Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

Food Writer

Lentils

A Bubbling Cauldron of Lamb Rapid Ragu (Nigella)

Yay, Sarah from Maison Cupcake has opened up a new round of Forever Nigella, a really popular blog event in which Nigella recipes old and new get a themed makeover. This month, excitingly, the theme is ‘Halloween Horrors‘ and Sarah has challenged us all to use our imaginations and create any Nigella dish we like, but we have to adapt it to make it suitable for Halloween in some way.

So, my interpretation might be a bit of a cop out, but we’re half way through half-term, we have a leak in the kitchen and so the mains water is off again, it’s cold and the heating is off too. And in my cold and grumpy state, I felt like making a big pan of Nigella’s Rapid Ragu from her Nigella Express book. It is really easy to make, you just need some garlic olive oil, cubed pancetta, minced lamb, a jar of caramelised onions, some chopped tomatoes and a can of lentils. Nigella suggests a splash of Marsala, but I didn’t have any of that so I just used any old sweet sherry in the cupboard, probably from last Christmas. You then just grate some bright orange cheese on top, et voilà.

Having made it, I did think to myself that this would be a great thing to have bubbling away on the stove, ready for post-trick or treating and so I have spooked it up…sort of. As my kids are really little, I didn’t want to make it too scary. Basically, that’s my excuse for having a brain-freeze lack of imagination.

Anyway, I hope it counts. Forever Nigella #9 is open until 1st November so if you can think of anything suitably spooky do join in!

I won’t reproduce the recipe as I hardly changed a thing, but you can find Nigella’s recipe for Rapid Ragu here. Nigella even has a nice Halloweeny background on her website for good measure. 

Forever Nigella Halloween event

Happy Halloween! What spooky things will you be making, Nigella-themed or otherwise?

Spiced Seasonal Vegetables with Puy Lentils

September means change. The summer has flown by and a new term starts this week. It doesn’t feel as though summer should be over and it doesn’t feel as though autumn should be starting, but it’s windy here and there are showers and saying goodbye to the sunshine seems inevitable.

I feel like eating lentils. There is something wholesome and comforting about lentils. And I have lots of veggies left over from my organic veg box delivery, deep purple glistening aubergines, still earthy carrots, imperfect courgettes. Chopping up these veggies into very small pieces is strangely therapeutic. Minimal cooking, maximum flavour. The spices in my shiny new tin want to be used too, some cumin seeds, mustard seeds and coriander.  Nothing wild, just some extra warmth. I’m very happy to throw in ready-cooked lentils, I’m not in the slow cooking zone yet…
 
You can use any veggies that you have around for this recipe, red peppers would work well too, though I have an aversion so they never feature in my cooking. Tiny cubes of butternut squash would also be nice, if you have the patience to peel and want orange fingers.   
 

 

 

Spiced Seasonal Vegetables with Puy Lentils and Crème Fraiche
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 aubergine, cubed
5 baby carrots, peeled and cubed
2 courgettes, cubed
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
100g chopped tomatoes
1 packet or tin of ready cooked puy lentils
2 tablespoons Crème fraiche or natural yoghurt
Baby herbs to garnish
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Method
1. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan big enough to fit in all your chopped veggies. Gently fry the cumin and mustard seeds for one minute.
2. Add the chopped onions to the pan and cook for five minutes until soft. Add the aubergines and carrots cook for another five minutes. Add the courgettes and stir them around to coat them, cook for two minutes.
3. Sprinkle over the ground coriander and add the chopped tomatoes.  Season with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook on a gentle heat until the carrots are just soft.
4. At the end, add in the puy lentils and heat through. Serve with a few spoons of crème fraiche and baby herbs, such as coriander or Greek basil.

Look out for more changes to come in the coming weeks…a big switch over to Word Press for me.

Thank you also for all your entries into August’s Simple and in Season – a round-up will follow!
What are you eating now? Are you into autumnal comforts yet or are you staying faithful to summer?

Lentil & Walnut Salad with Feta Roasted Salmon (Nigella)

The theme for Forever Nigella #5 has been announced by Dom at Belleau Kitchen and it is to be “Salad Days.” As we roll into some warmer weather I am told food becomes less “heavy and stodgy.” Personally, I would just carry on eating the stodge as I’m not much of a salad girl myself, but I have to say, I am always inspired by Nigella’s salads. I think its probably because Nigella does a great job of padding things out and making her meals substantial, even though they may be ‘light.’

I was after something really quick and easy to make for supper so I turned to ‘Nigella Express,’ which has lots of ideas for speedy meals. I did have two salmon fillets to use, so I baked them in the oven, drizzled with olive oil, dotted with a teeny amount of butter, seasoned with salt and pepper and scattered with some feta and lemon zest and a bit of parsley. I confess to not having much else around, so my attention was drawn to the very back of the book to a section entitled “Storecupboard SOS.” I found a lovely sounding ‘Lentil and Walnut Salad’ and though I had most of the ingredients to hand, namely a packet of lentils, some walnuts and walnut oil, I did have to substitute chives for a bit of rocket and sherry vinegar for white balsamic vinegar. You can leave the walnuts chunkier or chop them finer for more texture and I doubled the vinegar and oil quantities as I wanted the dressing to soak into the lentils as well as coat the rocket leaves.
The whole thing worked very well and since I was unusually cooking for one, there was even enough for left for a lunch box for today. Nigella suggests serving this salad with her Golden Goat’s Cheese, which I will definitely try next time. Grilled Halloumi would be great too for a vegetarian alternative, but the salmon topped with feta went so well with the crunchy walnuts and sweet but sharp white balsamic. This would also make a great supper for friends.

