Few weeks ago, I tried the lentil bowl from The Cookhouse, a restaurant in my hometown Limassol (a must if you are ever here), and I couldn't stop thinking about it for days, so I decided to recreate it! I hope you like it as much as I did.
Ingredients
- 150 g lentils
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 carrot
- 1/2 leek
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 small piece of ginger
- 1 tbsp short grain rice
- 1 veggie cube
- 100 ml olive oil
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp of each curry powder, oregano
- 1/4 tsp of each thyme, cumin and ginger powder
- Salt and pepper
- A handful of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
- 1/2 lemon, zest and juice
Instructions
- Soak the lentils the night before
- The next day, drain and rinse the lentils and add them in a medium size pot
- Cover with 2L of water, the bay leaves and boil on a medium heat for 30-40 minutes
- Then prepare your veggies, peel the carrot and cut it in small pieces
- Cut the leek in half and then slice it thinly
- I like to grate my ginger and garlic, but feel free to cut it if you prefer
- Remove any foam on top of the lentils while they are boiling and stir them occasionally
- When the lentils are almost cooked, (check by squeezing few of them with your fingers, be careful, they are hot!) add the rice and veggie cube
- At this point, your lentils must have some water, if not add a little bit more boiling water to help the rice cook
- In a separate, smaller pot, add the olive oil, carrot and leek along with all the spices, a generous pinch of salt and pepper and sauté on a medium to low heat, for around 8 minutes
- Make sure to stir both the lentils and the veggies
- After 7-8 minutes approximately, the carrot and leek mixture must have softened. Add it to your lentils and stir to combine
- Give it a couple more minutes on the stove, and check the seasoning in the meantime
- Turn off the heat and add the chopped spinach
- Finish with lemon zest and lemon juice
- Enjoy with a fresh salad, black olives (I prefer Cypriot or Kalamata ones) and bread
*Make sure to wash your leek well as it tends to have soil between the layers and remove the outer hard leaves.
*If your ginger is frozen it makes it easier to grate it!