Roasted Butternut, Puy Lentil and Goats' Cheese Salad

A lovely treatment for butternut squash, with the earthiness of the lentils and the tanginess of soft, fresh goat's (or should that be goats' - where does the apostrophe go?  ) cheese to contrast with the sweetness of the squash.  Simply roast chunks of butternut, tossed in olive oil, garlic and seasoning, for 40 minutes until soft and lightly caramelised.  You can either cook the Puy lentils from scratch, or open a pouch of Merchant Gourmet's excellent ready-coooked ones.  Make a nice lemony vinaigrette and add some mustard and lots of chopped parsley to it.  Now toss the cooked squash and lentils in the dressing, adjust the seasoning and pile onto lettuce, watercress or rocket leaves - whatever you have.  Now crumble over a small round of fresh, creamy goat's/s' cheese, scrunch over lots of black pepper and tuck in.  PS. News from hubby, and he's right of course - if you can guarantee the cheese was made from the milk from a single goat, then it would be goat's cheese, but as it is likely to be made from the milk of many goats, then it is goats' cheese.  See, you get a lesson in grammar as well as cooking.

Lentil, Bacon and Tomato Soup

I know, I know, another lentil soup recipe and it is only the 6 January!  But lentils are a traditional thing to eat in France and Italy in the New Year.  Supposedly they bring luck, but really, it is because we are all broke and looking for cheap ways to fill hungry tums and warm us up.  Well, this soup fits the bill.  It is adapted from a recipe in this month's 'Good Food' magazine.  It uses store cupboard ingredients to good effect, with some fresh veg to liven it up.  You saute a chopped onion and 2 or 3 slices of chopped smoked bacon in a tablespoon of olive oil, until the bacon is crisp and golden.  Add a sliced carrot and about 75g of brown or Puy lentils - I had a tin of cooked lentils, so used that instead.  Also add about 150g of tinned chopped tomatoes or the equivalent of fresh if you have some in the house, and a clove of garlic, finely chopped.  Now add about 800mls of chicken or veg stock, cover, and simmer until the veg and lentils are tender (not long if you've used tinned lentils).  Remove the lid, turn up the heat and add a handful of chopped kale, spinach, chard or other green cabbagey stuff, and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes until tender.  Dish up, with a blob of Greek Yoghurt if liked.  Another cheap eat, and great for supper in big bowls with cheese on toast and lots of fruit to follow.  Leave out the bacon to make it veggie, but you'll lose some of the smokey depth of flavour.

Lentil Broth

So, we had an excellent piece or organic gammon for New Year, and a happy by-product is the lovely salty ham stock from the poaching.  Don't throw this out - make it into a soup with red lentils, carrots, celery, swede, leeks and tinned cannellini beans or butterbeans.  Allow to cook for a good hour and a half, and you will end up with a thick, sustaining bowl of goodness - a real taste of my childhood!  Ignoring the fact that the gammon cost us fifteen quid, this definitely qualifies as an under a fiver dish.  You could make it with veg stock, but you won't get the salty hammy earthiness of this version.

Sweetcorn Dhansak

This is a nice variation on a Riverford recipe, using some of their lovely fresh sweetcorn and tomatoes delivered yesterday.  You can strip the corn kernels off with a sharp knife, if you prefer, but I liked the tactile (aka messy) quality of the corn chunks that you have to pick up and gnaw on.  Anyway, nice fresh veggie curry and ever so healthy.  This quantity serves 4.

4 sweetcorn cobs, each cut into 3 pieces
200g red lentils
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 good teaspoon each of ground cumin, coriander, paprika and turmeric
8 green cardamom pods, bashed
2-3 finely chopped chillies, depending on how hot you like it
4 tomatoes, skinned and chopped
2 tablespoons mango or other fruity chutney
250ml veg stock or water
juice of 1 lemon
handful of coriander leaves, chopped

1.Boil a pan of water. Rinse and drain the lentils, add to the pan and boil for 3-4 minutes then simmer for approx 30-40 minutes until cooked. Drain.
2.Boil the sweetcorn for 10 minutes in salted water and drain. Heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic until soft.
3.Add the spices and chillies to the onions and cook for a further 3 minutes.
4.Add the corn and tomatoes and fry for 3 minutes. Add the lemon juice, stock or water, mango chutney and drained lentils, simmer for a further 5 minutes. If needed add a little more water or stock. Add the coriander leaves at the end and serve with rice or naan bread. 

