Spiced lentils, kohlrabi and wild garlic

Hurray for wild garlic season again. It's with us for just a few short weeks (during which time I am quite likely to smell of garlic). Then it's gone for another year, to be followed by the British asparagus season, and I'll know that summer really is on the way.

It took me less than five minutes to gather half a carrier bag full of wild garlic in the Surrey hills last week. Some of it made its way onto a mushroom, garlic and ricotta pizza - one of my perennial favourites. The rest went into this dish of spiced lentils. A curry or something similar really is one of the best ways to use wild garlic. This is not a subtle ingredient, so it can really stand up to strong spices, as well as taking the place of the garlic you would probably be putting in your curry anyway.

Charred broccoli, lentils and beetroot

Charred food seems to be all the rage right now. Charred (you might say burnt if you were being less pretentious) vegetables in particular are something that I'd barely encountered, at least outside of barbecues, until recently. Whether the trend began as an error by an inattentive chef (a bit like the legend of the origin of tarte tatin), I couldn't say. In any case, aubergines and peppers respond particularly well to this treatment - I made a very moreish baba ghanoush at the weekend whose smokiness was matched only by the kick of garlic.

But brassicas are worth trying too. Bringing a bit of char to broccoli brings out a sweetness in its stems, balanced by a hint of bitterness from the burnt patches on the florets. If you ask me, it's as glamorous as broccoli ever gets.

Black bean soup

I love all kinds of beans and lentils, but black beans aren't a variety I've cooked with too often.

I've used the canned kind in chilli in the distant past, but generally kidney beans are my go-to variety for a chilli (sometimes with chick peas too). Cannelini beans or other creamy white beans are what I turn to for dips and Italian-inspired dishes such as stews and soups. And then chick peas have all kinds of uses - in substantial salads, pasta sauces, hummus, occasionally a curry. (Writing this list, it occurs to me that it's time I showed black-eyed beans a bit of love too.)

Chick peas with leeks, squash and broccoli

Another healthy yet deeply satisfying salad. This one has all the vegetable goodness of broccoli, leeks and squash, protein from the chick peas, and then a flavour hit plus good fats from the almond and red pepper pesto. It's great for packed lunches, too.

Ingredients

Makes 4-6 portions

3 leeks
1 small to medium butternut squash
2 tsp olive oil
1 small to medium head of broccoli
2 bell peppers (ideally orange or yellow, though red will work just fine)
2 tins chick peas (or soak and cook 250g dried chick peas if you prefer)
2 tbsp almond and red pepper pesto (home-made or shop-bought - see directions below if you want to make it)

Method

Heat the oven to gas mark 5 190C/ 375F. Cut open and deseed the butternut squash (don't throw away the seeds - put them in the oven for a few minutes until lightly golden, and either scatter over the cooked salad or save for a snack). I rarely bother to peel butternut squash - you could if you really want to, but I find it more trouble than it's worth. Chop the squash into small cubes and toss in a baking tray with 1 tsp of the olive oil, then put on the top shelf of the oven.

Slice the leeks into short lengths of about 1cm (half an inch) and the pepper into roughly square pieces. Put the leeks and peppers on a large baking tray (or two trays if not everything will fit), which you have greased with the other teaspoon of olive oil, and add to the oven. Set a timer for 15 minutes.

Once the 15 minutes is up, check on the squash and stir if it's cooking unevenly. The squash is likely to need about 30 minutes and the leeks and peppers perhaps 20, but keep an eye on all the vegetables and remove from the oven when they are tender but not browned. At this point, drain the tins of chick peas, add them to the baking trays with the leeks, peppers and squash, and return to the oven for five minutes.

Wash the broccoli, chop into florets and steam for about five minutes or until tender. Mix all the veg together and drizzle over the pesto. Serve warm or at room temperature.

For the pesto

2 roasted red or orange peppers (from a jar or roast them yourself along with the peppers for the salad)
50g / 2oz whole almonds, toasted in a dry pan until lightly browned
2 tbsp good-quality rapeseed oil (use olive oil if you prefer) or more if needed
1 tbsp grated pecorino or parmesan

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until you have a fairly smooth paste. Add more oil if needed to loosen.

This will make more pesto than you need for the recipe, but will keep for a few days, covered, in the fridge.

Ode to aubergines

Aubergines seem to be my vegetable of the moment. Maybe it's the generous plumpness, the glossy purple-black skins. Or it could be the way that cooked well, they almost collapse into a velvety softness.

But I think it's the fact that they absorb other flavours so obligingly, whilst having just enough flavour of their own. I particularly like them with spices, and / or paired with a rich tomato sauce.

Green tomato and lentil curry

Here's a recipe for anyone who has unripe green tomatoes left on their tomato plants, and doesn't fancy making chutney.
And if you don't have green tomatoes, it's just as good with red ones. Or you could swap the tomatoes for spinach, or cauliflower, or whatever vegetable takes your fancy.

Easy salad for autumn

Autumn is here and sunshine becomes a precious commodity. I'm eating tomatoes while they still taste of something, but I'm all to aware that this won't be the case for much longer. Savoy cabbages are in all the shops - my favourite type of cabbage, with their crinkly leaves and a flavour that manages to be well-developed without any bitterness.
 

Spiced runner beans and lentils

Runner beans feel like the most English of vegetables, more often found in gardens or allotments than in the shops. I don't often buy them - they can be hard to find in the shops - but I was happy to get these from a friend's vegetable garden.

Then I went down a not-very-English route, with warm spices, red lentils for body and a tin of tomatoes for extra depth.

Five-minute salad with white beans and blackened peppers

This is a salad you can make in five minutes but it can be a meal in itself, especially with some slices of a crusty loaf alongside. And from just four ingredients.

