French Lentils, Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese Salad

Serves: 4 –6 as a main course

Prep time: 15 minutes (plus 15 minutes to stand)

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

½ cup French green lentils

1 bay leaf

2 cloves garlic, unpeeled salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1–2 small beetroot (slightly bigger than a golf ball), shredded using a food processor or mandolin

4 handfuls of baby spinach, or a few handfuls of flatleaf parsley leaves

1/3 cup toasted almonds, roughly chopped 120g goat's cheese, crumbled

Hearty and sustaining — but not so much that you need a lie-down after eating it. This also keeps well in the fridge for a couple of days. If you can find golden beetroot, they look especially appealing in this salad (shredded raw carrot or pumpkin will look great too).

Method

Put the lentils, bay leaf and garlic in a saucepan.

Cover generously with boiling water and set over a medium heat. Simmer for 15–20 minutes, until the lentils are cooked but not mushy. Drain into a sieve. Discard the bay leaf and retrieve and reserve the garlic. Tip the lentils into a serving bowl and set aside.

To make the dressing, squeeze the cooked garlic out of its skin and mash to a paste with a pinch of salt. Add the mustard, vinegar and olive oil and whisk until emulsified.

Add the shredded beetroot, baby spinach/parsley, almonds and goat’s cheese to the lentil bowl. Pour over the dressing and toss gently to combine. Season well with salt and pepper. Let it stand for at least 15 minutes for the flavours to mingle before serving.

Recipe extracted from Homecooked Seasonal Recipes for Every Day by Lucy Corry, Penguin, RRP $55