Lentil as anything – adding interest to winter recipes

Lentil as Anything

The eggs have been found, and the year is in full swing. It won’t be long now till the bells start to ring!

Phew! It’s almost half the year gone, and I can hear you saying “What? Already?!”

Even though the dates for Easter change each year, I think most folks really get into their year after these first term holidays.

Everyone’s settled with routines, daylight saving is gone, and we have to stretch just a little further to get the best out of life.

Planning meals sounds awfully boring to some folk and even thinking about it can be a chore! However, if you can break through that chore mentality and understand that planning will give you more time each night, then maybe it will be the key you need to make a change.

You may have noticed the increase in vegetable prices, and it’s going to be like that for the next six months or so until the farmers up north recover from the floods.

Managing the budget for meal planning means having a couple of reliable dishes ready to go, whilst trying to make the most of winter produce.

French lentils are my perfect winter ‘go to’. I add them to a lamb or beef stew, stir them through a vinaigrette before pouring over roast vegetables, or toss them through salad leaves with grilled chicken or fish.

You can buy French Du Puy lentils, or there is also the Australian grown French green lentils from Mount Zero in the Wimmera Region (they are actually a deep marbled dusty brown green color).

Cook up a kilo and keep them in the fridge (they will last 4-5 days). Alternatively, batch and freeze in portion sizes and they are easy to use for last minute warm-up winter dishes.

Here is how I cook my lentils, with some suggestions of how you can use them to add interest to a range of winter dishes.

You can tell that I’m already daydreaming about cold winter afternoons and a good book. Next time I’ll be ringing bells for Christmas in July!

FRENCH STYLE PUY LENTILS

INGREDIENTS

• 2 small brown onions, diced • 2 cloves garlic, crushed • 1 unpeeled carrot, diced • 2 stalks celery, diced • 1 bay leaf • 4 tablespoons olive oil • 2 rashers of bacon or one chorizo sausage (optional) • 6 sprigs fresh thyme • ½ bunch parsley, chopped • 2 tablespoons tomato paste • 1.5 litres water • 500 grams French style Puy Lentils • Pomegranate pearls and flowers for extra pizazz

METHOD

• To a medium sized heavy based saucepan or pot, add the oil, onions, carrot and celery on medium heat and sauté for 5-6 minutes until starting to brown and soften. Add the tomato paste and garlic (and bacon/chorizo if using) and cook for another 3 minutes. Then add the lentils, thyme and water. • Turn the heat to low and cook covered, stirring every 5 minutes or so to prevent sticking. The lentils will take about 20 minutes to cook till tender, adding more water if necessary (it should have more of a spoon-able, tinned beans consistency). Take off the heat, check the seasoning and add sea salt, fresh ground pepper and chopped parsley. • Divide into portioned containers to freeze or use within 5 days of cooking.

Roasted pumpkin with lentils, goats’ cheese, spinach and balsamic syrup, with pomegranate pearls and flowers for extra pizazz!

How to use cooked lentils…

• Add 1 cup of cooked lentils to a vegetable soup for extra protein/fibre. • Sprinkle over roasted pumpkin with crumbled feta and spinach for a warm winter salad. • Roasted chicken salad with fresh orange and olives - add a couple of spoons of lentils to the dressing and drizzle over your salad.

• Add a cup to your bolognaise sauce

recipe. Or stir through a risotto with rocket and toasted flaked almonds.

• Slow cook a red wine and beef

casserole and stir through some lentils for a ‘Saturday on the lap’ lunch. • Oven bake pork sausages, serve with lentils, pancetta, rosemary and mash.

• An easy way to make a fabulous

soup is to tray roast all your vegetables. Toss roughly chopped onions, celery, carrot, chunks of pumpkin, a tablespoon of olive oil and cumin and roast for 40 – 50 minutes till soft. Using a blender or food processor, blend till smooth with either coconut milk, water, chicken or vegetable stock. Try cauliflower and add a little crumbled blue cheese at the end, or celeriac and granny smith apples with nutmeg and a swirl of cream.

Bern the Chef is a local caterer who has been in the Lane Cove area for over 15 years. She has worked in many corporate catering positions as well as operating a small business. Bern loves catering and the freedom that clients give her to do what she does best. Cooking is her forte and Bern loves the classics as well as keeping up to date with the latest food trends. www.bernthechef.com.au