A few blog posts back I talked about another of my favourite ingredients - red lentils. As well as using them to boost the texture and nutritional complexity of a meal, they can also feature as the main ingredient. Here are three of my favourite ways to use red lentils.

 

Eggplant, Potato & Halloumi Bake: Absolutely delicious, hearty and warming dish from the Tinned Tomatoes blog. Red lentils, eggplant, mushrooms and tinned tomatoes are cooked, with some garam masala. This tomato and lentil mixture is put in a baking dish, topped with potatoes, haloumi and fresh tomato, and then baked in the oven.

Cozy Red Lentil Mash: Instead of always using potatoes, why not try making a red lentil mash? This recipe on the Harvard School of Public Health website makes a lovely side dish. Cooked red lentils are added to virtually caramelised onion, so they form a kind of mash. Balsamic vinegar and cayenne pepper are added at the end.
 

Tomato, Lentil & Coriander Soup: Another recipe from the Tinned Tomatoes blog, this time for a soup. It's a hearty and delicious meal. I particularly like the fresh coriander and lemon juice stirred through just at the end of cooking.