I'm craving lentils recently, big time! So today is another recipe which uses green lentils. Green lentils don't go mushy when cooked so they give some texture to your food. The dried green lentils only take 20-30 minutes to cook but if you're short on time (like I was) tinned work just fine. Just remember to wash them thoroughly before adding to your recipe.
These little legumes certainly pack a mighty nutritional punch! They're tasty too, so its a win win in my book. What's not to like?
Ingredients
Splash of Olive oil
6 Portabello mushrooms, destalked
1 Onion, finely finely diced
1 Red pepper, finely diced
100g Spinach
1 Tsp Wild garlic pesto
½ Tsp Ground coriander
60g Vegan soft cheese
1 Tin of green lentils, washed
2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
Method
Saute the onion in the olive oil until translucent and add the red pepper, continue to saute for another 3 minutes.
Next add the spinach, and continue sauteing until the spinach wilts.
Add the wild garlic pesto, ground coriander and mix thoroughly.
Add the vegan soft cheese and stir till it melts and it os coating the vegetables.
Add the washed green lentils and nutritional yeast and give everything a good stir to combine all the ingredients.
Top each mushroom with the mixture and bake in a moderate oven for 15-20 minutes.
By now, you must have heard about the health benefits of kale. It's all over the place, the new superfood! Don't get me wrong this vegetable is SUPER, and I'm glad that everyone is finding out about it, but to some of us, "the grow your own crowd", it's been a staple vegetable grown in our gardens or allotments for some time.
Personally, I would never not grow it, it really is so versatile. It looks after itself, it can tolerate drought, heat, wet and cold weather and has a long growing season. For the lazy gardener it is one of the best vegetables you can grow, just sow the seed and wait for the magic to happen.
What other vegetable do you know that makes a fine smoothie, a crunchy crisp, tastes fantastic in a soup, stir fry or salad and tastes great just steamed? OK, so there are a few.............
My kale has fed me over the winter months and I still have some growing, last weekend I decided that I would try something new and I created the lentil and kale roast. I was really pleased with the results and you should definitely give this one a try.
If you've never tried kale before and the thought of it in a smoothie sounds weird then this recipe is the one for you. Rather than packing the roast full of kale I decided it was best used to dress up the lentils, ready for a party on your plate!
Ingredients - Serves 6
1 Aubergine, about 225g
75g Kale, leaves only
150g Red lentils
400ml Water
1 Tsp Vegetable bouillon powder
1 Tsp Fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 Tsp Fresh mint, finely chopped
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
2 Cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 Tsp Dried mixed herbs
75g Rolled oats
2 Tbsp Ground flax seeds
4 Tbsp Water
Black pepper
½ Tsp Herbamare salt
Method
Wrap the aubergine in foil and put in a moderate oven and bake for 1 hour or until very soft to the touch and the skin peels off easily.
Mix the ground flax seed and water together and set aside.
Put the lentils in a saucepan, add the bouillon powder to the 400ml of water and pour over the lentils. Bring to a boil and simmer for 25 minutes, remember to stir a lot towards the end to stop the lentils sticking to the bottom of the pan. After 20 minutes add the chopped rosemary and mint and stir through the lentils.
While the lentils are cooking, prepare the kale, boil for 5 minutes and drain, set aside and leave to cool. Once cool squeeze all the water out and chop up the kale into smaller pieces.
Saute the onion and celery in a little olive oil for 5 minutes and add the garlic, saute for another 5 minutes over a low heat and then add the dried mixed herbs. Add a splash of water to the pan if the vegetables start to stick.
Remove the aubergine from the oven and leave till it is cool enough to handle. Peel and chop/mash the flesh.
Transfer the lentils to a large bowl, add the onion mixture, chopped kale, oats, aubergine and the flax egg. Season with black pepper and herbamare salt. Give everything a good mix making sure that everything has been combined and transfer to a prepared loaf tin. Push the filling down so that the mixture is compact. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes and the top is golden brown. Serve with vegetables and an onion gravy.
I spent Sunday morning in my kitchen, baking bread and making another soup, pure bliss. Isn't that what Sunday mornings are all about? While the bread was baking, Marco and I went for a stroll in the wind and the rain and it was lovely to return to the smell of baking bread. OK so I used a bread machine! The bread was absolutely delicious, a spicy potato and onion bread from 'The Bread Book' by Sara Lewis.
All I needed now was a soup to compliment the bread and I created Three Lentil Soup. To be honest I didn't start out to make a soup using three different lentils but when I came to make the soup I only had a third of a cup of red lentils! I topped it up with continental lentils, now I had two thirds of a cup and no more continental lentils, disaster! I need not have fret though as I also had a few green lentils too and that made it a cup full of lentils. Disaster averted. Must add lentils to my shopping list.
This soup is so simple to make and you can make it while your bread is baking. You'll have lunch on the table in no time. The best thing is, if you're using a bread maker you can put your feet up with a cuppa while the lentils are cooking. The soup will easily feed 6 people and you will still have leftovers.
