When you sit down and think about it…

“No great improvements in the lot of mankind are possible until a great change takes place in the fundamental constitution of their modes of thought.”

John Stuart Mill
English economist & philosopher (1806 – 1873)

…which is why I took the bold move of altering my “modes of thought” for the production of takoyaki (octopus balls) and my rather yummy sausage with puy lentils dish.

I will leave you to debate whether this will lead to any improvements in “the lot of mankind” (I am too humble and modest to judge such things), but feast your eyes on these bad-boys and tell me they’re not tasty…

Toulouse Sausages with Puy Lentils

Stuck to a more French feel with the sausages this time going with some lovely smoked Toulouse sausages from the butchers and a monstrous glug of red wine, but also chucked in some finely chopped chestnut mushrooms and sweet romano peppers…

Takoyaki (octopus balls)

Last weeks balls were very tasty, but this weeks balls were balls that would be hard to beat!

Nothing much different in the recipe, perhaps the pan was now a bit more used to be using, or it could have been to do with the gas for the camping stove running out and having to make them on the stove rather than in the middle of table, but either way, tell me these are some of the tastiest balls you’ve ever seen…

It’s occurred to me that I haven’t given you a recipe yet. I’m not really into precise measurements or detailed step by step method so forgive me if my approach is a bit lax.

I tend to use recipes simply for inspiration. Other times to refresh my memory before heading to the shops to source ingredients for a specific dish. A quick peek online often reminds me of a key seasoning or ingredient that I would otherwise have forgotten.

I am luckily enough to live in Clapton. A typically multicultural London suburb awash with Turkish and Halal butchers and grocers. I’ve been buying my vegetables, mutton, lamb and chicken from these places ever since I became a resident. They’re great value and the meat is as good, if not better than any family butcher anywhere in the country. 

I had some friends over for dinner a few weeks ago. Finally, the excuse to cook one of the big joints of mutton that have been tempting me recently. A quick wander up to Paradise Halal Butchers on Lower Clapton Road, £15 later and this was on my block seasoned and ready for the oven.

Shoulder or leg of mutton is a very old and well used bit of kit. It’s got a much deeper and more gamey flavour compared to lamb but will be tough if it’s not cooked for long enough. 

You’ll notice the fat had been trimmed from my joint, Shame. With the fat left on you can simply season it and wack it in a slow oven. Once it’s roasted you’re graced with the added benefit of ‘crispy bits’.

Due to the lack of protective fat I had to be careful not to dry out the meat so I chose to braise it in some liquid.

Slow Braised Mutton with Puy Lentils

Serves 6 (there were 4 of us)

• 1 leg or shoulder of mutton. About 2Kg.
• 1 bottle dry white wine
• 1 cup puy lentils – rinsed
• 1 large carrot – diced
• 2 sticks celery – diced
• 1 large onion – diced
• 1 bulb garlic sliced horizontally
• 1 bunch thyme
• 3 Tbsp finely chopped parsley stalks
• 3 bay leaves
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 1 bunch spinach
• 1 litre stock or water

Gremolata

Finely chop and mix parsley, garlic and lemon zest.

• 4 tbsp very finely chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp very finely chopped garlic
• 2 tsp very finely chopped lemon zest

Pre heat the oven to 140C and ensure the mutton is at room temperature .

Season the meat well with salt and pepper, brush over some oil and brown in a large heavy pan. Remove the mutton, deglaze the pan with the wine and leave to simmer.

Place the lentils, herbs and all the vegetables aside from the spinach in a large baking dish. Lay the mutton on top of the vegetables and pour over the wine. Add some more water or stock to cover the vegetables by a few centimeters and cover completely with foil.

Braise for 4-6 hours basting every hour and adding more stock or water if necessary. Remove from the oven and check the meat. It should be very tender. If it’s not then return it until it is!

Take off the foil and turn the oven up to 180C. Roast uncovered for final 45 minutes basting every 10 minutes to glaze the meat and thicken the sauce. 

In a pan wilt the spinach and drain off the excess water. Remove the mutton from the oven and adjust the sauce by either reducing it or adding more stock to get the consistency you want. Add the spinach and check for seasoning.

Serve at the table topped with some Gremolata

To finish we had an apple and gooseberry crumble with a bottle of Double Vision 7.4% Cider. Steve and Helene had come straight from a Kentish apple festival with gifts.. Thanks!

Funthyme

A simple salad with interesting textures, lovely served warm or cold.