I also like some frizzled shallots or onion on top of my lentil curries - just slice thinly and fry quickly in oil until deep golden brown and beginning to go crisp.  Drain well and sprinkle over the finished dish.  You CAN buy ready-crisped shallots in chinese groceries if you want to save time.

Lentil and Pancetta Soup with Chard, Lemon and Mint

I am suffering from (another) very heavy cold at the moment, which has turned into a chest infection.  Even though it is bright and sunny, it is a bit chilly, and I need soup to cheer me up.  This Nigel Slater recipe fitted the bill perfectly.  Even though I can't taste a thing, it felt like it was doing me good, and it was a perfect way to use a big head of Swiss chard that was staring at me every time I opened the fridge.  In Nigel's recipe, he uses spinach, but in Tender, he suggests chard as an alternative.  Add the sliced stems first, and then the leaves a few minutes before serving.  Hubby says the mint and lemon at the end really lift the whole thing.  I'll have to take his word for it!  It isn't a very photogenic soup but it is good for you.  Veggies could leave out the bacon and use veg stock.

Parippu

This is a warmingly spiced dal from the Kerala region in the south of India.  I came across it in Tamasin Day-Lewis's 'Kitchen Classics', and have a large pot of it bubbling on the stove, filling the flat with an incredible fragrance, and hopefully helping to cure my head cold!  It is simplicity itself.  Toast, in a dry frying pan, 4 teaspoons each of cumin and coriander seeds, until they darken slightly and become fragrant.  Grind in a mill or pestle and mortar and mix with two teaspoons of turmeric.  Finely chop 2 mildish green chillis and finely slice an onion.  Peel and chop 2 cloves of garlic and a 'thumb' of fresh ginger.  If you have a dried curry leaf or two, add that too  Now, bung it all in a pot with 225g or about 8oz of split red lentls, rinsed.  Pour water over to cover the lentils by an inch, and bring slowly to the boil.  Don't add salt yet.  When boiling, stir in a small (200ml) tin of creamed coconut, and a stick of cinnamon.  Turn down and simmer for 30 minutes until the water and coconut is absorbed.  Beat well with a wooden spoon until it is a soft creamy mash.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.  You can add a 'tarka' to this by heating a couple of tablespoons of light oil, popping a teaspoon of black mustard seeds, some garlic and chilli in the hot oil and spooning over the Parippu before serving.  This quantity made loads, so I will thin the rest with stock for a simple soup for lunch tomorrow.  Tasting notes: this makes for a very creamy and comforting version of dal, definitely one to make again.  I suspect this would go down well with kids, as it is spicy and interesting without being at all hot.  Gorgeous scooped up with soft warm nan bread.

Tarka Dal with Roasted Butternut Squash

My husband can be witty - sometimes.  When I said we were having this, he asked if it had otter in it - Tarka the Otter?  On the contrary it is a great vegan dish.  This is based on a recipe in Jamie Oliver's latest magazine, and is, essentially, a dal made from red lentils with lots of ginger, garlic, chilli, cumin and ground coriander.  Then it is served with the tarka topping, lots of onions, shallots, garlic and ginger fried in oil and a little butter until lovely and brown.  At the last minute, you add some garam masala and mustard seeds and spoon the oil and onion mixture over the dal with lots of chopped coriander.  We served this with chunks of butternut squash that had been peeled and vubed, tossed in a little oil and a teaspoon of garam masala, and roasted until toasted and soft.  Some Basmati rice and a little mint raita (not vegan, I know) was all we needed for a complete meal.

Spiced Lentil, Potato and Acorn Squash Soup

I had cut an Acorn Squash into wedges, drizzled them with olive oil and garam masala and roasted them for supper, to accompany some other curried stuff.  There was loads left over so I made a simple yet very warming and filling soup.  Start, as always, with a large chopped onion sauteeing in oil. Add two cloves of garlic, chopped, an inch or so of fresh ginger, chopped, 2 big teaspoons each of ground cumin and coriander, a teaspoon of turmeric and a hot red chilli, chopped - leave the seeds in it you like it really hot.  Now add a teacupful of red lentils, 3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped, and around half a squash, peeled and chopped, roasted if you have time but not a problem if you don't.  Add a litre of veg stock, Marigold is fine, and two tomatoes, chopped, or half a tin thereof.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes until thick with swollen lentils - rather poetic.  Blend with a stick blender or in a processor.  I made some coriander and lime oil to swirl in at the end (blend all together like making a pesto) but you could just add coriander.  Serve with warm naan bread for a substantial and nutritious lunch!

