Puy Lentil and Roasted Beetroot Salad

5 11 2011

The allotment is a sorry sight this time of year. A few cabbages sitting amongst the weeds seem to be keeping the mice fed through the long nights and the purple sprouting is a favourite for the pigeons. I did however manage to salvage the last of the beetroot before the slugs got to them.

This is a simple dish and in the style of Nigel Slater and Hugh FW, it just uses things that work well together. Earthy beetroot and puy lentils, sweetness from the tomatoes and pesto and the creamy coolness of the mozarella.

Makes enough for 2 for lunch or 3-4 as a starter.

3-4 handfuls puy lentils
vegetable stock
½ red pepper – finely diced
3 spring onions – finely sliced
handful fresh coriander – roughly chopped
3-4 beetroot
125g mozarella – buffalo of cow
3-4 ripe tomatoes – cut into quarters
1 tablespoon pesto
4-5 tablespoons olive oil

Put the lentils in a pan, cover with stock, bring to the boil then simmer for approx 20 minutes until tender but still retaining their shape.

Drizzle the beetroot with a little olive oil then roast in the overn at 200C for 30-45 minutes depending on their size until the are soft are the skin has blistered.

While the lentils and beetroot are cooking put the peppers, tomatoes, coriander and spring onions in a large bowl.

Drain the lentils and add to the bowl. Mix well and season with salt.

When the beetroot is done, allow to cool a little the remove the skins and cut cut into dice.

Mix the pesto and olive oil to make the dressing.

To assemble, place the lentil mixture in the centre of a large plate. Arrange the beetroot on top, then add torn pieces of mozarella. Finally drizzle the pesto dressing over the top.


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Warm Courgette and Brie Salad

27 07 2011

Well, kind of a salad, or perhaps a tasty topping for bruschetta. Either way this is very quick and very tasty.

To be honest I’ve had a bit of a courgette disaster. Last year I had so many I couldn’t get through them. This year all the plants have died. Luckily my allotment neighbour came to the rescue so I traded two courgettes for a lettuce and so decided to give this a try.

Serves 2
2 courgettes – sliced
2-3 tablespoons good oil – I used a mixture of hemp oil and mild olive oil but you could use extra virgin olive oil
1 wedge of brie – sorry I threw the pack away so not sure what weight it was – diced
1 medium very ripe tomato – diced
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
juice of half a lemon

Heat the oil in a heavy based frying pan. When nice and hot fry the courgette slices until browned on each side – even slightly charred.

Place in a dish with the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Now add the cubed brie and tomatoes. Add the lemon juice and mix gently. The brie should start to melt from the heat in the courgettes.

Serve with green salad and hunks of french bread.


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Lentil and Ebly Salad

9 07 2011

A wander along Westbourne Grove the other lunchtime and I ended up outside Daylesford Organic leaving with a tub of mixed salads for lunch. One of which I thought was lentil and rice but turned out to be lentil and whole grains. So here is my version using Ebly. There is quite a lot of washing up as each part of the disj needs to be cooked separately but it was worth it.

I served this with a green salad, tsatsiki and a few slices of grilled halloumi cheese.

2-3 handfuls of green lentils
1 cup Ebly
1 onion – finely chopped
1 clove garlic – finely chopped
olive oil
1 dried chilli – crushed
lemon juice
salt and black pepper

Place the lentils in a pan of water, bring to the boil then simmer for approximately 20 minutes until tender. Drain and leave to cool.
Place the Ebly in a pan with two cups of water, bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes until the water has been absorbed. Leave to cool.
Heat some olive oil in a frying pan, add the onion and garlic and fry gently until softened. Yep you guessed it. Leave to cool.
Put the lentils, Ebly, onions, garlic in a large bowl. Add the chili and a large pinch of salt. Lots of black pepper. Then season to taste with lemon juice and olive oil.


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Early Summer Salad

30 05 2011

Three years ago I bought 10 asparagus crowns, followed all the advice, planted them, then waited the three years everyone says. So this year I was expecting to spend the early summer season picking and eating beautiful spears of home grown asparagus. Well things didn’t quite work out that way and this is what I ended up with.

