I was thinking about a side for the melanzana and fancied lentils. I love lentils, used to hate them as a child but think they’re king now. Puy lentils are my favourite and really easy to make (no soaking required) really easy to add your own bent too.
I fried a large onion in rapeseed oil (has a nice nutty flavour and supposed to be good for you…..) added two cloves of chopped garlic and fried some more. I then added about two cups of puy lentils and a generous squirt of tomato puree and some black pepper. I then covered this mixture with boiling water and added a tin of chopped tomatoes. I simmered for a couple of mins then added about half a jar of Patak’s tikka masala spice paste sauce…..cheating I know. I added two sticks of chopped up celery and a large handful of green beans. Splashed in some soy sauce, added some fresh corriander and left to simmer away. I use soy sauce instead of salt in a lot of dishes, I don’t know why but I do.

The smell is lovely, in truth a salad would probably work better as this is more of a main course but we live and learn….or some of us do.