Comfort food you can make in 20 minutes? We're in, with melted butter
Here's a heartwarming plate full of familiar food with an unfamiliar name: koshary. It can be spelled and pronounced different ways and have other things mixed in, but the basics include rice, lentils and pasta. What sets this version apart from the rest, to my mind, is the last-minute drizzle of melted butter with crushed red pepper flakes. When that hits the fresh mint, the humble dish sings.
It's a cinch to make with leftover rice and lentils. But if you don't have those around, canned or boxed, cooked lentils and frozen cooked rice work just as well and are easily obtained. (You may be able to score those two ingredients on a supermarket salad bar.)
A second batch created for purposes of the accompanying photo disappeared into my colleagues' lunch bowls with lightning speed, which is just the kind of affirmation I like.