Spiced Carrot and Lentil Soup

I fancied some dal and some carrot and coriander soup and had the idea to combine them into a cheap, cheerful and very nutritious soup.  Another one suitable for vegans, if so inclined (see the red cabbage recipe previous to this)

• 2 tsp cumin seed, toasted in a pan
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• pinch chilli flakes or a finely chopped red chilli
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 600g carrots , washed and grated 
• 140g split red lentils
• 1litre hot vegetable stock (from a cube is fine)
• bunch of coriander, washed and chopped

Toast the cumin seeds, dry, in a pan, and when the aroma starts to rise and they change colour a little, tip into a pestle and mortar and grind to a powder.  Mix with the coriander powder and chilli flakes or fresh chilli.  Heat the oil in the pan and gently fry the onion until softened, adding the garlic and the spices for the final minute or so.  Now, just add the rinsed lentils, the grated carrots and the stock.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes or so until all is tender.  I pureed the soup, with the coriander in, until smooth, but you could leave it unblended and stir the coriander through.  Yummy! (post script:  I am reminded of Nigel's Spiced Pumpkin and Dal soup, which was one of the first things made in the Challenge last year.  As I have numerous small pumpkins and squashes from Riverford in the flat, I will revisit this!)

Millecosedde

Or Thick Bean and Vegetable Soup to you! Now, I could never be a vegan, as I like my dairy too much, but if forced, I could live on this soup for a while (and would probably be much healthier for it). It is an Italian soup, and roughly translated, this apparently means 'thousands of cooks', as, like Minestrone, it has lots of variations. This version, from Italian veggie guru Ursula Ferrigno, is essentially a mix of cooked chickpeas, green lentils, borlotti and cannellini beans, simmered with a lot of fresh, skinned tomato, stock, onion, celery and carrot. Half the soup is blended, and returned to the pot with lots of steamed Savoy cabbage and masses of chopped parsley. It is very healthy and filling, although I wouldn't recommend standing downwind of me after a couple of hours........Some recipes recommend adding pasta but I preferred it with bread instead. A little fresh rosemary is a nice addition too.

Chicken, Vegetable and Lentil Soup

Am I imagining it, or was there a touch of Autumn in the air today? A good night for a healthy, cleansing soup, which has the added bonus of using a lot of the veg we have from the organic veg box. All I did was simmer a chicken breast in some veg stock (Marigold is fine) for 15 minutes. Remove and set aside. Now add sliced leeks, diced carrots, celery, courgette, broccoli and some leaves, such as spinach, chard, or whatever you have. Simmer for 20 minutes until just cooked - don't over boil, as you want a fresh, brothy soup at this time of year. I also stirred in a tin of green lentils to add some body. At the end, add loads of fresh parsley and the chicken breast, diced or sliced. Eat greedily with lots of good bread and butter, if liked (what am I saying - if liked?!)

Lentil and Winter Vegetable Soup [#235]

Well, British Summer Time allegedly started on Sunday - outside, it is cold, dark, wet and with sleet forecast for later in the week! So, what better than a pot of lentilly, vegetably goodness, with tomato and spices? This has the added advantage of being low fat, and is from Judith Wills. Cheap too! Let's hope this will be our last Winter soup of the season though. This time last year, we were about to start the English asparagus season - it has been such a harsh winter this year, that I doubt we'll be eating it until nearer the end of April.

Sausage and Salami Stew with Lentils

This was a hearty and quick-to-make stew, made even easier by the use of a tin of Epicure Lentilles Verts. I substituted chorizo for the salami as I prefer the flavour, and I also added a good handful of chopped parsley at the end. Nice served with crusty bread, and loads left over for our lunches tomorrow. Nigel says this recipe serves two, but I think you'd have to be very greedy (even greedier than us!) to put half a pot of this away each!

Dal and Pumpkin Soup and Mackerel with a Paprika crust

A lovely, mildly spicy supper tonight. Kicked off with Dal and Pumpkin Soup and chunks of naan bread to accompany. Didn't bother with the fried onion topping as it seemed too much of a faff. Scrummy, even without the onions!

Followed with Spiced Crumbed Mackerel with Smoked Paprika. Baked for 20 minutes (on a parchment-lined baking sheet) and served with a sharp, lemony-dressed, rocket salad. Healthy and no dairy in the whole meal. Our little table-topped oven that we bought to tide us over till we get our new oven (come ON, John Lewis!) coped brilliantly with this, and the crust was deliciously crisp. Don't think it will do much more than this though!

We feel quite virtuous and healthy. I might have to have some chocolate to compensate ;o)