This is a salad that will make you enjoy eating:
A. Lentils
B. Salad
Both, I believe, are important in life. Both, however, can be horrendously disappointing. I get why carnivores who only know romaine lettuce and Kraft Caesar dressing from a bottle stick to steak. I can’t blame them.
Generally when you douse anything in a ton of maple syrup, though, it gets better. Fortunately for all of us.
This recipe comes from The Guardian and Yotam Ottolenghi, one of my gourmet vegetable gurus. While I’m not a fan of his latest book “Jerusalem”, it has more to do with the fact that everything has dairy and gluten and less to do with the quality of the recipes. One place he excels are salads and herbs and leafy greens, and this is a perfect example of taking fairly ordinary ingredients and making something exceptional. I changed the Manuka honey in the recipe to maple syrup (Maua honey is very nutritious and very aromatic and flavourful, so maple syrup worked well as a substitute) and the radicchio to endive. Both work when grilled, though radicchio would work better. I happened to have endive, so that’s what I used.And I skipped the cheese bcause I tried it with a salty, aged sheep’s milk raw cheese and it didn’t work and I wasn’t about to go find another I could maybe eat (I’ve only recently started having raw cheeses again and am sticking to low-lactose sheep’s milk for now to play it safe, fyi). The herbs I used were from my garden. I’m more than a little proud. Please forgive me my sin.
Here’s my version of the recipe:
200g puy lentils (yes, weigh them)
2 bay leaves
1/3 cup maple syrup, divided
¼ tsp flaked chili pepper
½ tsp ground turmeric
3/4 tsp salt, divided
Freshly ground black pepper (or a pinch)
1 tsp water
3 tbsp red-wine vinegar (or balsamic)
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
50g pecan bits, or gently break up halves or whole ones by pounding them in a bag using something heavy
4 endives, cut in half or in thirds if large
20g basil, roughly chopped
20g parsley, roughly chopped
Rinse the lentils and place in a medium saucepan. Cover with 5 cups water (or enough to cover plus a few extra cups) and add the bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 15 minutes.
In a small bowl combine half the maple syrup, the chili, turmeric, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1 tsp water.
Drain the lentils and return to the pan. Whisk together the vinegar, 2 tbsp olive oil, the remaining maple syrup, half a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper until the honey dissolves. Stir into the lentils while they’re still hot, then leave to cool a little. Discard the bay leaves.
Preheat the oven to 300F. Add the pecans to the honey/chilli paste and stir to coat. Spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or not) and roast for 10 minutes. Stir and roast 5-10 minutes more, until aromatic but not burnt. They’ll still be a little sticky but will firm up as they dry. Remove from oven and let cool.
Pour the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil (or use a high heat oil if you prefer) into a medium frying pan and place on medium-high heat. Cut the radicchio into eight wedges and place these in the hot oil, sprinkling them with a little salt. Cook for a minute on each side, then transfer to a large bowl.
Add the lentils, pecans, basil and parsley. Stir to combine and adjust salt and pepper to taste. You can also reserve some of the radicchio and pecans for garnish. This dish is great served warm, and also great as leftovers after the dressing has thoroughly soaked into the lentils, eaten cold or reheated.
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