Red lentil, tomato and orange soup

I am writing this recipe watching ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ and eating some mars bar rice crispie, could literally not be more food now if I tried.*

This is my Mum’s recipe. It is one of the most comforting, warmest and most delicious soups on the planet. It is also surprisingly uncomplicated to make.

This recipe gets a bit non-linear. I know that is not so acceptable with recipes and food writing, but it is just how my brain is working at the moment. (I’ve been thinking about Kurt Vonnegut a lot lately).

Serves probably 6

Ingredients

225g red lentils

1 large carrot, sliced

1 onion, sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 or 2 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 orange

400ml veg stock (you might need to add more water)

salt and pepper

goes really well with a crunchy garlic-y crouton

Method

Peel the orange with a vegetable peeler. take care when doing this as oranges are strange things to peel, and so some finger stabbing/peeling may occur (it is worth it though). Use a pointy-ish teaspoon or similar implement to scrape the white pith out of the back of the orange peel. This is the only tedious bit of this recipe, and in the right frame of mind, it can be oddly satisfying. Juice the orange and save the juice for later.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil and lightly fry the onion slices. If you start this off before you start scraping the orange peel pith, then by the time you are done, the onions should be lightly browned, and ready to go. Add the garlic when you are about halfway through the orange peel.

Add the rest of the ingredients (except the salt and pepper), bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 30-45 minutes, or until the carrots and lentils are cooked. Check it periodically and add a bit more water if needed.

Add the orange juice, blitz the soup, and season to taste.

*of course one can always be more foodie

Thyme and citrus roasted carrots with lentils, hazelnuts and yogurt

Based, sort of, on a recipe I saw by Yotam Ottolenghi in the Guardian

I haven’t got any profound or inappropriately personal words to go with this one, because I have been feeling a bit artistically blocked - with writing, not with cooking.

I know this looks like a huge amount of ingredients, but it does all make sense.

Serves 4

Ingredients

500g Carrots, feel and slice them into skinny-ish sticks or wedges, reminiscent of spindly spring carrots

1 orange

1 lemon

1 tbsp (approx) agave syrup

About 6 thyme sprigs

Olive oil

About 180g cooked lentils – puy or beluga

1 medium sized banana or echalion shallot, finely diced

1 (scant) tbsp cider or white wine vinegar

150g (ish) greek yogurt (full fat preferably)

Half clove of garlic, crushed

Handful hazelnuts, halved or roughly chopped and toasted in the oven or a frying pan until they are golden brown and their skins can be rubbed off

Fresh spinach, rocket, pea shoots or whatever green leafy thing you like

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (or 190 with fan)

Zest and juice the orange and the lemon.

Arrange the carrots in a roasting dish with five of the thyme sprigs. Drizzle with the agave syrup, roughly 1 tbsp of olive oil, half the citrus zests and about 1 tbsp of the citrus juice. Add a generous pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Toss everything together and roast for 35-45 minutes, until the carrots are cooked through and caramelised in places, fragrant with thyme and citrus. Turn the oven off and keep the carrots in the oven to stay warm until you are ready to serve.

Mix the yogurt with the remaining citrus zests, garlic, a pinch of salt and drizzle of olive oil, and keep it in the fridge until ready to serve.

Put the lentils in a bowl with the diced shallot and fresh thyme leaves from the remaining sprig. Season with salt and pepper and dress them with the vinegar, more olive oil, and another tbsp of citrus juice.

To serve, scatter the lentils over your chosen form of green leaf in a nice bowl, and top with the toasted hazelnuts and warm carrots. Add some artful blobs of the yogurt sauce and enjoy!

Lentil and chestnut soup

For the past few months I have been followed around by really perfect pulse and chestnut soups. My stalkers tend to be inanimate – I was once stalked by a £10 note.

The first time I encountered a perfect pulse and chestnut soup was in Italy on Silvia Nacamulli’s fabulous cookery course (see here for more superlatives). It was a chickpea and chestnut soup, flavoured with garlic and rosemary, and it was astounding. I had never experienced so much flavour coming from a bit of lumpy broth before. I tried to recreate it when I got back home, but it just wasn’t the same.

The second time I encountered a perfect pulse and chestnut soup was at my work’s Christmas lunch at a fabulous gastro-pub called the Anglesea Arms in Hammersmith. It was a lentil and chestnut soup, thick and dark, butter-rich, and swirled with buttermilk and herb oil.

With these two perfect pulse and chestnut soups now inspiring me, I set out to try and create something on my own. So here is my version. It is thick and rich, and although it is long past Christmas, while it keeps raining like this I’m sure that hearty soups will stay welcome.

Ingredients

275g brown lentils – approx 1 and a half cups.

250g peeled chestnuts, not frozen. 

1-2 tbsp olive oil 

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 sprigs rosemary

1 carrot, peeled and diced

vegetable stock cube

salt and black pepper

To serve:

yogurt or crème fraîche in fancy swirls or drizzles

olive oil

toasted pine nuts, pumpkin seeds or almonds

sherry vinegar, a few drops

Makes about 8 servings

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onion, carrots and rosemary and fry on a medium until the onion is golden and the rosemary fragrant. Be patient, it might take a while. Add the garlic and fry for a few minutes more.

