Showing posts with label lentils. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lentils. Show all posts

Tuesday, 19 June 2012

Recipe: North African Pork & Lentil Curry

Determined not to waste (or, more likely, nibble on every time I open the fridge) some delicious slow-roasted pork belly, I knocked up a little leftovers recipe on Monday evening. It was the perfect start to a long week and made great use of some great quality meat. 

I love improvising in the kitchen and usually take inspiration from combinations of ingredients in a handful of favourite recipes. My inspiration for Monday's quick supper was from a North African chicken tagine recipe. I decided to use the sweet and spicy flavours with a tomato-based sauce to liven up my leftover pork belly; served on some cous cous with a good hit of red chili, the dish really hit the spot. 




Tuesday, 20 March 2012

Recipe: Red Lentil, Chickpea and Chilli Soup

This week I've made a warming and flavourful Red Lentil, Chickpea and Chilli Soup. It's creamy, chunky and has a nice spicy kick from the chilli and cumin. It's really easy to make and you can keep it in the fridge and heat it up when you want it. Even better, I usually have all of the ingredients in the cupboard so it's a good Sunday night "I've forgotten to go food shopping" recipe too!


Here's what you need...

2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
Large pinch of chilli flakes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
140g red split lentils
850ml vegetable stock or water
400g chopped tomatoes
200g chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Creme fraiche - to serve

1. In a large saucepan dry fry the cumin seeds and chilli flakes for 1 minute. Add the oil and onion and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the lentils, stock and chopped tomatoes and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes until softened.

2. Next, pour the mixture into the blender and whizz until it is a rough puree, then transfer back to the pan and add the rinsed and drained chickpeas.

3. Heat as desired and season well. To serve, add a dollop of creme fraiche.

Enjoy! :-)

Next week, I'm planning to create my own version of a gorgeous soup I had from Camyoga's Dandelion cafe - Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup. Yummy!