I had a craving for some healthy lentils last night and had a little looksie into my cupboard and fridge to see what I had around. Grabbed a few cans of lentils and veggies and off I went! Great for vegetarians!
Bought - (actually already had in the cupboard) Cobram Estate Garlic infused olive oil, Plain olive oil, 1 huge tomato, 1 large brush potato (peeled), 2 carrots (peeled) 3/4 of a red capsicum (would have been a whole one but I used some in a salad), 5 asparagus spears, large mushroom, Campbell’s real chicken stock (salt reduced), Spice & Co spices - dukah (Egyptian), rosemary, cayenne pepper, master foods - minced garlic, chopped chives, salt and pepper, a bunch of fresh coriander, 2 tins lentils (I used Russo lentils and I only used 2 tins, not 3) I would also add some onion into the roasting pan and perhaps some roasting garlic...I forgot about this!
First step is turn your fan forced oven to 180/200C. Get yourself a baking dish, drizzle some garlic oil in the bottom and start to chop up your veggies. Keep them kind of chunky so they don’t burn and throw them in the oven.
After about 25 minutes, check on the veggies. Your asparagus and mushroom should be cooked by then, grab them out of the dish and put aside. Put your veggies back into the oven for about another 25 - 30 mins.
In the mean time put your lentils on. Grab a large pot, add a glug of plain olive oil into the bottom of the pan and open 2 tins of lentils. Chop up your asparagus and mushroom and add into the pot with the lentils.
Also grab your fresh coriander and chop off the stalks. These contain a hell of a lot of flavour so it’s good to get some flavour into the lentils as they are very bland. Chop up the stalks and throw them in. Stir well and keep the lentils on a simmer, not a boil.
Once you are happy with your roasted veggies pull them out of the oven. I scrapped the capsicum and tomato and put them straight into the pot without chopping. Stir them through and they should break up themselves.
Chop up the carrots and potato into small chunks and put them into the pot also. give it a good stir. The lentils and veggies will probably be getting a little thick by now. Add in about 1/4 chicken stock and stir through.
If you need more, add this quantity again. Now it is time to start adding your spices. Add roughly teaspoon and 1/2 of cayenne pepper, tablespoon rosemary, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 2 table spoons of dukah, 2 table spoons of chopped chives, salt and pepper to taste. Give it a good stir, turn the heat right down (add more stock if you need to) and let it go for about 10 minutes. Taste the lentil mixture about this time and if it is still a bit bland, add more of the spices
Last thing to do is grab the rest of your fresh coriander, roughly chop it and throw it in. Turn the heat off and stir the coriander through.
Last thing is to serve whilst piping hot and enjoy!
