One pot meals: Oven cooked lentils
Posted by kathryn in Vegan, Legumes and Main courses
I’m bending my own rules with this recipe. It’s not quite a one-pot meal. I’ve tried adding more vegetables and increasing the variety of ingredients, but it’s one of those dishes you just shouldn’t tamper with.
It’s not a very glamorous dish, or even particularly good looking. However it is one of the best and easiest ways to cook lentils. Five minutes of prep, put it in the oven and it cooks away all by itself. No stirring, sauteeing, simmering or checking required.
I’d usually serve these lentils with a slice of sourdough toast and a crunchy salad on the side.
Oven cooked lentils
Use whole lentils for this recipe. I generally buy either brown / green, or if I can find them, the whole red lentils. The split red lentils from the supermarket won’t work. This is heavily adapted from a recipe by Jamie Oliver. Serves 4.
- 400g lentils – see note above
- 5 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 long stalk of fresh rosemary, remove the leaves
- 1 litre low salt vegetable stock
To Finish:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon tamari
Cook the lentils: Preheat the oven to 180°C. Put the lentils, garlic, olive oil, rosemary and vegetable stock in a medium casserole dish. Cover with a lid and place in the oven. Cook for 1 hour, until the lentils are tender.
To finish: Add the rest of the olive oil, the red wine vinegar and tamari to the lentils. Stir gently to combine and season to taste. Check the flavour balance and add more oil, vinegar, tamari as needed. Serve.
How I cook in winter
This post is part of a series on one pot meals – the food I cook in winter. These recipes may take time to cook, but there’s no effort involved from you. A maximum of 10 minutes prep, some time in the oven and dinner has virtually cooked itself.
Its Q & A Thursday week
This is a Q & A Thursday week – a monthly burst of blogging, where you get to dictate the subject matter. Q & A Thursday is all about simple, practical answers to food and diet dilemmas sent in by readers.
If you have a question you’d like answered send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
03 June, 2008
Comments
Yum Kathryn, this is gorgeous. I love lentils too – especially as dahl. There’s a lovely lentil recipe in this months edition of Delicious Mag by Rick Stein that accompanies fish with a red wine sauce. I’ll scan and email it to you if you like.
I cooked chickpeas in the oven on the weekend, after reading a recipe on Lucy’s blog. Now I will have to try this. Just perfect for a lazy Sunday.
Please excuse my ignorance Kathryn, but what is tamari and where do you get it? Can you also provide a possible substitute as I live in rural NSW and it can be difficult to source some foods. I had planned to make your celeriac and bean soup this week, however there is not one celeriac to be found in all of Orange…yet. Thanks for you help. Em
Christie – I haven’t looked at the new Delicious magazine – so I’d love to take a look.
Vegeyum – chickpeas in the oven. Very intereresting. You’re sending me straight over to Lucy’s blog to have a look. How can I have missed that one? And yes, it is a gorgeous recipe, that I’ve never noticed before. Here’s the link.
Em – hello! Tamari is a wheat free soy sauce. I love it because it adds a softer, more complex flavour than normal soy – along with some saltiness. I’ve previously written a post about tamari and shoyu. If you can’t find either, I’d replace with a smaller amount of normal soy sauce – ie 2 teaspoons and a little extra salt. Is that big Harris Farm market still in Orange – as they might sell it?
Thanks Kathryn, only new to your blog, will search next time… Harris Farm said they are subject to the market forces in Syd, apparently they will get celeriac in only if its not all bought by the suppliers to the Sydney Harris Farms. Unfair, but a reality of living west of the mountains. Diesel fuel was $1.90 here last week, but oddly enough,that didn’t make the news….
Well, I know what I’m cooking tonight!
Thank you VERY much.
No worries Em – there’s a fair back catalogue of material, but it’s not always easy to find exactly what you want. $1.90 – and I remember when diesel used to be cheaper than standard petrol. Good luck with your celeriac search.
Oh Lucy, they are soooooo good. Plus I can report they freeze well too.
With soccer on tonight and all sorts of pick-up times for both boys, I’ve got them in the oven now…and they smell amazing. Must be that divine rosemary!
With soccer on tonight and all sorts of pick-up times for both boys, I’ve got them in the oven now…and they smell amazing. Must be that divine rosemary!
interesting that you specify the whole lentils. i’ve used the split red entils a couple of times recently and have been disappointed by the results – way too mushy and sticky for my liking! will have to try and track down whole lentils some time soon. or just use the canned ones, but i’m trying not to buy too many cans at the moment!
Lindsey – I use the split red lentils in soups and occasionally when making dal.
But if you want the lentils to remain whole-ish and have some bite – you have to use the unsplit kind. They’re easy to find – most supermarkets stock, and call them either brown or green lentils. I’ve also cooked these lentils in a rice cooker before, which worked out well.
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