Good morning Foodies, I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas & are not suffering too much from the excesses of the festive season. Your waist band may be feeling a little bit tighter today & its a certainty that the only thing lighter is your purse. But what about your fridge? Is that suffering from the same post Christmas fatigue? Is it also feeling stuffed & groaning with the weight of all those leftovers. Are you just going to sit on the sofa & flick through that nice glossy cook book or, are you going to get creative & turn those leftovers into some tasty, healthy meals which will not only loosen your clothing, but will also provide you with the satisfaction that you have saved yourself some hard earned cash by getting creative with those leftovers. .
Love your leftovers
Love your lentils
Below you will find my basic recipe, which you can turn into three different dishes.
Depending on what stock you use & the other ingredients you choose to add, this basic recipe is gluten-free, dairy free, vegetarian & vegan. Is part of your 7 a day and contains fibre, protein, vitamins & minerals.
INGREDIENTS
Olive or Rapeseed Oil
6, large Carrots, chopped or sliced.
2, Large Onions, chopped.
2, Beetroot, chopped.
6, Sticks of celery.
3, Large Parsnips.
250g Green Lentils thoroughly washed & drained.
Seasoning herbs of choice.
4. Ltrs of stock from the simmered leftover carcass of a chicken, duck, goose, turkey etc.
For my recipe I used the water from boiled gammon joint.
For vegetarian & vegan, omit the meat stock & use the water reserved from boiling vegetables (not potatoes) or water.
METHOD.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan & gently fry the vegetables or 10 mins over a medium heat.
Pour over the stock, veg water or water, bring to the boil, reduce the heat & simmer for 45 mins. Add the drained lentils, & herbs, bring to the boil again, reduce the heat & simmer for a further 40.mins. Season to taste.
At this point, when cooked, you can allow the lentils to cool & divide into 3 containers & when cold, cover & store in the fridge or freezer until needed or you can make the following:
- Hearty Rustic Soup.
Using 1 portion of the Lentils, turn into a saucepan & add either fresh, soft tomatoes, chopped or a tin of tomatoes, 1 clove of chopped garlic & any left over meat or veg you have. Bring to the boil & simmer for 5 Mins.
Serve in bowls with crusty bread & Parmesan Cheese sprinkled over.
2. Lentil Salad.
Turn the 2nd portion of lentils into a serving bowl. Pour over 4 Tbspns Garlic Salad Dressing & allow to stand while stir frying some finely sliced Cavolo Nero. Stir into the Lentils along with 1 peeled, stoned & sliced avocado, chopped yellow pepper & halved plum tomatoes. Serve either as it is or strewn with smoked salmon, cooked prawns or hard boiled egg & chopped Chives.
3. Stuffing for vegetables or Wraps.
Left over Salad
Salting Aubergines
Crunchy Veg
Turn the 3rd Portion of Lentils into a bowl , add stoned halved olives, Sundried Tomatoes, Chopped capers & anchovy fillets along with a crushed clove of garlic. Mix together with some chopped basil & used to stuff Tomatoes, Peppers, Aubergines etc Bake in a medium oven for 30 mins. Or use the mixture cold as a filling for wraps.
Well foodies. Hope I have given you some ideas on what to do with those leftovers, use what ever you have to vary the flavours & don’t forget #loveyourleftovers.
This recipe was demonstrated in the BBC Radio Wiltshire kitchen on the Shaun Hodgett Show on Thursday 28th December 2017, where I was in conversation about #loveyourleftovers with Holly Rattley.
Should you have any questions or comments on the above, please use the form below.
Share our blog on Social Media or print out a recipe.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Truffleicious blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.