So, that’s me converted to salad then. Can’t wait to see the round up for some more lovely ideas.

Nigella’s Lentil & Walnut Salad
with Feta Roasted Salmon
(Lentil & Walnut Salad adapted from Nigella Express)

Ingredients
For the salmon –
2 fillets of salmon
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
30g cubed or crumbled Feta cheese
A teaspoon of greated lemon zest
A sprinkle of herbs – parsley or mint

For the Lentil & Walnut Salad
400g can organic Puy lentils (ready cooked)
A handful of rocket leaves
50g walnut pieces (finely chopped)
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 teaspoons walnut oil
4 teaspoons white balsamic vinegar

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius. Place salmon on a baking try on a piece of lightly oiled baking paper
2. Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over the cumbled Feta cheese and the lemon zest. Bake in the oven for fifteen minutes or until cooked through
3. Drain and rinse the lentils and put them in a bowl with the finely chopped walnuts and rocket salad leaves
4. Whisk together the walnut oil and vinegar, season with salt and pepper and stir together well
5. Once the salmon is cooked, pile on a plate and eat!
Serves 2 or 1 plus lunch the next day

Lovely Lentils & Homemade Labneh

So, we are a week into the new diet ‘Healthy Eating Plan’ following the Christmas and New Year binge and things are going well.  To keep myself focused, I’ve been experimenting in the kitchen, rather than taking part in the usual daily snack-athon.

This week, I’ve made a healthy Middle Eastern dish called Lebneh, which is a soft cheese made from yoghurt. I made mine with some of the fat-free natural pro-biotic yoghurt sitting in my fridge. Much too sour (for my taste) to eat on its own.  However, straining it (which removes the whey) turns into a lovely and much more indulgent cream cheese, which can then be used as a dip (for crudites or wholemeal pitta) or can be used as a topping (see second recipe below.)

To make it, mix 500g natural yoghurt with one teaspoon of salt. Place the yoghurt over a paper towel or cloth in a sieve over a bowl. Leave in the fridge overnight, loosely covered with a lid or clingfilm. Some recipes suggest forming a tight bundle with the cloth and tying it with string.


The next day, the liquid should have separated from the cheese into the bowl.  Remove the cheese from the sieve, discard the liquid and place in a clean bowl. Stir in a tablespoon of olive oil if you like and flavour with nuts, herbs or spices. I used lemon olive oil and a sprinkle of parsley. Chopped cucumber, pistachios, pine nuts all work well too.

Next, I turned my hand to lentils and made a Butternut, Lentil and Chickpea Stew (which we had with brown rice). This was a really hearty meal, so much so, that I didn’t miss the meat at all.  It actually made me think about eating less meat, and in doing so, I stumbled across a few campaigns suggesting that if we ate less meat, even just one day per week, we would be helping the climate, saving money, reducing environmental impact and be healthier – all in one easy go!

I’m sure there are plenty of authentic recipes for chickpea curries or for Dhal which you could try, but here is what I threw together in my pressure cooker (times for stove top are included too).



Butternut, Lentil & Chickpea Stew


Ingredients


1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion (white or red, finely chopped)

2 cm piece fresh ginger (minced)

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

300 g red lentils (dry, uncooked)

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds or powder

1 tsp ground tumeric

1 tsp garam masala

1 butternut squash (peeled, de-seeded, cubed)

2 carrots (grated)


1 tin tomatoes

600 ml vegetable stock


Optional (add ten minutes before the end)


1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)

1 can green lentils (drained and rinsed)

1 bag fresh spinach (washed)


Method


Prepare the onion, carrots and butternut squash as above.  Mince the ginger, finely chop the garlic.


Add one tablespoon olive oil to a large pan. Gently fry the onion for a few minutes then add the ginger and garlic to the pan. Coat well with the olive oil, make sure the heat is not too hot.


Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds or powder, tumeric and garam masala to the pan. Mix well.


Add the butternut squash and grated carrot and stir around.


Add a coupe of handfuls of red lentils, stir again and pour in the tinned tomatoes and vegetable stock over the top. All of the ingredients should be covered, if not, add some water.


Cover and simmer for around 45 minutes (15 minutes in a pressure cooker)


The butternut squash should be really soft, almost blending into the liquid.  The lentils should be cooked through.


Next, add in your tin of chickpeas and any other tinned lentils/beans you like.  Cook for another ten minutes.


Finally, add the spinach and mix into the stew until wilted.


Check the seasoning and serve.

For more information on being ‘meat free’ and for some lovely recipes ideas, see Meat Free Monday (Paul McCartney’s campaign) or Meat Free Mondays another site dedicated to helping us have at least one day a week totally free of meat.