Vegan Bolognese Sauce

Have this over pasta or couscous. Top with vegan cheese if desired.

 

Ingredients:

200 g dried lentils

water or stock (vegetable stock gives it a really nice flavour)

1 onion

olive oil

3 garlic cloves

2 stalks celery

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 pinch salt

 

Instructions:

1. Rinse the lentils and boil them in about three times the amount of water or stock for 20-25 minutes, until tender. Drain if necessary.

2. Peel and dice the onion and cook lightly in oil.

3. Peel and chop the garlic and chop the celery, and add to the onion. Cook a few more minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes and lentils and cook another 10 minutes.

5. Season with salt.

Red Rice and Lentils

This sounds plain, but the flavours work together well and this has a sweet finish. You can, af always, add other herbs, spices, or vegetables.

Ingredients:

olive oil

2 shallots

2 tsp honey

1 stock cube

¾ cup red rice

water

¾ cup puy lentils

2-4 tsp tomato puree

watercress

mint

Instructions:

1. Warm the oil in a saucepan.

2. Dice the shallots and add them and the honey to the pan. Fry lightly for a few minutes.

3. Add the stock cube and rice and mix everything for a moment or two.

4. Add the water (about twice as much as the rice) and simmer for about 10 minutes.

5. Add the lentils and more water. Cook for another 25-30 minutes, checking for the tenderness of the lentils.

6. Stir in the tomato puree, watercress, and mint.

Lentil, Spinach and Feta over Rice

The rice looks very “dirty” but tastes very good!

Ingredients:
¾ cup puy lentils
3 cups water
¾ cup rice
100 g spinach
1 tbsp mint, tarragon, or other herbs
1 tbsp honey
75 g feta cheese

Instructions:
1. Rinse the lentils and bring them to the boil in 2 cups of water. Once they have started boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 12 minutes.
2. Rinse the rice and add it to the lentils along with the last cup of water. Simmer for another 12 minutes.
3. Wash the spinach and add it, the herbs and the honey. Simmer for about 3-5 minutes, with the cover on, so the spinach wilts.
4. Chop the feta and add it to the pan. Continue cooking over low heat for a couple more minutes, so the feta softens, then stir and serve.

Lentils and Pine Nuts

We bought a big container of puy lentils, so I’ve been trying to come up with different things to do with them. They are my favourite sort of lentil and I love how they retain a bit of crunch even after you’ve cooked them for awhile, so they don’t become a shapeless mush. This recipe can be served as a salad or a side dish. As a salad, you could place the lentils over rocket/rucola leaves or another type of green or lettuce.

Ingredients:
1 cup puy lentils
water
75 g pine nuts
mint or parsley
yogurt
olive oil
lemon juice

Instructions:
1. Wash the lentils and boil them in the water for about 20 minutes, stirring now and then.
2. Add the pine nuts, herbs, yogurt, olive oil, and lemon juice to taste.
3. Serve warm or chilled.

Cauliflower, Lentil, and Paneer Curry

Okay, so this isn’t a traditional curry by any stretch of the imagination. It combines Indian elements – lentils and paneer cheese – with Thai ones – coconut milk and curry paste – and with other ones – cauliflower and fennel. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t good nonetheless. The flavours all work well together and the dish is very healthy, if a bit flatulence-inducing. So don’t eat it before a romantic evening.

Incidentally, paneer is great to use in cooking. It softens when cooks and takes on all the flavours you throw at it. Plus, it’s completely vegetarian.

