Puy lentil salad with roasted vegetables
Time to blog something healthy. I fear we have had too many calory laden things lately. As I was entertaining guests for Christmas I made this gorgeous salad courtesy of the cookery book which my son’s lovely girlfriend kindly gave me for Christmas to add to my collection. Thank you Lucy!! It is called “Mildreds, the cookbook” and it is basically the recipe book of this vegetarian restaurant in London called…surprise, surprise, Mildreds (which is fab, by the way). The book is full of really interesting, mouth watering vegetarian recipes. I can see me blogging more recipes from it. The good thing about this super healthy salad is that you can eat it hot or cold and you can add goat’s cheese or feta cheese to it, if you wish, thus making it a complete meal. I will definitely make it again. I didn’t follow the recipe religiously as I didn’t have all the vegetables, however I am sure there is room for variation. This is definitely something I shall make again…. Here is the original recipe, straight from the book.
INGREDIENTS
serves 6-8
200g (7oz) Puy lentils
1 red onion, very finely diced
80ml (3fl oz) olive oil
80ml (3fl oz) balsamic vinegar
1 red chilli, trimmed and chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons tomato purée
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
1 bunch of flat leaf parsley leaves
75g (3oz) baby spinach leaves, red chard leaves or bull’s blood leaves
salt
For the roasted vegetables
olive oil
300g (10oz) pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2cm (1-inch) thick wedges
1/2 fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into 1cm (1/2-inch) thick wedges (I used one as I didn’t have any tomatoes. I also added a red onion)
150g (5oz) cherry tomatoes
1 courgette, cut into 1cm (1/2-inch) thick wedges
2 red or yellow peppers, cored, deseeded and cut into 1-cm-(1/2-inch) thick wedges
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/Gas Mark 6. Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil and add the lentils. Lower the heat and simmer for 15–20 minutes until tender. Drain and put in a large salad bowl.
Put the onion, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, chilli, garlic, sugar, tomato purée and crushed fennel seeds in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook gently, stirring frequently, for 4–5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Spoon the warm dressing over the lentils and leave to cool.
For the roasted vegetables, drizzle a little oil on to the base of a roasting tin. Add the pumpkin or squash pieces, season with salt and mix together thoroughly. Roast for 10 minutes. Toss the fennel and whole tomatoes in a little oil, add to the tin and roast for another 10 minutes. Finally, toss the courgettes and peppers in a little oil, add to the tin and roast for a further 10 minutes. By now the vegetables should all be tender and cooked through. Set aside to cool slightly.
Roughly chop the parsley and add to the salad bowl along with the salad leaves and roasted vegetables.
Mix everything together well and serve.
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