red lentils

Memory_Girl

Recipe from an Italian Friends Mum - we love this as much as we love Mama Carlo. Carlo we no longer love quite so much - lol

Lentil and Tuna Salad

In a salad bowl mix 6 cups of cooked green lentils and two tins of tuna fish, drained and flaked.
Add a bunch of very finely chopped spring onions and a good hadful of chopped parsley.

Dress with the juice of a lemon and twice the volume of olive oil. Season really well with some salt and lots of freshly ground pepper.

Stir well, cover and leave to stand for a couple for hours until lunch.

Serve at room temperature with good Italian bread to soak up the juices.

I have also served this as starter with a small heap on dressed salad leaves and garnished with wedges of hard-boiled egg and lemon.

Memorygirl

carriebradshaw

Hippeechiq wrote: »

Neither of us are soup lovers unfortunately mardatha but thanks for the suggestion

Well, it smelt very nice when I got it out of the oven, and although the overall taste is very nice, there's 'something' amiss that I can't quite put my finger on. There's a very slight flour-i-ness after-taste if that makes sense to anyone (given that there isn't any flour in it) although it could well be that I'm not overly familiar with the 'texture' of lentils, and it's supposed to be like that?

To be fair, I think the lentils might be the culprit....
The packet said boil rapidly for 10 mins, skim off any scum and then cook for a further 20-30mins until tender. However, I brought mine to the boil, put the timer on for 10mins, but after 5, almost all the water had absorbed, and they were very 'mushy'.
The recipe said to cook until almost all the water has absorbed, and as it had, I stopped cooking them, otherwise I would have had something akin to puree in my saucepan....or maybe that's what I should have had? And should I have drained the excess water from them? (I did)

I cooked it for an hour, as it took that long to reach the 'golden on top' stage. It's very moist (almost wet) inside, and once sliced, if you hold the slice at the edge when eating it, it breaks in half. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but again, I have no idea if this is how it's meant to be.

Maybe had I cooked it longer it would have been drier and it wouldn't have that flour-i-ness texture/aftertaste thing going on? :think:

I added 2tsp of Lazy Garlic (thought 3 might be a bit strong for us) and 1 tsp of dried mixed herbs, as I've never been a fan of fresh herbs. I think if I make it again, I'd used 2tsp.

Considering this is my first attempt at anything like this, I'm really quite pleased :T And any imperfections are down to me not really knowing what I'm doing :rotfl: rather than a fault with the recipe

Would welcome some feedback about the texture and what I should have done with/at the lentil stage

oh I'm sorry I wasn't about when you were making it hon,when I make this there's only a tiny bit of water left after cooking the lentils so I just put it all in as is.It is quite a loose mix when you pour it into the tin though.If it's very wet as you say maybe you could drain it off next time or add some more oats/breadcrumbs,lower the temp of you oven a wee bit and cook for a little longer? Also for me, I find lazy garlic a little bit milder than than fresh and I use fresh herbs because I'm lucky enough to be able grow a few,so just play around a bit with the flavours you like? Sorry it didn't turn out as well you hoped hon I make this quite often and love it. I hope if you try again you better results xxx

Ballymackeonan

I've just made a big pot of lentil soup - starting with Sainsbury's Basics cooking bacon. If you look through the packs, you can find some with thick slices of smoked bacon in them, I chop these for adding to lentil dishes. In this case, I've used leeks, and added in chopped tomatoes and some young spinach.

One of my standbys is green lentil and parsnip curry - sweat onions, peppers if you have some, then add the lentils and cook for a couple of minutes before adding water and simmering. Curry powder to taste, and a dollop of Branston pickle, amd cook until tender.

Or dahnsak (probably the wrong spelling) - add red lentils to a chicken or lamb curry, preferably a slightly sour one, and finish off by adding some pineapple once the lentils are tender.

