Lentils with aubergines

I pretty much made this up as I had some aubergines I had to use.

Ingredients (serves 4-5)

Lentils (I always measure by soup bowl, in this case 1)

2 aubergines cut in chunks (see pics)

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1 onion, cut in strips

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

4-5 bay leaves

2 cans of chopped tomato, or a kilo of very ripe tomatoes, chopped (keep the juices)

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

In a large saucepan, boil the lentils for about 30-40 minutes, until you're happy with them. In the meantime, shallow fry the garlic, onions and bay leaves, add the aubergines and celery and stir so they're nicely coated with oil. Keep cooking like that for about 10 minutes. Add the tomato plus some water, salt & pepper and let it simmer gently for 30 minutes or so.

When the lentils are cooked, drain them and throw them in with the aubergines (if the aubergines are ready). Turn off and allow to rest for a while (the longer the better), so that the lentils can absorb the juices of the aubergines... I didn't have fresh parsley but if you do add some nicely fresh, chopped parsley just before serving.

Serve with a generous portion of set yoghurt, yummy!

Made with Slideshow Embed Tool

Green Lentils

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
300 gr of green lentils
1 onion, finely chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, likewise
Olive oil
Some ripe tomatoes or a can of chopped tomatoes or tomato paste (depends on availability and taste)
1-2 carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped (optional)
Some chopped parsley
Salt

In a medium/large saucepan lightly fry the garlic and onion in olive oil. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the lentils, chopped carrots, celery and salt. Add water and bring to the boil. Let it cook for about 40 minutes or until the lentils are soft. They absorb the water so keep an eye in case they get stuck. If they are cooked and have absorbed the water there's no need for more, but if not, add more to help them cook. In the end you'll get a lentily pulp, there shouldn't be much water left in it. No problem if there is, just use a ladle with holes to serve it, or eat it as a soup. Some people like to add bay leaves in the mix, it gives it a nice flavour. When it's finished, throw in the chopped parsley and serve.

This is a very flexible recipe and you can pretty much embellish the lentils with any veg you like. I sometimes put a chopped pepper instead of celery, mushrooms go well too (add them near the end), lemon juice...be brave and try variations.

Goes fantastically well with natural set yogurt. Eat and help yourself to seconds, it's lovely! There is also a version with rice which I promise to share with you all if you're nice :-)