Puy Lentil, Spiced Roast Carrot & Feta Salad.

 

The other day I came across another rather yummy sounding salad recipe and as I had a packet of Puy lentils left over from my last recipe I thought I'd give it a try. I was a bit worried plating it up that it would be a bit boring as it didn't seem to have much to it but, it actually tasted lovely and refreshing and I really enjoyed it. The carrots tasted lovely and sweet after being roasted in the honey, the lemon juice caramelised the red onion and tasted delicious and finally the mint came through amazingly and tased perfect with the feta.

 

I originally planned to serve my salad with some garlic bread but, as I am planning to make Gnocchi this weekend I thought I would whip up some scones to serve with it instead and I love this scone recipe.

 

 

Recipe

 

2 tbsp olive oil                                                                   

1 tbsp. cumin seeds  (I made the mistake of only adding 1 tsp. the actual recipe called for 1 tbsp. so feel free to add 1 tbsp if you like it spicy.) 

500g carrots , peeled, halved and cut into batons

1 tbsp clear honey
250g pouch cooked Puy lentils (or canned, drained and rinsed)
1 red onion , finely sliced
½ lemon , juiced
large handful mint leaves, roughly chopped
100g lamb's lettuces
85g feta cheese , crumbled

For the scones -
60g Butter
250g self-raising flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
about 150ml milk
125g grated mature cheddar
1/2 tsp. mustard powder
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 onion, diced
3 rashers of bacon (or veggie bacon)


Method

1. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. In a shallow roasting tin, toss together half the oil, the cumin, carrots and some seasoning. Roast for 25 mins, turning halfway through cooking. Drizzle over the honey, stir and roast for 5 mins more.
2. Meanwhile, gently heat the lentils with the onion, lemon juice, remaining oil and some salt and pepper. Allow to cool slightly while the carrots finish cooking.
3. Toss the dressed lentils with mint and lamb's lettuce. Lay warm spiced carrots on top and scatter with feta. Serve alongside a warm scone spread with butter.

(To make the scones - Lightly grease a large baking tray. Cook the bacon and fry the onion in 1 tbsp. olive oil until soft. Chop the bacon into small pieces. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Rub in the butter with the fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the grated cheese, mustard powder and dried basil. Stir in the onion and bacon. Break the egg into a measuring jug and make up to 150ml with milk. Beat lightly to mix. Add to the bowl and mix to a soft dough. Lightly knead the dough until smooth. Roll out until 1cm thick, cut into rounds with a pastry cutter, and put on the baking tray. Brush with milk. Bake in pre-heated oven at 220C for about 10 minutes until risen and golden. Serve warm with butter.) 

Enjoy!

 

 

Thankyou for reading!

Love Courts x

Puy Lentil, Cherry Tomato and Haloumi Salad.

 

For a vegetarian who adores pretty much all vegetables, for some reason I have never been a big fan of salads. I think it's because I've never really been fond of raw vegetables in general, I love cooked carrots for example, but can't stand them raw (unless they are in coleslaw ofcourse). I've decided to try and start being a bit healthier though as I'd really like to lose a bit of weight before the summer so, I thought I would start looking for some tasty low fat recipes including some more interesting sounding salads.

I stumbled across this lovely recipe last week and thought it sounded really nice and tasty and very different to the usual bag of lettuce leaves topped with slices of cucumber and pieces of pepper. It got really good reviews on the website too so I thought I would give it a go and I'm very glad I did as I love it! I was a bit worried incase it was going to be a bit bland as some of the reviews said it was and that in needed a bit of chorizo or something added to it to liven it up. Ofcourse I can't have chorizo but, I considered popping some in for my Mum and Dad as I wanted to make sure they enjoyed it but, in the end I didn't and it really didn't matter as this salad had lots of lovely flavour to it.

It was so quick and easy to make too with very few ingredients needed and it turned out to be a really great dish which, I will now be making time and time again. The haloumi was also gorgeous so, I am now a big haloumi fan! I had only ever had it once before and it had been cut thinly and fried which, had made it quite tough whereas, this time I grilled it in chunks so it was still nice and soft. The dish looked great too with lots of vibrant colours which, was nice. The first time I made this salad I served it with a poached egg which, went nicely with the flavour but, it wasn't too necessary and Mum and Dad had it with some fish which, they said tasted delicious with it too. Recently I made this salad again though and took some better pictures of the dish which, I have now added to the post, replacing the old ones and this time I served the puy lentil salad with some tasty homemade Garlic and Basil Ciabatta which, I will soon upload the recipe for and also some delicious homemade Caramelised Red Onion Quiche and Veggie Bacon and Roast Red Pepper Quiche. If you decide to give the Puy Lentil, Cherry Tomato and Haloumi salad a go, I hope you really enjoy it too!

 

Recipe

                       250g cherry tomatoes, halved                 

½ red onion , finely sliced

½ garlic clove , crushed

½ lemon , juiced

                                  1 tbsp. olive oil                                  

                                          150g Puy Lentils                                          

250g pack haloumi cheese , cut into chunks

a small bunch coriander , roughly chopped

Method

1. Toss the tomatoes, red onion, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil in a bowl. Cook the Puy lentils until just tender, drain and add to the bowl. Season well and toss.
2. Grill the haloumi until golden. Stir the coriander through the lentils and serve with the haloumi. Eat as it is or serve with whatever you like; fish, slices of chorizo, quiche, pizza or some warm crusty bread and butter etc.

 

Thankyou for reading!

Love Courts x