Ingredients

• 1 aubergine
• 1 red onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Puy lentils
• Vegetable stock cube
• Ground cumin
• Some chopped fresh parsley
• Red wine vinegar
• Olive oil and virgin olive oil

To make

1. Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the puy lentils and stock cube
2. Boil the lentils for about 30 minutes, until tender
3. Meanwhile, chop the aubergine into small cubes and fry in olive oil
4. After a few minutes, add a finely chopped red onion and garlic
5. Add a good sprinkle of ground cumin
6. Fry until the onions begin to brown then transfer to a bowl, seasoning to taste
7. Drain the cooked lentils and mix into the aubergine with a tablespoon of red wine vinegar
8. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and generously drizzle with virgin olive oil

Vegetarian Lasagne - Serves 4

Before I start, I bet some of you are waiting in anticipation for pictures of the wedding and honeymoon! Well…. you’ll have to wait a little longer! We haven’t got the photo’s back from the photographer yet so I dont want to post anything until I have the best photos!  It won’t be long – promise! 

Susie has been banging on about how good her mum’s vegetable lasagne is for ages, and as my parents brought us back loads of puy lentils from their house in France, we thought we’d give it a go. Now I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I am a HUGE meat eater… so to convince me to eat purely vegetables was quite an effort. I mean it doesn’t even have any chicken stock in it for crying out loud! Well marriage is all about making sacrifices, so I stepped out the kitchen and handed over the frying pan.

I have to admit that I am officially an idiot! I cant state enough how much I enjoyed this – the butternut squash was just devine with a lovely crisp topping (a little crispier in the photo as this was leftovers the next night!). When I actually think about it, we do eat far too much meat these days. All you have to do is look back to my parents generation and they had ONE meat night and ONE fish night a week – the rest consisted of bread and drippin’ and beans on toast! ( … well not exactly but you get my point!).

Well I’ve forced asked the new Mrs Schofield very nicely to teach me how to make this and give me the recipe to post on this blog, so here it is. Its so easy to make, cheap as chips and a great healthy weeknight dinner with enough leftover for your lunch the next day!

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp oil (for frying)
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 6 oz of red lentils
• 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 400g jar of spicy tomato sauce (I used Lloyd Grossman)
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 sweet potato, diced (or butternut squash)
• 1/4 tsp basil, oregano & thyme (or use herbs de Provence)
• 250g bag of spinach
• 6 lasagne sheets
• 1 pint of bechemal sauce
• 40g cheddar cheese
• 40g parmesan cheese

Step 1
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions and garlic until softened a little, then add the carrots, and sweet potato (or butternut squash) and fry for a couple of minutes. Then add both tomato sauces, the lentils and herbs.

Step 2
Simmer for around 15-20 minutes until the lentils are tender, adding the spinach after around 10 minutes. If required add a little water / vegetable stock for the lentils to absorb.

Step 3
Once the spinach has wilted, fill your lasagne dish with alternate layers of mixture and lasagne sheets, until the dish is full. Pour on the cheese sauce and sprinkle some grated cheese in between each layer and on top to give the lasagne a golden finish.

Step 4
Place in the oven at 200 C for around 30 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

Serving Suggestion
This is easily good enough to eat on its own, but serving with a side salad or some green veg would be especially good!

Enjoy.

Ingredients

• 250g Puy lentils
• 1 bouquet garni
• Olive oil
• 1 small shallot, chopped
• 1 small clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary  
• 4 x 180g sea bass fillets, scored
• 1 lemon
• ———-
• 6 large ripe tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and diced
• 2 tsp tomato purée
• 150ml good-quality tomato juice (with a thick consistency)
• or Carton of chopped tomatoes instead of the 3 ingredients above (we used this)

• For the sauce
• 250ml fish stock
• 125ml double cream
• 1 tsp finely chopped chives
• 1 small knob of butter

1. Put the lentils and bouquet garni in a pan, cover with cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. Drain well.

3. To make the sauce, put the fish stock in a clean pan and simmer until reduced by half. Add the cream and simmer to reduce by half again. Season well and keep warm.

4. Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a non-stick frying pan. Season the fish well with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Pan-fry skinside down for 3-4 minutes until golden and crispy. Turn over and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

5. Add the chives to the sauce and whisk in the butter until a foam appears. Divide the lentils between 4 warmed plates. Top with the fish and spoon the sauce around the edges. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve.