Red peppers and white beans are a perfect pairing, the earthy beans setting off the sweetness of the peppers. I grill the peppers to soften them and add some smoky notes.

Cabbage and spice and all things nice

Cauliflower and cabbage are perhaps not the most glamorous of vegetables. Next to the shiny aubergines, colourful peppers, glossy courgettes - all those vegetables that help us to think of sunshine and chic Mediterranean food - they can appear dowdy, old-fashioned even. Cauliflower sales fell 35% between 2000 and 2010, and while I haven't seen more recent figures, I somehow doubt there's been a huge resurgence.

But I have a soft spot for the humble and the home-grown, and if you want British veg at this time of year, then there isn't much in the way of glamour to be had. So let's add excitement and exoticism with spices.

Eat like an Egyptian: the ultimate home-made koshari

I have fond memories of koshari from my trip to Egypt last year. Some describe it as Egypt's national dish. It's often sold from dedicated koshari restaurants, although it's a popular street food too.

I initially was uncertain about trying it at home. Even in Egypt it's something that people buy rather than make themselves. There are quite a few ingredients to prepare separately, it seems dangerously close to hard work. But then I found myself with some leftover cooked lentils (I often cook a big batch of lentils so that I have some for other dishes) and some leftover pasta from a different meal. Suddenly koshari preparation almost seemed simple.

A hearty winter stew with lentils and greens

The idea for this stew started from a bag of greens and some slightly stale rolls. I thought of ribollita, that great Italian hearty soup based on cavolo nero, cannelini beans and bread. Why not do a version using spring greens, and lentils instead of beans, I wondered?

The end result is not really anything like ribollita, but it is a great, warming, substantial (and healthy) soup/stew, perfect for a cold night.

Green tomato burritos and a green tomato salsa

My enthusiasm for green tomatoes is undimmed. I've now discovered they make a great salsa - no need for lime juice, as the tomatoes have their own tartness built in.

The green tomatoes get a double billing here, adding depth to the smoky lentil filling as well as in the lively, fresh salsa to go on top.

There are almost endless variations on these burritos. If you don't have green tomatoes, they'll be delicious, if a little different, with red tomatoes too. You could make a quicker version using tinned black beans instead of the lentils. It's fun to play around with different toppings - guacamole or sliced avocado, grated cheese and chilli sauce are all options. Sour cream would be delicious too, but I rather like natural yogurt as a lighter alternative. 

Spiced lentils with green tomatoes

As you'll know if you read my last post, I had a bit of a glut of unripe tomatoes. After cooking them Italian-style turned out better than I expected, I decided to try an Indian-influenced approach. I thought about making a fairly dry curry with just green tomatoes, onions and spices. But I wanted something that I could scoop up with Indian breads - and this dish was perfect.

Chick pea and spinach curry with cucumber raita

Here's a quick, healthy and cheap recipe - what more could you ask for? I've used curry powder to speed things up, but you could use a curry paste instead, or mix your own spices. I find the best approach with curry powder is to try a few brands and find one you are happy with.

This curry might be a good way to use the rest of the chick peas you have cooked for this previous recipe. Or you can use the tinned kind.

The cucumber raita is not essential, but the creaminess works really well in contrast to the curry, and it's cool and refreshing too.

Carrot pilaf

This dish takes humble ingredients and turns them into something remarkably tasty. Carrots and onions are cheap and good for you, even if they're not as trendy as kale or spirulina. Plus, they tend to be grown in this country. Add in some wholegrain rice, chick peas and spices, and you have a dish to nourish body and soul.
 

Rice 'n' spice: lentil 'risotto' with roasted spiced veg

I hesitate to use the word risotto here: it's certainly not a dish an Italian would recognise. Anyway, lentils and rice are great together, so I thought I'd try to find a different way of cooking them. The result is almost a savoury porridge, with some brightly-coloured spiced vegetables on top. But if you prefer, you could just cook the rice in a separate pan and have the lentils like a daal alongside.

Feel free to vary the vegetables according to what takes your fancy and what you have around.

A healthy feast for January: lentils and winter veg with baked mushroom and poached egg

Lentils are a very under-rated food, I think. Healthy, filling, full of protein - they are just the thing for January when you are trying to undo the effects of Christmas excess. They soak up other flavours and there's something comforting about them. A lentil-based meal doesn't feel like self-denial in the way that a salad might.

Puy lentils are definitely the most chic and the ones you tend to see in salads and other recipes where you want the lentils to keep their shape. But actually, brown lentils do a very similar job and are much cheaper (especially if you buy them in large bags from an ethnic grocer).

This is a dish full of earthy, wintry flavours. There are a few different elements to this, but none of it is difficult and it really doesn't take too long. It's well worth spending a couple of minutes on making the marinade for the mushrooms, as the rewards in terms of flavour are enormous.

Split pea bolognaise

My meals seem to have taken a frugal turn recently (see also this chilli). Not for any particular reason (I've always taken the view that if you can make something delicious and it's inexpensive too, so much the better). Perhaps it's the cold weather that makes hearty dishes based on pulses seem particularly appropriate. And more often than not pulse-based dishes tend to work out pretty cheap. (Even if you buy beluga lentils, which are the caviar of the lentil world, the price still compares well to a lamb chop.)

This is a cheap and super-healthy pasta sauce. I made it with split peas, which keep more of their shape and texture, but you could make a quicker, slightly smoother version with red lentils.

This quantity should easily serve six. You could halve it if you like, but I like to make more than I need on the basis that it freezes well, or will keep in the fridge for a couple of days. And while it's not really any effort to soak split peas, the cooking time involved means I feel I may as well make a big pot of it.