Lentils and Slow-Roasted Tomatoes
I hadn’t thought much about lentils lately – I’d eaten so many of them over the winter, I sort of pushed them aside in my head – then I saw a recipe for a lentil salad in the new Yottam Ottolenghi cookbook, “Plenty,” served with oven-roasted tomatoes and gorgonzola. I’m all about eating whatever I can that’s cold and/or at room temperature right now, so I thought that I’d make something like this for dinner.
A lot like this, in fact.
My decision was also based on the fact that I had already had everything that I needed, and no trip to the stinky stinky Franprix was needed.
Is it really stinky, you might be wondering? Yes. Like all grocery stores here, there’s a faint off-smell throughout the place, not unlike rotting meat. If that’s not enough, then there’s the added inconvenience of the lines, normally five to ten people deep, that always snake back past the supersize boxes of gum –who needs to buy gum in a container the size of a Campbell’s soup can, anyway? – beyond the end cap specials of Bordeaux, usually ending somewhere near the bright pink rolls of toilet paper. (Just try to find white. I dare you.)
So you understand. If I can make something with what I already have, it’s already a winner in my book.
Lucky for me, I’d been to the President Wilson Market the day before and had bought some fresh chevre from the cute goat and sheep cheese man who lives right outside of Paris with his flock. This was a particularly lovely and mild cheese, and with flecks of basil throughout, too.
I had all sorts of fresh herbs from my market bounty, and had picked up some fat tomatoes, too. I sliced them in half and shoved them in the oven and let them roast for about four hours. I made the lentils, let them cool, and then put them in the fridge for later.
Dinner, done. It wasn’t even noon yet.
Now, I happen to love lentils, so I ate these for a few days afterwards, mainly because along with about 2,000 of our neighbors, we had no gas, which meant no cooking and no hot water. One day, I added Roquefort, because I always have plenty of that on hand. Another day, I added raita, because I had some left over from another “Plenty” – inspired dinner. I also like to add chopped up, pickled jalapenos, because I don’t think that there’s much that jalapeños don’t improve, and often, a splash of balsamic vinegar, too, because I like how the sweetness contrasts the earthiness of the lentils.
What can you add to this to make it more interesting, to make it yours?
Lentil and Slow-Roasted Tomato Salad
Inspired by Yottam Ottolenghi’s “Plenty”
500 grams/1 pound lentils du Puy, rinsed
½ medium white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
95 litres/32 oz/4 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 medium slow-roasted tomatoes, recipe follows
100 grams/3.5 oz fresh chevre (you can use more or less)
about 1 teaspoon fresh chives, chopped
couple sprigs thyme, leaves removed
1. Drizzle the olive oil in a medium stockpot, add the chopped onion and minced garlic, and turn the heat onto medium and cook until the onion becomes translucent, 5-10 minutes. Add the lentils and water and cook until it boils. Cover, and cook for 45 minutes, or until the lentils become soft, but not mushy. Be sure to check the lentils every now and then as they cook – you may need to add a bit more water as they cook.
2. When the lentils are cooked, let them cool and then put in a container in the fridge until you’re ready to eat them.
3. Assemble the salad. Spoon the lentils in a bowl, top with tomates, chevre, thyme and chives.
Slow-Roasted Tomatoes
5 medium tomatoes, such as Roma, cut in half
olive oil
sea salt
pepper
about a teaspoon fresh thyme
Preheat oven to 150 C/ 300 F
Place halved tomatoes insides-up on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle sea salt, pepper and thyme leaves on all. Bake for 4 hours.