The spinach on the allotment has gone crazy. I could cut enough to serve four people every other day and still it grows and grows. Not that I am complaining. I can’t get enough of the stuff.

Having eaten more than my fair share of sag paneer of late I thought I’d try something new. This recipe was my own creation but inspired by Leith’s Lentil and Cheshire Cheese Tart and The Gate’s Schnitzel from their first book.

Served with a saffron mash and green vegetables this would make a good dinner party dish to impress your guests.

First the filling
100g puy lentils
1 bay leaf
vegetable stock
100g bulghar wheat
large bunch of spinach
100g feta cheese – crumbled
1 tablespoon capers – roughly chopped
1 green chili – finely chopped
1 clove garlic – finely chopped
1 egg

Put the lentils in a pan with the bay leaf. Cover with stock and bring to boil then simmer for about 20 minutes until tender but still holding their shape. Drain, discard the bay leaf and leave to cool.

Put the bulghar in another bowl. Add enough boiling water to just cover, put a lid of plate over the bowl and leave for about 15-20 minutes until all the water has been absorbed. If some water remains, drain this off then add to the lentils.

Wilt the spinach in a large pan with a little water. Squeeze as much water as possible from the spinach and chop finely.

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan. Add the chili and garlic, stir, then add the spinach. Fry for about 5 minutes then add to the lentil and bulghar mixture.

Now add the crumbled feta, the chopped capers and a beaten egg. Season with salt and pepper, mix well and leave to one side.

Now for the aubergines
4 aubergines
lots of olive oil

Top and tail the aubergines then cut lengthwise into ¾cm slices. Discarding the edge ones that are mainly skin you should get four good slices per aubergine – 16 in total is enough to make 8 schnitzels.

Brush the aubergine slices on both sides with olive oil, place on a baking sheet and bake in a 220C oven for 10-15 minutes until soft and starting to brown. Allow to cool.

The crispy, crumbly coating
3 slices white bread
large bunch parsley

Stick the bread in the food processor along with the parsley and whiz into breadcrumbs. If you don’t have a food processor you could use bought breadcrumbs and add finely chopped parsely. Season well with salt and black pepper. Put the breacrumb mixture onto a large plate.

Take another plate and beat an egg on it.

To assemble and bake
Lay half of the aubergine slices on a chopping board. Divide the lentil mixture evenly between the slices then spread the mixture over each aubergine slice. Take the other 8 slices and place one on top of each lentil-covered slice.

Now carefully lift the aubergine sandwich and place in the beaten egg, making sure both sides are covered. It may be easier to spoon the egg over the aubergine to stop the filling falling out.

Now lift again and place in the breacrumb plate, covering top and bottom in crumbs. Lift again and place on a baking sheet. Do all the schnitzels this way then bake in the oven at 200C for around 25 minutes until the breacrumbs turn golden and the filling is hot.

To make the saffron mash, peel, chop and boil the potatoes. In another saucepan heat some milk or cream with a large knob of butter and a generous pinch of saffron. When the potatoes are cooked, drain, return to the pan then strain the milk to remove the saffron strands and add to the potatoes. Mash until all the lumps have gone.

Cod* can be such a delicacy. I use the word “can” because I’ve made bland and underwhelming cod. I think a big reason for that is the flake is so massive it’s hard to get seasoning in there. One way around that is to beer batter and fry it a la fish and chips so that the flavor inside isn’t really the issue. You can also make a court bouillon and poach it, or you can half or fully preserve it by making salt cod. But we ended up taking a different approach with great results—simply lightly dusting it in seasoned flour (cayenne, black pepper, Amanda’s uncle’s fresh garlic powder) and sautéing it in mixture of butter and olive oil. It’s the same approach you may take to smaller-flaked fish like flounder, sole, tilapia, perch, etc., and it really worked well here. I also salted the cod a few hours ahead of time, which serves to both draw some moisture out of the fish (making it easier to sautée) and to season it.

Onto the puy lentils. This entire cod-dinner combo is basically Simon Hopkinson’s idea, and this is his lentil recipe. Onion, bay leaf, clove, lentils, chicken stock. Easy ’nuff. Now you can have a go at the salsa verde. This is totally different when made with a mortar and pestle. There’s just something about it—I think bruising as opposed to the chopping of a food processor, that just gives mashed m & p pastes such delcious depth. This is mostly a ton of parsley, a handful of basil, a few sprigs of mint, a few anchovies, a clove of garlic, capers, a teaspoon of dijon (careful here because you can get too much), olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

This turned out to be a wonderful mix of flavors that I think works well with almost any fish. One of the keys certainly is finding that go-to addictive salsa verde to brighten the corners—

_Matt

*Cod is overfished and should be consumed sparsely (especially Atlantic cod). Our local market fishmonger has amazing fresh seafood and had he not been out of pretty much everything else, we would have used a fish that is jumping out of the water and onto dinner plates.