So I’ll wait another year. In the meantime I bought some and made this.

Asparagus and buffalo mozzarella salad with a pesto dressing
for two people
1 bunch of asparagus – snap along the stem to remove to woody parts
2 large handfuls of mixed salad leaves
1 ball of buffalo mozzarella – sliced
2 ripe tomatoes – diced
A handful of olives
1 teaspoon pesto – home made or shop bought
good few glugs of extra virgin olive oil
Lemon juice
extra olive oil for frying

Heat a frying pan, add the oil then fry the asparagus over a medium heat until slightly charred and tender. Remove from heat add a little salt and a little lemon juice.

Arrange the leaves, diced tomato, olives and sliced mozzarella on 2 large plates.

Mix the pesto with olive oil and lemon juice. Drizzle over the salad.

Place the cooked, still warm asparagus on top of the salads.

Serve with a crusty roll or flatbreads.


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Beetroot, Walnut and Blue Cheese Salad

29 08 2010

A simple, tasty salad – the sharp saltiness of the blue cheese works well with the earthy sweetness of the beetroot.

1 medium beetroot
½ pack of blue cheese – St Agur, Dolcelatte, Roquefort, whatever takes your fancy
a large handful of salad leaves
a handful of halved walnuts
3-4 glugs of olive or walnut oil
1 glug sherry vinegar – you could use lemon juice
½ teaspoon caster sugar
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Place the whole beetroot into a pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for about an hour until cooked through. Drain, allow to cool then slip off the skin. Cut into fine dice. Cut the blue cheese into similar sized dice.

Mix the oil, vinegar or lemon juice, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper together thoroughly.

Grab a plate or bowl and place the salad leaves in the bottom. Arrange the diced beetroot and cheese over the leaves, then scatter a handful of halved walnuts over. Drizzle with the dressing and serve on it’s own or with some posh bread.


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Gozitan Lentil Salad with Rice

14 08 2010

Holiday food. Bread and cheese. Sometimes with tomatoes. Sometimes with figs. The trouble with Gozo is local cheese is hard to come by. The villages are too small for markets and the supermarkets are full of Cheddar, Double Gloucester and Feta.

So to break with tradition I thought I’d try and make a lentil salad – something resembling the lentil salad I bought for lunch from Green Valley a couple of weeks ago. My family never cease to spring surprises on me and everyone wanted some. One tin of lentils doesn’t feed five hungry people and having been to the supermarket twice a day every day I wasn’t going back a third time.

So I started by cooking a couple of cupfuls of long grain rice.

Place the rice in a pan, rinse with water a few times. Then, leaving about 1cm of water above the rice, bring to the boil. When peaks form, turn the heat off and put the lid on. Leave until cool.

Now for the rest of the salad

1 onion – halved then finely sliced
½ red pepper – finely sliced
½ green pepper – finely sliced
1x400g tin of green lentils – drained
olive oil
salt
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon paprika

Heat about 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan. When hot add the cumin seeds and onion, then turn the heat to medium and fry gently until the onion is soft and starting to brown. Now add the rest of the ingredients and cook slowly until the pepper starts to soften. Remove from heat.

When cool, add to the rice, mix well and serve with feta cheese, olives and red wine.


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Mozarella and Courgette Salad

1 08 2010

OK, OK, OK. So all I ever seem to eat are courgettes these days. Well here is a wonderful summer salad. I served this with Lebanese flatbreads (Khebz Markouk).

I added a few slow roasted tomatoes that I made last year and sealed in jars.

To make the tomatoes:-
Cherry tomatoes
Olive Oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
a little salt
a little sugar

Heat the oven to 120C. Spread the tomatoes out on a baking tray. Cover with 3-4 tablespoons olive oil, then add the rest of the ingredients. Place in the oven for 2 hours.

When done, boil the kettle and sterilise/heat a couple of empty glass jars and their lids. Spoon the hot tomatoes with the oil and their juice into the hot jars then screw the lids on tightly. When cool they should be vacuum sealed and will keep in the fridge – mine kept for about 12 months.