Add the lentils, chestnuts, and carrot bits, together with the vegetable stock dissolved in one litre of hot water. You will need more water, but I find it better to just top it up as needed, as opposed to putting too much in to begin with.

Bring the soup to the boil, put the lid on and simmer for about 40 minutes until the lentils are soft. Add more water as needed.

Remove the rosemary stalks, add some salt and pepper and blend with a hand blender until more or less smooth, with a  few lentil-y lumps. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. 

Please note that this soup needs a bit of developing time – it tastes much better if made ahead of time and reheated than fresh.

Serve with all or some of the suggested serving flourishes.

Accompany, as I did (on all pulse and chestnut soup occasions), with a lot of wine.

Puy lentils with cherries, spinach and blue cheese

This is another recipe adapted from the fantastic Ottolenghi cookbook. I have cooked more from this book than any other cookbook I own.

Lentils, cherries and blue cheese might sound like a bit of an odd combination, but it really works. I first made this dish mainly because I was curious as to how the flavours would work together and had all the ingredients to hand, and I was completely blown away by how yummy it was. Sweet, salty and rich, it would make a lovely starter for a seasonal posh dinner, or a really fabulous lunch.

Serves 2, 4 if serving as a starter

Ingredients:

125g puy lentils, or 1 can of ready cooked

2-3 shallots, or half a small onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp water

1 tsp caster sugar

60g dried cherries (I used dried morello cherries)

50ml red wine vinegar

80g fresh spinach

About 120g blue cheese (it is a strong flavour so just add as much as you fancy. The recipe specifies gorgonzola, but I used blue stilton)

Salt and black pepper

If you need to cook the lentils, wash them and then boil them in a lot of water with a couple of bay leaves for about 20 minutes, until they are cooked but al dente.

To make the sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the shallots and sauté over a low heat for about 10 minutes, until softened and golden. Add the water, sugar, cherries and vinegar, and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Drain the lentils (either from saucepan or can) and add them to the cherry sauce, stir, and if using ready cooked lentils, warm them up in the sauce. Add the spinach and keep the heat on until it wilts. Taste and season with salt and pepper (not too much salt as the cheese is quite salty).

Serve warm or at room temperature, with a little raw spinach and the blue cheese crumbled over the top.

Brown lentils with spinach and pomegranate molasses

Adapted from http://www.everyday-vegetarian-recipes.com/lentil-stew-recipe.html, itself based on a recipe from the fantastic book ‘Olive Trees and Honey’ by Gil Marks.

I first had a version of this made by the wonderful Alli. It tastes so rich and complex, and when I asked for the recipe I was amazed about how simple it actually was to make. It turns out that it is a traditional Egyptian dish, which I suppose makes sense – you wouldn’t make a dish this tasty and just forget about it.  This makes an excellent vegan main course as part of a Middle-Eastern themed dinner, freezes and reheats very nicely too. Serve with a dish of tahini sauce for vegans, or thick labneh mixed with za’atar and olive oil for dairy consumers.

Pomegranate molasses is one of my favourite ingredients to work with at the moment. I normally use it with tahini, with aubergines, or roasted fish, but this is the first time I have cooked with it in this way. It is easier to find than you might think, and not very expensive.

These quantities about 8 big servings. When I made this dish it was served with a Persian-style baked rice made by Becky, with fried onions and potatoes, and a crunchy top.

Ingredients

500g brown lentils, rinse and drain the lentils well.

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 large onion, diced not too fine

4 cloves of roughly crushed and chopped garlic (this is significantly less garlic than in the original recipe – crushing is important as apparently it releases all the heart healthy benefits of garlic more than just chopping)

1 heaped tsp of ground cumin (toast and grind cumin seeds if you have time)

1 tsp ground coriander (toast and grind coriander seeds if you have time)

1.25 litres of water – will probably need a bit more later on in the cooking process

2 bay leaves

Big bag of spinach – 350g in Asda - big bags in Sainsburys are 260g

4 tbsp pomegranate molasses – you may want to add a little more

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Salt and pepper – it will need more salt than you think

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat, and fry the onion slowly on a medium heat for 5-8 minutes until soft. Add in the garlic, cumin and coriander, turn the heat down a bit and cook for a few more minutes, stir every now and again to make sure that the garlic doesn’t burn.

Next add the water, lentils and bay. Cover and bring to the boil, then turn the heat right down and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Stir the pot every ten minutes or so to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom, and add a little bit more water if it looks to dry.

When the lentils are done, stir in the spinach and let it sit in low heat until it wilts. Finally add the pomegranate molasses and lemon juice and continue to cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Tastes and season with a big pinch of salt (at least) and lots of freshly ground black pepper.

I’m sure it would be delicious served with flatbread, bulghur wheat or plain rice too. 

