Minted and Garlicked Green Lentils

Name: Minted and Garlicked Green Lentils
Yield: A Healthy Lunch for 4 or An X-Factor Side Dish for 8
Ingredients: big handful of fresh mint, shredded; big handful of fresh parsley, chopped; sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper; juice and grated zest of 1 fat (or 2 small) lemon; 1 tsp coriander seeds; sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper; 3–4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (less if you’re on a low-fat diet, you poor soul); good glug of oil, for frying; 8–10 fat garlic cloves, minced; ½ tsp.green cumin seeds; 1 stick (stale will do) French bread; 300 g/10½ oz/1½ cups green lentils, picked through

Preparation info

A Healthy Lunch for
8
or An X-Factor Side Dish for

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Salmagundi

By Sally Butcher

Published 2014

About

This is a version of my mother-in-law’s default lentil dish: simple, nourishing stuff. The addition of bready croutons and plentiful herbs turn it into fairly funky fare.

Ingredients

300 g/10½ oz/1½ cups green lentils, picked through
8–10 <

Lunch
Side dish
Spicy
Gluten-free
Vegan

Method

Put the lentils in a pan of unsalted cold water, bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer until cooked (around 30 minutes). Drain and set aside.

Fry the garlic in the oil, stirring well so it doesn’t burn, then scoop it out with a slotted spoon. Cut the bread into 3–4cm/1¼–1½in rounds. Carefully pull out the middle bits and cut these into small cubes. These you should then