Hippeechiq

carriebradshaw wrote: »

oh I'm sorry I wasn't about when you were making it hon,when I make this there's only a tiny bit of water left after cooking the lentils so I just put it all in as is.It is quite a loose mix when you pour it into the tin though.If it's very wet as you say maybe you could drain it off next time or add some more oats/breadcrumbs,lower the temp of you oven a wee bit and cook for a little longer? Also for me, I find lazy garlic a little bit milder than than fresh and I use fresh herbs because I'm lucky enough to be able grow a few,so just play around a bit with the flavours you like? Sorry it didn't turn out as well you hoped hon I make this quite often and love it. I hope if you try again you better results xxx

No apology is necessary at all Carrie - it was by no means a failure, just a texture issue, and I'm sure, my lack of experience with lentils is probably the culprit, not your recipe I ate a piece just before coming on here, and it is very nice, and it will all be eaten. The flavour is quite delicious, and I think with another tsp of Lazy Garlic and a bit more dried herbs it'd be spot on for my taste buds!

I will certainly try it again Think next time, I will cook it for a tad longer - that's a good suggestion, as all ovens are different.

Can I just ask, with the lentils, should they be completely mushy like a puree? or should you still be able to see their shape and there be a bit of substance left, a little bite to them?

carriebradshaw

Hippeechiq wrote: »

No apology is necessary at all Carrie - it was by no means a failure, just a texture issue, and I'm sure, my lack of experience with lentils is probably the culprit, not your recipe I ate a piece just before coming on here, and it is very nice, and it will all be eaten. The flavour is quite delicious, and I think with another tsp of Lazy Garlic and a bit more dried herbs it'd be spot on for my taste buds!

I will certainly try it again Think next time, I will cook it for a tad longer - that's a good suggestion, as all ovens are different.

Can I just ask, with the lentils, should they be completely mushy like a puree? or should you still be able to see their shape and there be a bit of substance left, a little bite to them?

I'm so glad :T

Lentils will go to mush for this recipe HTH

Hippeechiq

carriebradshaw wrote: »

I'm so glad :T
Lentils will go to mush for this recipe HTH

Ah - I think that's where I went wrong then, you could still see the shape of some of my lentils, so I'm guessing I slightly undercooked them. I didn't know if you should be able to spot them in the cooked recipe like you can the peppers and the carrot, so yes, that's a big help thanks

Thanks for your patience and answering all my questions :A

Hippeechiq

Just had to come back to say that I made this again on Tuesday.

Added 3 tspns of Lazy Garlic this time - changed nothing else from previous time, and it's absolutely divine

Thank you so much for this recipe carrie. It's gonna be a firm favourite of ours now :A

northwest1965

OK, you have just inspired me to give this a go Hippeechiq. I've got lots of breadcrumbs in the freezer and it looks reasonably healthy.
Which is better, breadcrumbs or oats for flavour?

Hippeechiq

Hiya Northwest

Carrie could probably answer that better than I because it's her recipe, and both times I've baked it, I've used Oats, so can't really comment on how good it turns out with breadcrumbs, but with oats, it's delicious.

It freezes fabulously too! I slice mine into 12 slices, freeze, then defrost how many as and when required. I serve it with cold new potatoes and a large mixed salad. 2-3 slices are enough per person...I eat 3, 'cos it's rather moreish ......either that, or I'm a pig :rotfl:

I hope it turns out well for you. Oh, and don't be alarmed by how 'much' there seems to be when you're mixing it in your bowl, as it does all fit into a 2lb loaf tin.

Check on it after 45 minutes and see if it's a nice 'golden brown' on the top. This only takes 45 minutes in Carries oven but takes 1hr in mine, so I think it's just a case of checking at 45 minutes, and then if it's not the right colour, every 5 minutes thereafter. Good Luck

WendyR14

I wonder if any of you lentil experts know the name, and even better a recipe for, a lentil dish I've sometimes eaten as part of a middle-eastern type mezze. Dryish; lentils and onions, probably fried. I don't know what type of lentils. Not a dhal type constituency at all.

I guess I could set off with some trial and error versions - but a start point would help.