Super speedy puy lentil, courgette and goats cheese salad

I feel like I probably give the impression of someone who cooks properly all the time, but in truth, like most of us, I hardly have the time. When I haven't got a lot of time to cook, my desire for healthy, balanced, unprocessed food quite often goes out of the window. To be honest, sometimes I quite like having the excuse to eat rubbish processed food. However after discovering Merchant Gourmet puy lentil pouches (thanks to Suze), it will be much harder for me to justify eating junk.

This salad is delicious, and balanced, and takes less than five minutes to make - perfect for when you need to throw something together really quickly, but don't want to compromise on taste or wholesome-ness.

Makes 2-3 big portions if having as a meal, more if serving the salad with other things too

2/3 cup cooked puy lentils

1 medium sized courgette

Cherry or pomodorino tomatoes - about a handful, sliced in half

half a small red onion, finely sliced (soaked for 5 minutes in cold water if they are really strong)

A little crumbled goats cheese (vegan option: about 5 artichoke hearts from a jar, sliced in half)

1 pack rocket leaves

1/2 pack fresh spinach

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Use a vegetable peeler to make ribbons from the courgette.

And mix everything together!

*If you have a more time*, cut the courgette into thick-ish slices, toss in oil and give them a little colour with a grill or griddle. Toast a handful of pine-nuts and add them in too.

Lime and coconut lentil curry

I learnt to really love lentils in university, when my fantastic housemate Simon showed me how to properly cook them, and the many, magical ways that such a simple and cheap ingredient could be used. We would make massive vats of them and eat nothing but lentils for days. They seem to have the ability to soak up so many different kinds of flavours.  This recipe may seem a bit more involved than others, but believe me its worth it. And really do roast and grind the spices, the difference in taste from ready-ground is massive. If you can eat them, and have the time, it really is worth adding the eggs, delicious and perfect protein hit.

Ingredients

100g green lentils

1 can coconut milk, with water added to make up 1 pint of liquid

1 rounded tsp lime pickle, lumps chopped up

juice and zest of ½ a fresh lime

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 red chilli, chopped

2 fat cloves of garlic, crushed

2.5 cm piece of ginger, grated/chopped finely

veg oil

3 cardamom pods

1 level tsp cumin seeds

1 level tsp fennel seeds

1 level dessertspoon coriander seeds

1 rounded tsp turmeric powder

1 level tsp fenugreek powder

salt

4 eggs

large heavy-bottomed frying pan with a lid

heat the frying pan and when hot add the whole spices and dry-roast for 2-3 minutes, shaking the pan from time to time.  As soon as they start to jump/colour remove from the heat and tip into a mortar and grind.

Put the oil in the pan and heat, when very hot and add the onions and let sizzle and brown at the edges for about 4 minutes, then turn the heat down and add the chilli, ginger, garlic and lime pickle, along with the turmeric and fenugreek powders.  Then add the ground roasted spices and give a good stir.

Next add the lentils, lime zest and coconut liquid, stir and bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down.  Put the lid on and allow to simmer as gently as possible for 45 minutes.  Check from time to time and see if it needs a little more water.

10 minutes before its ready, boil the eggs for 6-7 minutes and peel.  Then the curry is ready, season and add lime juice, stick the peeled eggs and leave everything to cook through for a couple more minutes with the lid on.

Lentil and Sausage Salad

This is a fantastic salad for those cooking on a budget, or those like me who tend to live mainly on pasta.  It is protein filled and not at all heavy.  Here is a tip: next time you barbeque, cook a few too many sausages and freeze them.  I really do think that most things taste better on the barbeque.  The smoky flavour and lovely charred edges stay on the sausages even after being defrosted, and then you can have pretty much instant lentil and sausage salad throughout the year.

Sorry I don’t have proper quantities, use your judgement about the amounts of lentils and sausages, depending on how much you want to make.  With the following amounts of veggies and things, this made enough for about 12 or so small portions.

Green Lentils

6 or so cooked Sausages, cut into bite-sized pieces (I used spicy beef, worked really well)

1 ½ onions, diced

1 red pepper, diced (fried mushrooms would also work)

olive oil

2 large red tomatoes, chopped up (alternatively you could use sun-dried tomatoes)

Large handful of parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper

For the vinaigrette

Olive oil

Cider vinegar (or wine vinegar, nothing too heavy)

1 tsp grain mustard

1.   In a small jar with a lid make the vinaigrette with 2 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, the mustard and a few drops of cold water.  Shake well to combine.

2.   Cook the lentils in boiling water for 20 minutes or so until they are cooked but not falling apart.  Once they are cooked put them in a bowl and add a couple of spoonfuls of vinaigrette.

3.   While the lentils are cooking, sauté the onions and pepper (or mushrooms) in olive oil over a low heat until sweet and soft.  If you are cooking the sausages fresh, then the veggies will have a great flavour if you fry them in the pan after the sausages.

4.   When the vegetables are cooked, add them to the lentils with the sausages, fresh veggies and parsley.  Mix together and taste for seasoning, and add more dressing if needed to.