This dish using Puy lentils is ideal as a vegetarian main and also works beautifully as an accompaniment for a main course with barbecued meats or pan fried or baked fish. Packed with goodness and flavour and a delicious wholesome crunch. It is also great eaten cold the next day as a side salad with cold cuts or with BBQ meats. You can add other vegetables too. The ones I have selected give a balance of taste, texture and colour and all important flavour. However, I have also used asparagus and mushrooms with good results. If you would like to create a more robust vegetarian main course using this dish I would also recommend adding 75g cooked quinoa and 100g cooked soya beans and 50g roasted pine nuts.
Ingredients
200g Puy lentils
Vegetable stock cube
2 red onions
2 medium carrots
1 red pepper
4 cloves garlic
2 medium courgette
Olive oil
Handful of mint
Handful of parsley
Method
- Wash the Puy lentils and place in saucepan. Dissolve a stock cube and add to the lentils and cover with boiling water until twice the volume. Cook uncovered on high for 10 minutes and then for a further 25 minutes on a lower heat with the lid on - check to ensure it does not boil dry adding water if required. Season with pepper and salt
- Dice carrots and place in a bowl. Cover with boiling water and microwave on high for 3 minutes.
- Dice, peppers, courgettes and onions.
- Finely chop parsley, mint and garlic.
- Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in non stick wok and cook onions on medium heat until caramelised. Place cook onions in dish.
- In hot wok add 1 tbsp olive oil and when hot add diced pepper and after one minute add chopped garlic. Cook for a further 2 minutes and then add cooked diced carrot and courgette cook for a further 5 minutes until vegetables just cooked. Season with pepper and salt to taste. Stir in chopped parsley and mint and switch off heat to wok. Stir in cooked onions.
- If there is any liquid in the saucepan containing Puy lentils this can be boiled off with the lid off. Add the cooked lentils to the cooked vegetables mixing well.
- Serve warm with a garnish of parsley or mint.