles or bread to my lunch bag. Add these reasons to the fact that I found an embarrassment of dried lentils in my cupboard, and this recipe was born. It makes 5 mid sized servings.

Ingredients:

Choppapoluzza Goulash pack

1-2 tbl butter or oil (I like butter for cooking onions)

1lb ground beef

1-2 cups dried lentils

1/2 a pint cherry or grape tomatoes (used these as opposed to chopped larger tomatoes to maximize tomato flavor and minimize extra liquid)

1/2 tube Univer Goulash Cream (I used hot, mild is fine)

salt, caraway seeds, smoked/hot paprika, lemon juice to taste

water

Put your instapot on sauté low, toss in butter and the goulash pack (1/2 onion, 1/2 green pepper, garlic, celery, carrot if you are chopping things now), as well as some salt and caraway seeds. On sauté low you can literally set it for 30 mins and walk away and do other things, it won't burn. Come back and stir a few times if you like. If you started with veg from frozen, you may need to go a bit longer to get the onions nice and translucent. 

Once veg is translucent, turn heat up to high and add ground beef, stirring occasionally until it starts to brown nicely. Then add in your Goulash Cream and paprika (use smoked or hot as you prefer) and stir to incorporate. Cook that for a few minutes then add tomatoes and lentils, mixing well. Add water JUST to cover, remember, we don't want a ton of sauce because this is lunch! Nobody needs goulash-gravy in their laptop. 

Put under pressure until lentils are done (if you are like me and they have been in your cupboard for some indeterminate but long period of time just set it for low pressure 1 hr to be safe). Taste, adjust spices, and add some lemon to balance as needed. Portion out and you're set for the week. Enjoy!