Thursday, July 09, 2009

Lentil and tomato salad


100g Puy lentils
1 onion, peeled, halved through the root
1 carrot, peeled, cut into chunks
1 clove garlic
10 cherry tomatoes
1dstsp balsamic vinegar
Salt, pepper
1/2tsp Dijon mustard
2tbsp olive oil
8 sundried tomatoes, cut into small pieces

Rinse the lentils. Put them in a pan, cover with cold water with a few cms to spare, throw in the onion, carrot and garlic (they will flavour the lentils a little, one assumes), bring to the boil, and simmer, partly covered. You want them softened but not mushy - it may take 20 to 40 minutes. The water may need topping up from time to time.

Roll the tomatoes in a little oil, and bake on a baking sheet at gas mark 6/200C for about 25 minutes. It doesn't matter if they burst.

Drain the lentils. Fish out the garlic, squeeze it from its skin, and mash it into the vinegar in a bowl. Stir in salt and pepper and mustard; then whisk in the oil.

Return to the sieve, discard the onion and carrot pieces, tip the lentils into the vinaigrette, and stir. Stir in the sundried and roasted cherry tomatoes. Some herbs would be good, too.

2 comments:

Elwyn stankiewicz said...

What a delicious looking dish! The photos certainly enhance your site. Why are the carrot chunks discarded - wouldn't they go well with the tomatoes?

Nicholas Clee said...

Thanks, Elwyn. I think that the carrots, having been boiled for 40 minutes (that's how long it took my lentils to soften), would have been rather flabby and drab. They and the onions had done their job, which was to flavour the water and therefore the lentils - though the effect may have been minimal. I usually sieve out the vegetables from stews, too.