A creamy and comforting celebration in a bowl … Try to find Puy lentils or at least use small, gray or green French lentils. They are much superior to the larger, softer gray variety. Don’t use red lentils. They’re more Biblical—Esau sold his birthright for porridge made of red lentils—but red lentils dissolve entirely and lack the comforting heft of green lentils.

1 cup dried Puy lentils
3 cups cold water
2 cloves garlic, pressed
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 1/2 pounds onions (2 large), thinly sliced and divided
3/4 pound new potatoes (3 medium)
2 1/2 cups chicken stock or water, divided
1 bay leaf tied with 4 (3-inch) sprigs fresh thyme
1/3 cup dry sherry
1/3 cup instant polenta
Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

Pick through the lentils, rinse them, and place in a stockpot with 3 cups cold water and 1 slice onion. The onion helps the lentils hold their shape. Simmer, covered, for 25 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic.

Meanwhile, in a large chef’s pan over low heat, sweat the remaining onions in 1 tablespoon oil, covered, until translucent, not brown, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucier, cover the potatoes with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer, covered, until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain and chop roughly. Peel the potatoes if you like, but it’s not necessary.

In the chef’s pan over medium heat, combine the lentil mixture, onions, potatoes, 1 cup stock, 1 tablespoon oil, bay leaf, thyme, and sherry and bring to a simmer, uncovered.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over high heat, bring to a boil the remaining 1 1/2 cups chicken stock. Remove from the heat and slowly whisk in the polenta. Return to very low heat and cook until creamy, whisking constantly, about 2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon oil and stir into the soup

Simmer the soup, uncovered, until creamy and reduced by 1 cup, stirring frequently, about 30 minutes. It tends to stick. Add salt and pepper to taste. Discard the bay leaf and thyme. Serve with Greek yogurt, crème fraîche, or cream.
Makes about 2 quarts.

Sunday morning was a race against time to get to Whole Foods before they stopped selling breakfast tacos. If you know me at all then you know that I love the Whole Foods taco. It takes vegan breakfast tacos to a whole new level with a wide range of choices and terrific tortillas. At my office it is common practice that if you are more than 15 minutes late you must stop at Whole Foods to get tacos. Anyway, on Sunday I was speeding there because although Dan and I have shared a multitude of breakfast tacos together he had never tried the Whole Foods version because we usually don’t venture downtown early enough on the weekend (and by early I mean before noon). At 11:35 I was just finishing up my yoga session when I looked at the clock and realized that I was going to have to book-it. Luckily, there was zero traffic on Sunday morning and I shot right up to 6th and Lamar only to be foiled by the seemingly thousands of people in the Whole Foods parking lot. It was total chaos! There was excited holiday shoppers mixed with large groups of tourists and organic moms with their organic babies in PVC-free strollers all slowly walking or rather ambling around seemingly with no particular goal. I finally made it to the counter and bought my tacos with seconds to spare and all was well with the world.

While I was at Whole Foods, I stopped in the bulk section to pick up some chocolate chips (damn you Isa and you fantastic cookies) and I checked to see if they had Puy Lentils which neither the co-op or the health food store by my house carry. Success! They did so I bought a bag and brought them home fueld with a desire to finally create one of the recipes that I had felt just out of grasp merely one day earlier. Of course, I didn’t have anything specific in mind so I started thumbing through the Voluptuous Vegan and came across a lentil recipe that claimed to be phenomenal. The technique is that you cook the lentils with a bouquet garni of fresh sage, thyme, and rosemary and when it is done you push half the lentils through a strainer to remove the hulls and fibrous materials. Then you saute that with some red pepper flakes and garlic and add it back to the other lentils. It was very flavorful but still missing an assertive component so I decided to roast some mushrooms in the oven with balsamic, soy sauce, and garlic. I made some pasta a covered it in the lentils and the mushrooms, a side of nice ass greens and a wonderful ridiculously healthy meal was created. I think the only other really earthy ingredient that I could have added would have been chestnuts… or truffle oil… or maybe some Bulgar instead of the pasta…

Puy Lentil & Vegetable Soup – Serves 4

This recipe was taken from a cutting of a French magazine that my parents bought on their summer holiday in France this year. Puy lentils are a speciality of the Berry region where they live, so there is always a constant supply in my store cupboard!