Ingredients
1 Leek, sliced and quartered
1 Red onion, chopped
2 Garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 Cup of mixed lentils, only use "no need for soaking" lentils
1 Tsp Ground cumin
½ Tsp Turmeric
½ Tsp Smoked paprika
1 Dried chilli
1 Tin chopped tomatoes
1 Tsp Vegetable bouillon powder
700ml Water
1 Can of coconut milk
Additional 500ml Water
Method
Add all ingredients to a large saucepan apart from the coconut milk and additional water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 35 minutes.
Let cool for a while then add the coconut milk and stir through. Blend and add extra water to your desired consistency.
This soup is rich and velvety smooth, I like my soups thick but just add more water if you prefer yours less thick. The soup has got a kick to it but if you like your food extra spicy just add two dried chillis.
After a visit to the local supermarket I came away with a few bargains! I always head to the reduced price bit in the fresh fruit and vegetable section. I came away with a pack of parsley, a savoy cabbage, a courgette and a red pepper. I was feeling creative and couldn't wait to get home after I'd done the rest of the shopping.
It didn't take me long to come up with the following recipe, after all what else can you do with savoy cabbage leaves other than stuff them! Well, yes, you could make vegan bubble and squeak, perhaps that'll be my next recipe.
I also remembered to weigh everything before I started cooking so I have the exact amounts I used. All in all this recipe cost me next to nothing, infact for the 12 cabbage rolls I made cost less than £4.00!!!
Ingredients
1 Savoy Cabbage
70g Red pepper
165g Mushrooms
120g Courgette
1 Onion (80g)
2 Cloves Garlic
3 tbsp Nutritional Yeast
1 can Green Lentils
15g Fresh Parsley
½ tsp Corriander
1 tsp Cumin
1½ tsp Paprika
½ tsp Chilli Flakes
Salt and Pepper
Method
Finely chop all fresh ingredients bar the cabbage. Separate the leaves from the cabbage and rinse to get rid of any excess soil and pat dry. Remove the centre vein from each cabbage leaf to about half way up.
Saute the onions and garlic in a little olive oil until the onion is translucent. Add the pepper and continue cooking over a medium heat. Add the courgette and mushrooms and cook further until the vegetables are soft.
Whilst the chopped vegetables are cooking, blanch the cabbage leaves in boiling water for about 3 minutes. Remove and drain, patting them dry with kitchen roll. Be careful not to rip them! Leave to cool.
Add the spices to the chopped vegetables and stir to combine, add a little cabbage water if the mixture is too dry.
Drain the green lentils and add to the chopped vegetables and spices, next add the nutritional yeast and mix thoroughly. Continue to cook over a low heat for another couple of minutes or until the lentils are warmed through.
Flatten the cabbage leaves on a clean surface and add a dollop of the mixture to the top centre of each leaf. Fold in the sides and roll finishing with the seam on the underneath. If after the stem has been cut out you don't have much of a full leaf left, place the leaf down so that one side of the leaf overlaps the other where the stem was. This should roll and keep the filling in the middle.
Place the wrapped leaves in a baking dish and pour over about 4 tablespoons of the cabbage cooking water and tightly wrap silver foil over the top. Bake in an oven at around 180°C for 20-30 minutes.
The mixture filled 12 cabbage leaves but it could fill more or less depending on the size of your cabbage.☺
Serve with mash potato and vegetables or chips and salad. Enjoy!
I had two courgettes in the bottom of my fridge, which I had bought almost two weeks ago and I felt guilty for not using them. The perfect recipe had to be courgette and lentil lasagne or mousaka, now the trouble was we had no potatoes and no lasagne. Then lurking in the bottom of the fridge was half a celeriac, which I can’t remember when I bought! Mousaka it was, with celeriac, so technically not a mousaka at all! Why don’t we call it Mouceleriaca? Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp olive oil
80g red lentils
2 medium courgettes, diced
600ml vegetable stock
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
½ celeriac finely sliced
450ml soy milk
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp Vitalite
½ tsp grated nutmeg
50g toffuti garlic & herb ‘cheese’
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
2 slices bread made into breadcrumbs
salt & pepper to taste
Method
Fry the onion and garlic in a little olive oil (or vegetable stock if you’re a no fat kinda person). Add the chopped courgettes and red lentils and stir well. Add the soy sauce, vegetable stock, thyme and bring to the boil. Once boiling turn down the heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced and the lentils cooked, it can look quite mushy, but don’t panic it tastes divine. Whilst the lentils and courgettes are simmering make the white sauce, put the Vitalite, flour and soy milk into a saucepan and heat gently stirring all the time until thickened. If it’s not as thick as you like then mix together a bit of cornflour and water and add to the white sauce whilst stirring. Once the sauce has thickened add grated nutmeg, pepper, salt, nutritional yeast flakes and ‘cheese’. Pour the lentil & courgette mixture in a baking dish, top with the sliced celeriac, overlapping and then top with the white ‘cheese’ sauce. Let settle for a couple of minutes and then scatter the breadcrumbs on top. Put in oven and bake for 35-30 minutes or until breadcrumbs are golden brown.