To make the salad
courgettes – two smallish ones – sliced
assorted lettuce and other salad leaves
a ball of mozzarella
lemon juice
whole chilis

Now take a frying pan and heat a little olive oil on a high heat. Slice some courgettes – I used two to feed two people – and fry them in the oil until well browned or slightly charred. Remove from the pan, sprinkle with about a tablespoon of lemon juice and leave to cool slightly.

Now prepare the plates by piling some salad leaves, then top with the courgette slices, some slices of mozarella – buffalo is best but the normal stuff works well too – a few slow roasted tomatoes and top off with a couple of chilis from a jar (you can buy these at al Middle Eastern supermarkets and some of the big evil ones too).

The salad doesn’t need any extra dressing as the oil from the tomatoes and oil and lemon juice in the courgettes gives enough flavour.


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Courgettes

16 07 2010

The recent spell of hot (and now wet) weather has caused an explosion on the allotment – or Fisch Farm as some like to call it. I am having to pick courgettes on a daily basis – 3-4 of them per day – from only five plants.

I’ve already published numerous recipes using courgettes so thought I would try a few new ones out. I also made Emily’s wonderful Courgette and Blueberry loaf.

Courgette and Hazelnut Salad

Slice a couple of courgettes then griddle or fry them until nicely browned. Place in a bowl then cover with a little lemon juice and hazelnut oil. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes or so. During this time heat a frying pan and toast a handful of whole hazelnuts. Leave these to cool once browned.

Take some nice salad leaves and arrange in a dish. Place the courgette slices on top, scatter the toasted hazelnuts over, a few shavings of Parmesan and drizzle the left over marinade over.

Apologies for the poor quality photo.

Courgette and Brie Pizza

The easiest way to do this is to make a bread base – I use the bread machine which is easy.

1 cup of water
tablespoon olive oil
teaspoon salt
3 cups strong white flour
1 sachet of yeast

While the dough is kneading/proving/rising, slice and griddle the courgettes as above. You can fry them but the stripes you get from the griddle look nicer. Leave these to cool.

When the dough is ready knock it into a round then spread some good quality green pesto over, Arrange the courgette slices on top, then cover with a few slices of brie. Drizzle of olive oil, a smattering of black pepper. Then place in a very hot oven – I set mine to 280C – for about 10-15 minutes until the cheese has melted and the base is cooked through.

Believe me this tastes much better than it looks.


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Wild Rice and Roasted Aubergine Salad

26 01 2010

A tasty alternative to a sandwich for lunch. Serve with a generous blob of hummus or greek yogurt.

Apologies if the quantities are a little vague. I put this together late on Sunday night without really thinking.

1 handful of wild rice
2 handfuls of brown rice
1 handful of puy lentils

Place these in a saucepan. Cover with water up to about 2cm over the rice then bring to boil. Once peaks start to form, turn the heat off, place a lid over the pan and leave until cool.

½ aubergine – ½ diced about cm in size
½ red pepper – diced
1 small onion – finely chopped
1 clove garlic – finely chopped
olive oil
salt
pepper
balsamic vinegar

Place the diced vegetables on a roasting dish, drizzle with olive oil, add some salt and pepper then roast in a hot oven – 220C or so – for about 20-30 minutes until soft and sizzling. Allow to cool.

Mix the rice and lentil mixture with the roasted vegetables then add more salt and pepper and balsamic vinger (I used white but the dark one will do too) to taste.

Variations:
Add a few toasted seeds or pine nuts
Add a tablespoon of capers


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Beetroot, Feta and Mint Salad

12 09 2009

DSC_0051

And so the glut moves on from courgettes, to beans and now to beetroot. This is delicious and makes a change from soup. I served it with warmed pittas, taze fusulye, grilled halloumi and felafel.

Take 2-3 beetroots. Boil for about 20 minutes, then allow to cool and little, slip off the skins, dice and leave to cool. Meanwhile take 3 tabelspoons olive oil, the same amount of lemon juice, a few mint leaves finely chopped and salt and pepper. Mix and leave to stand.

Put the cooled beetroot in a large bowl with 200g of dice feta cheese. Pour the dressing over, mix and serve.


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