Recently the weather here in London has been getting really cold – it even snowed a week or so ago, so I’ve definitely been in the mood for making some warming soups. This is a great vegetarian option that is really good for you, but if you do feel inclined to add some meat, a little crispy bacon or smoked ham would work a treat.

Ingredients

• 300g puy lentils
• 1 knob of butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, finely chopped (see picture)
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 450ml cold water
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp Herbs de Provence (mixed herbs)
• 1 potato, peeled and cut into 5mm cubes (see picture)
• 1 litre chicken stock (vegetable for a purely vegetarian meal)
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• Salt & pepper
• Chopped parsley, to garnish

Method

Step 1
Melt the butter in a frying pan and add the onion, garlic and carrot and cook gently for around 5 minutes.

Step 2
Add the puy lentils and the water, bring to boil then cover and simmer for ten minutes. Make sure that you stir the lentils regularly so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. If the water evaporates before the ten minutes has passed, add a little extra – don’t let the lentils dry out.

Step 3
Add the stock, potatoes, puree and bay leaves and bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover for 25-30 minutes. Once the lentils are done (the stock should have reduced and the lentils should be really tender), remove the bay leaves and serve with a little chopped parsley to garnish.

Adaptation
Why not try adding some cubed smoked ham at step 3, or stir in some crispy bacon at the end before serving.

marrow

It has been a while I have tried this but because of work, had no time to update my blog, so apologies. I am hoping to write more stories coming weeks.

Now, we can say marrow is a type of squash or a courgette so I prefer to cook it as I do to other squashes.

1 big marrow
100 grams of feta or alternatively a hard cheese
fresh or dry mint

50 gr of puy lentils
2 – 3 garlic cloves
red pepper sauce or red chilli flakes
blackpepper
olive oil

1. Cut the marrow in half and clean the seeds. (If the marrow is too hard, then boil it for 10 – 15 minutes before cutting into half.)
2. Boil the puy lentils quickly whilst grillling the halved marrow for 10 minutes
3. Mix the crushed garlic, feta, puy lentils, blackpepper and red chilli flakes with enough olive oil, stir well.
4. Take the marrow out of the grill, check if it is soft enough, if not keep in the grill a bit more, try not to burn the top part.
5. Then take the marrow out again, take the flesh out and mash it with the mix you prepared.
6. Put it back inside the marrow skins, add some mint then grill for about 10 minutes.

Enojy!

My Mum asked me to clear out her greenhouse. A task I gladly undertook as it yielded a huge number of tomatoes- I’d given Mum and Dad some of my Marmande plants this spring and they grew fantastically well even in this dreich summer. I reckon that we got 4 stone of toms off those plants this year. My Dad doesn’t hold with taking off sideshoots – weakens the plants- no amount of remonstrating with him about recieved gardening wisdom will make him do it. Well I guess he’s got a point eh?

So what do you do with a ton of toms?

I made passata (of a sort) with the ripe ones and very tasty it was too. I’ve not yet gotten around to doing anything with the green ones yet – by the time I decide to make green tomato chutney, they will all be red.

Looking through my weightwatches magazine, I found a tasty looking puy lentil and apple bake. I decided to make it and then found I didn’t have any apples (Child B eats about 5 a day) so I added some of the passata instead It looks a bit more orangey in the photo than it really is.

I think this recipe should be free on the WW core plan. (vague recipe follows)

Quorn sausages

Puy lentils

onion

garlic

Passata

herbs

stock

Cook the lentils in the stock until almost ready.

Meanwhile gently fry the onion with garlic in a small amount of olive oil (should be low fat cooking spray – but I find it disgusting – I mean it’s white!), then add the sausages and lightly brown them all over. Drain the lentils and add to the pan along with enough tomato to make a sauce that’s not too sloppy, add herbs of your choice season and transfer to oven dish. Bake in a medium oven for (can’t remember) 20 minutes?

Serve with a salad and chutney

This is remarkably filling – a GOOD THING! ( therefore Low GI I assume)

After all the sweet shenanigans of my last post, I need something savoury to to bring my tastebuds back into balance (and maybe my waistline too ;-) ).

