Dinner•Side Dishes•Vegan

Delicious Lentil Medley

April 5, 2020 by karine No Comments

This is a recipe from the book, “Plenty” by Yotam Ottolenghi. I just “veganized” it. I had a challenging task of making only vegan food for a client. At first I thought, eeeeke, vegan food. I had a bad misconception of what vegan food was, like it was a punishment or something very brown lacking flavor. It wasn’t until I started playing around with recipes and tasting vegan products, that my opinion changed. Most of the way I cook actually has been very vegan!

I just had a mental allergic reaction to the thought of eating vegan or gluten free, for that matter. I realize how naive I was!  I was classically trained, with butter as my weapon or cream as “The fixer,” to most culinary mistakes! I just needed to alter my methods. Now cooking vegan food is a welcomed, healthy challenge and most importantly, a delicious and flavorful one.

Thanks to the Vegan clients, they have opened up my culinary world. I now love looking at cookbooks and favorite chef’s dishes in a with a different perspective. I see how easy it is to “veganize” their dishes. I’ve just learned to not tell non-vegans something is vegan. For example, I gave my son some cookies, he loved them until I told him, the cookies were vegan ;)!!!!

Anyway, back to this lentil dish. I served this veggie medley at a dinner party and everyone loved it. The eggplant leaves a naturally smokey flavor and the lentils have a nice earthy and vibrant taste due to my favorite herbs! The almond sour cream adds nice mouthfeel and creamy goodness. 

I love adding thyme and bay leaves to just about everything. Fresh bay leaves are the best and to keep them longer you can place them in the freezer. They have so much more flavor than the sad, dried ones, but if dried is all you have, just add an extra one. Try adding a bay leaf to rice while it’s cooking, it will add a nice flavor and aroma! I hope you enjoy this dish! 

For more gorgeous recipes check out this book

 

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Lentils with charred egg plant

This is a version from London's Ottolenghi's Plenty cook book-I've made it VEGAN

Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine vegan vegetarian
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 2 medium eggplants
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup small dark lentils rinsed like Puy or Castelluccio
  • 3 small carrots
  • 2 stalks celery
  • 1 leaf bay leaf
  • 3 sprigs thyme
  • 1/2 white onion
  • 3 tbsp olive oil plus extra to finish
  • 12 cherry tomatoes flavor bombs are the best!
  • 1/2 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley, cilantro and dill
  • 2 tbsp Vegan almond sour cream

Instructions

  1. Cook the eggplant on a gas stovetop directly on flame. Roast for 12-15 minutes turning frequently with metal tongs until the flesh is soft and smoky and the skin is charred all over. If you don't have a gas burner-you can place on broil in the oven-just poke holes in egg plant prior and roast for longer-about 45 mins, turning a few times. Remove the eggplants from the heat. Let cool then split open with a knife and scoup out the flesh into a colander-avoid getting too much of the black skin. Let drain for at least 15 minutes. Then season with salt and pepper and 1/2 tablespoon good quality red wine vinegar.

  2. While the eggplants are cooking and draining. Place lentils in a medioum saucepan. Cut one carrot and half a celery stalk in to large chunks and toss them in with the lentils. Add the bay leaf, thyme and onion. Cover with plenty of water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook till done- 15-25 minutes, depending on the lentils. You don't want to boil them the whole time. Skim the scum from the surface. Drain the lentils and discard the carrot, celery, bay leaf, thyme and onion and tranfer lentils to a mixing bowl.

  3. Add the rest of the vinegar and the 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Salt and pepper and keep covered and some place warm.

  4. Cut the remainig carrot and celery into a small dice and mix with the tomatoes. Add the remaining oil, sugar and salt. Spread in an ovenproof dish and cook for about 20 minutes at 350 F-cook till tender but firm.

  5. Add the cooked veggies to the warm lentils. Then add the chopped herbs and stir gently. Adjust seasoning... pile the eggplant in the center and add the dollop of vegan sour cream... finish with salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

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