Earthy Lentils
This dish came into being because of the personalised challenge dinner two weeks ago. I needed a vegan meal that would taste good and transport well…and although it may not look like much, (and I’m totally unbiased here!) it’s amazing. As the name suggests, it’s wonderfully earthy and completely delicious. And as an added bonus, it’s so easy to make!
One of my favourite vegetarian cookbooks is called ‘The Greens Cookbook – Extraordinary Vegetarian Cuisine’ by Deborah Madison. The reicpe I’ve made most often is the lentil salad with mint, roasted peppers, and feta cheese – it’s the perfect summer salad (especially for picnics), and it inspired this dish.
Lentils, kale & potato salad
As you can see from this photo, we ate this at the challenge dinner with spicy kale (made by Bev) and a potato, asparagus and ginger salad (made by Miriam). Somehow, the many different flavours really worked well together and the meal was fabulous!
So without further ado, here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
400g Puy lentils, rinsed
3 onions, thinly sliced
500g-750g mushrooms, chopped into large pieces
Olive oil
Handful of herbs – parsley or thyme – chopped
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar*
1 tbsp mirrin (rice cooking wine)*
1 tbsp tamari/soy sauce*
3 garlic cloves, crushed
a dash of cayenne pepper*
a dash of paprika*
a dash of mace*
Bay leaf
Salt
Method:
- Cover lentils generously with water, add the bay leaf, a little stock and a little finely chopped onion. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer until lentils are soft but still hold their shape. Drain, retaining the liquid, cool under running water then set aside.
- Cook onions over low heat with olive oil until soft, golden and caramelised – this will probably take 20-30 minutes.
- In a separate pane, cook mushrooms over very low heat for a few minutes with olive oil. Stir in vinegar, mirrin, tamari, garlic and parsley and cook for another couple of minutes until reduced in size by half. Turn off the heat and allow to continue to marinade in the juices.
- Mix lentils, onions, mushrooms and remaining ingredients together and add a good extra glug of olive oil and most of the retained cooking liquid. Season to suit your tastes. Allow to sit for an hour or overnight as the flavours will continue to develop.
- Serve hot or cold
* This indicates an approximate amount of each ingredient…when I cook I don’t really measure anything, so be sure to adjust to your own taste.
Elaina
May 29, 2013