Although, considering that there are two lemons, a tablespoon of capers and a healthy dose of chopped onion in this earthy salad, you might think I’ve gone too far in the other direction… However, it mellows down a bit after a night in the fridge and the flavours mingle to produce something that’s not quite as mouth-puckeringly tart but still definitely satisfies all my savoury leanings.

Happily, it’s also turned out to be an easy-and-versatile little number – which guarantees both a place in my heart and my regular repetoire. So far we’ve served it warm with baked trout for dinner and I’ve taken the leftovers in to work for lunch as part of a salad, layered up with veggies and some salty feta to top it off. Now that’s savoury and no mistake.

When the weather gets colder (not yet! not yet!) I’m thinking it would go well with roasted veggies, or act nicely as a sharp foil against the creaminess of a cheesy potato bake. In fact, you could dollop it on the side of just about anything you care to think of. Maybe just scoop it out straight of the bowl with a hunk of crusty bread to mop up the dressing…

This recipe is my entry for the June edition of No Croutons Required, hosted by Lisa’s Vegetarian Kitchen. The latest challenge was to produce a soup or salad based on legumes/pulses – always handy to have as part of a healthier lifestyle, so I can’t wait to see what everyone else comes up with   

Lemony lentil salad from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman.

Serves 4

You’ll need:

1 cup lentils, sorted and rinsed (preferably something like Puy or Beluga lentils, ones that will hold their shape well)
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 lemons
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon capers
1/4 cup minced fresh chives, shallot or red onion
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Put the lentils in a medium pot and cover with water by 1 inch. Add the bay leaf and the garlic, and bring to a boil. Cover and lower the heat so that the lentils bubble gently. Cook until just tender but not burst – 20 to 30 minutes, checking occasionally to make sure there is always enough water at the bottom of the pan to keep the lentils from burning.

2. Squeeze the juice from one of the lemons into a large bowl. Peel the other lemon and chop the segments roughly into smaller pieces, taking care to remove the seeds. Add the segments to the bowl along with the olive oil, capers and minced onion. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and stir.

3. Drain whatever water remains from the lentils and stir into the dressing while hot. Let the salad rest, stirring occasionally to distribute the dressing, until it cools down a bit. Taste and adjust the seasoning and serve warm or refridgerate for up to several days.

Interesting alternative: Bittman suggests using two tangerines instead of the lemons. Will be trying that version out as soon as the current batch is used up. Which will be very soon at this rate

This is one of the best recipes I tried without knowing how swiss chard tastes which I found in my local farmers market and since then it is one of the main characters in my kitchen as the season allows.

If you would like to read more about farmers market and local eating have a look at this website and watch the video if you can.

And more links, the recipe is by famous Irish chef Dennis Cotter who has a special place in my heart:

Wild Garlic, gooseberries and me… Even the name of the book makes my mouth water : )

olive oil
black pepper and salt to season
breadcrumbs
250 – 300 gr of medium tomatoes – real recipe is with plum tomatoes but these are ok for me
100 – 150 gr of puy lentils – again I did it once with green lentils which were soaked one night, not as tasty as puy lentils but good
1 kg of swiss chard, with stalks
3 – 4 garlic cloves (real recipe says 2 but I am a garlic lover do not go out after dinner then!)
fresh thyme
100 ml white wine
50 gr parmesan or any other hard cheese – I used feta cheese once it was very delicious!

Here we go:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C, slice the tomatoes and place them in a single layer on a tray, season with black pepper and olive oil roast for 15 – 20 minutes.
2. Boil the puy lentils for about 20 minutes, they should be tender, cool them under cold water.
3. Separate the chalks and the leaves, cook the leaves in boiling water for 5 minutes then chop them and mix with lentils in a bowl, add black pepper and salt.
4. Chop the garlic and stalks (not more than 2 cms thick) and fresh thyme and cook them with olive oil for 5 minutes. Then, add the white wine and cover them with a piece if baking parchment and lower the hob and leave like that for 20 minutes, they will get soft. Do not let them dry.

5. (Dennis Cotter uses an oven dish about 24 x20 cm but I am happy with mine) Pour the lentil and leaf mixture over tomatoes then add the stalks with its juice and finally top up with breadcrumbs and cheese. Grill for 5 – 10 minutes. I let the cheese turn brown then serve it with wild rice or bulgur pilau.
6. Oh! I add some lemon juice over the leaves before I serve and I like it very much!

Believe me this dish is an art! Enjoy and let me know how you find it!