Easy Moroccan Lentils

This dish has become a standby meal for me as I usually have all the ingredients to hand. I've adapted it from a recipe I found online for a Moroccan lentil soup which was so hearty I decided it was better as a main course.  I’ve added the surprising twist of spinach at the end of the cooking which changes the original recipe enough to make it very much my own creation. If you want it to be more spicy add some cayenne pepper to the spices and to counter the spiciness you can garnish the stew with some natural yogurt when serving.

Before starting, I find out what ingredients I have in the fridge/cupboard and gather them all together. On this occasion these are the vegetables I decided to use.

My love affair with the humble lentil began when I was a boarder at the Blessed Sacrament Brighton, a day and boarding school, in the late 50's.  In post war Britain food was still very scarce and as a result our school meals were very simple affairs. During the week we only ever had bread, butter and golden syrup but I remember our "treat" on Sundays was plain bread and butter with jam!  By some fluke my school was run by an order of French nuns who clearly had a very continental approach to food. My memory is of many simple but hearty meals often  served with plain boiled lentils as the main part of the meal. Although my sister, who was also at the school, remembers them with disdain, I loved the earthy wholesome flavour of the lentils and ate them with relish. I continue to enjoy them but now must say I do prefer them with a few extras.


As long as you have the required onion and some carrot and celery you can add whatever other vegetable you want to this recipe. Some suggestions are: potato, pepper, courgette, sweet potato, butternut squash, leeks. You can use the small greenish lentils I have shown here or orange lentils.  All these work well: split red lentils, continental lentils and puy lentils. 
I tend to cook this in my slow cooker as it is easy to throw all the ingredients in before I go out for the day and fantastic to come back to the amazing aroma and taste of a ready cooked hearty meal. It's worth noting that one cup (uncooked) of non-sprouted lentils contains 49.5 grams of protein, 115.4 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fat and 678 calories. Lentils also have the ability to remove internal body fat (if you eat them on a regular basis) and help to reduce blood cholesterol. The high levels of soluble fiber not only help with lowering cholesterol but also help to keep the gut healthy.


Ingredients:
150 gms of brown or puy lentils (around 2/3 of a cup) washed thoroughly and soaked in hot water for half an hour or so.
3 tblspns of olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled halved and chopped finely
3 cloves of garlic peeled, crushed and chopped finely
I large carrot scrubbed (if organic) and chopped fairly finely
2 celery stalks scrubbed and chopped fairly small.
Any of the below:
1 red yellow or orange pepper wiped, de seeded and chopped roughly/ 1 small sweet or normal potato peeled and chopped into rough dice/ 1 courgette wiped and chopped into dice
Plus:
3 tsps on cumin
2 tsps on paprika
20 gms of root ginger peeled and grated (if you don't have fresh substitute with one teaspoon of ginger powder)
1 can/200g's of chopped tomatoes
3/4 litre of water
Enough stock cube or powder to make up ¾ litre stock
I good bunch of spinach washed and torn up.
3 tbspns coriander or parsley washed and chopped fairly finely (optional for garnish)

Method:
 1. Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and gently cook the onions, until they soften, for about 2 minutes.  Add the celery and garlic, cumin paprika and ginger and cook all together gently with the lid on the pan (to sweat the flavours) without colouring for another 5 minutes or so until soft and spices are amalgamated.
2. Add the tinned tomatoes, drained lentils and enough water to cover the ingredients (roughly 1/4 litre depending on quantities of ingredients). Don't add the vegetable stock at this stage as the salt in the stock will stop the lentils cooking.
3. Bring to the boil, cover and then simmer very gently for about 30 minutes until the lentils are just starting to cook but still al-dente and the mixture has thickened. Check the level of liquid on a regular basis adding more water if needed and stir occasionally to ensure the lentils don't stick to the bottom of the pan.
4. Add the vegetable stock mixture at this stage using as much liquid as needed to bring the mixture to the right consistency. Pile in the washed spinach (it doesn't matter if it is wet) and bring the pan back to the boil again allowing the spinach to wilt into the mixture. Simmer long enough for the stock to integrate with the rest of the ingredients (approx 15 mins) and stir well to combine spinach with lentils.


NB If you are using the slow cooker method chop all the vegetable ingredients quite finely before adding to the pot otherwise they will not cook through. If you have time to fry them off before (completing step 1) adding the remaining ingredients then this is not necessary. If you don’t do this remember to cook off the cumin seeds before adding to open the flavours of the seeds. This can be done in the oil from the recipe if you want to include it in the rest of the ingredients or dry as I have done here.