Nutritious, cheap and high in minerals, the humble lentil as a lot to offer. After recently reading Sarah Wilson's Simplicious Flow, I felt inspired to try her capsule cook recipe using you guessed it, lentils.
The concept of buying bulk foods and capsule cooking dishes is a style of meal prepping I have wanted to do for some time. This recipe base was the ideal opportunity to give it a go.
The first step is to visit your local bulk food store and if possible, bring some clean empty glass jars to fill. Most of these will stock lentils along with other goodies worth exploring. For the fresh veggies, make tracks to a local greengrocer, or better still a farmers market.
I am going to share with you the base lentil mix recipe that Sarah uses and some suggestions on how you can transform this base into some hearty feasts.
Lentil Mix
Makes approximately 16 cups
Ingredients
1/2 cup of olive oil
4 large carrots
4 large onions
4-5 celery stalks
sea salt
1 small head of garlic
500g of green or brown lentils
Method
Find the largest pan you own and heat the olive oil on low heat.
In a food processor grate your carrots, onions and celery. Don't worry if it overfills, place it in the pot and add the next batch in to cook once grated.
Add a big pinch of salt to the veggies and sweat til to release the juices, occasionally stirring for 20 minutes.
Once the onion is soft, add the lentils and 2 litres of water.
Cover the pot and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer with the lid on for 20-30minutes.
Allow the lentils to cool before dividing into portions which can be kept in the fridge for three days or in the freezer for three months.
Now that you have a base, it's time to get creative and make some meals.
Breakfast bowl
1 cup of lentil mix
One egg cooked however you like
Sauerkraut
Herbs
Natural yoghurt
Aleppo pepper (optional)
Sprinkle of parmesan (optional)
Whatever greens- lettuce, rocket, mizuna, kale, baby spinach
Heat the lentil mix over the stove, or in the microwave. Place in the base of a bowl.
Add the chopped sauerkraut and chopped greens and herbs
Cook your egg and add on top of the greens
Top with natural yoghurt, a sprinkle of pepper and parmesan
Some other ways to make the most of your lentil base:
Add to pasta, top with fresh herbs and parmesan
Use it as a pie filling
Blend it up, add some sour cream and enjoy as a soup
If you have made the lentil base and created your own recipe please share in the comments below or drop me a line at hello@clovarcreative.com