Ingredients:
½ cup puy lentils (or other lentils according to preference)
water
rice (I usually go for brown basmati)
1 head cauliflower
1 fennel (onion would be fine too)
oil
4-6 tbsp red curry paste (depends on how hot you like it)
1 container paneer cheese
1 tin coconut milk
onion seeds or mustard seeds (depends on the seasoning you want; I have been having an onion seed kick lately), optional

Instructions:
1. Wash the lentils and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes. Wash the rice and cook over low heat for about 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, wash and chop the cauliflower. Dice the fennel. Fry lightly in oil for about 10 minutes, then add the curry paste.
3. Dice the paneer cheese and add it to the pan as well. Fry for another 7-9 minutes, then add some of the coconut milk. Add a dash of coconut milk to the rice as well.
4. When the lentils are ready, add them to the cauliflower mixture. Season with onion seeds, if desired.
5. Add the rest of the coconut milk to the curry and cook for another few minutes.
6. Serve the curry over the rice.

Lentil Pie

A hearty lentil pie is simple, healthy, and tasty. I like to season it with a bit of cinnamon, which adds an exotic tinge, but it’s easy to vary the spices according to your taste.

Ingredients:
1½ cups lentils (I use puy lentils)
3 cups water
1 vegetable stock cube
2 carrots
1 parsnip
2 shallots
2 garlic cloves
oil
cinnamon
black pepper
1 handful cherry tomatoes
1 package puff pastry
Greek yogurt, to serve with

Instructions:
1. Rinse the lentils, then boil them in the water with the stock cube. This will take about 30 minutes, until the lentils are tender. If you use regular lentils, they may need to be soaked for a couple of hours and/or boiled longer. Check the package.
2. Peel and dice the carrots and parsnip. Dice the shallots and garlic. Lightly fry in oil and season with cinnamon and black pepper.
3. Wash and halve the cherry tomatoes.
4. Lightly oil an oven-safe dish and drape the puff pastry in it.
5. Mix the lentils, tomatoes, and other vegetables. Season more if necessary.
6. Bake at 200 C for about 25 minutes. Serve slices with Greek yogurt.

Quinoa and Lentils with Spinach

I love those Merchant Gourmet packages of quinoa and lentils. They’re so easy to make (you boil the bag) and you can vary them in many ways. Quinoa is protein-rich and very tasty, so I love to use it in my cooking. A simple dish I often make is to cook quinoa and lentils and make it with spinach and yogurt. That’s enough for M, but I add plenty of Tabasco to my bowl.

Ingredients:
1 package quinoa
1 package lentils
1 package baby spinach (about 100 g)
1 tsp salt
1 cup yogurt

Instructions:
1. Boil the quinoa and lentils according to the directions.
2. Wilt the spinach with the salt over low heat.
3. Open the packages and pour the contents in with the salt. Add the yogurt and stir.

Butternut Squash with Puy Lentils and Goat Cheese

Puy lentils are the caviar of lentils. They are small and delicate, have a fuller flavour than other kinds of lentils, and retain their firm shape even when cooked for quite a while. M isn’t terribly fond of lentils, but I am, and I thought I’d make her a dish with puy lentils to see if she liked this type any better.

So I cooked the lentils for 20 minutes in boiling water and at the same time, I baked a butternut squash in the oven. I added cream to both the lentils and the squash, and served it all with goat’s milk cheese. The squash’s sweetness, the faint peppery flavour of the lentils, and the sourness of the cheese all combined to make a hearty vegetarian main course.

M still isn’t a big lentil fan, but she said she’d eat this dish again. And that’s a good start!

Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash
200 g puy lentils
water for boiling
150 ml cream (single or double; it depends on how rich you want it)
honey or agave
100 g goat’s milk cheese
salt, pepper, parsley to taste

Instructions:
1. Bake the squash for 20 minutes at 200 C. Then cut it in half and de-seed it (save the seeds to roast later, if you want), and bake for another 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, boil the lentils for about 15 minutes, until they are cooked but still firm. Pour out any excess water.
3. Add half the cream to the lentils and the rest to the squash. Make sure it doesn’t run off the squash.
4. Sprinkle the squash halves with a little honey or agave, to bring out the natural sweetness. Bake for another 5-10 minutes, until fully cooked. Continue cooking the lentils over low heat at the same time.
5. Serve the squash halves with piles of lentils that have been topped with crumbled cheese. Season with salt, pepper, and parsley to taste.