Women’s Wellbeing Day
11 October 2014.
Recipes from Vanessa Scott
Braised Lentils
Ingredients
500g Puy lentils, 1 red onion, peeled and quartered, 1 carrot peeled and cut into chunks, 1 red chilli, 2 galric cloves, peeled, 3cm fresh root ginger peeled and roughly chopped, 5 sprigs of parsley or thyme, 2 bay leaves, 2 tbsps walnut oil or olive oil, 1 dsps balsamic vinegar
Method
- Rinse the lentils and place in a deep pan along with the carrot, onion, chilli, garlic ginger & herbs
- Add enough water to cover the lentils completely and bring to the boil over a medium heat
- Lower the heat and simmer until the lentils are cooked but still have a bite, about 20 minutes
- Immediately remove from the heat and drain in a colander removing all the flavouring elements
- While the lentils are still warm add the tamari, balsamic & oil
- Keeps for 5-6 days refrigerated but bring back up to room temperature to serve
Hummus
454g (1 1b) dried chickpeas, 4 cloves garlic, Juice of 3 lemons, 6 tbsp olive oil, 6 tbsp tahini, Salt to taste
- Soak chickpeas in plenty of water over night.
- Drain chickpeas, cover with water and bring to the boil. Once boiling, drain chickpeas, cover with water and bring to the boil again. Simmer gently for approximately 1 hour until soft so that they can be squashed by your fingers when cooked. Drain and cool, reserving the cooking liquid.
- Blend the chickpeas in a food processor until roughly chopped.
- Add garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and tahini to the chickpea mash and blend until t forms a thick paste. Add a little of the cooking liquid and continue blending until the hummus becomes smooth and creamy.
- Season with salt to taste.
Beetroot Pate
1 small red pepper, roasted, deseeded and chopped, 1 medium beetroot, raw, peeled and chopped, 100ml olive oil, 3tbsp tahini, 1 tbsp cider vinegar, 200g cashew nuts, 1 tbsp roughly chopped ginger, ½ red chilli, roughly chopped, 1 tbsp maple syrup
- Put all ingredients into blender until completely mixed and smooth, stopping occasionally to scrape sides.
- Refrigerate for 2-3 hours to firm up.
- Decorate with strips of red pepper and beetroot to be served with mixed green salad with ginger dressing and/or parsley salad with almonds and broad beans.
Red Pepper & roasted tomato Pate
200g chickpeas, 4 cloves garlic, 3 plum tomatoes, 2 red onions, 2 red peppers, olive oil, basil.
- Soak the chickpeas overnight. Bring to the boil, change the water, bring back to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until soft (about 1 hour).
- Roast all the vegetables drizzled in the olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and black pepper for 1 hour until soft with caramel edges.
- Blitz the chickpeas and vegetables in a food processor into a firm pate. Refrigerate.