black lentils Archives | Fake Food Free

Roasted Eggplant and Black Lentil Soup Recipe

September 16, 2012

This eggplant and black lentil soup recipe is one I came up with after a Kentucky Food Bloggers event at Whole Foods. I’ve used black lentils a lot more since then, but this recipe still remains a favorite for cool summer days and for transitioning into autumn. It’s thickened with eggplant puree and flavored with tahini and garam masala.

Roasted Eggplant and Black Lentil Soup Recipe | Fake Food Free

It’s hard to believe that it has been almost a year since our Kentucky Food Blogger group got together. We attempted all spring and summer, but busy schedules wouldn’t allow us to find a date that would work for more than a couple people.

That changed this past Friday night with the help of Whole Foods Market in Lexington. We were invited out to attend a special edition of their Flights After 5 event. Flights After 5 is a Friday night get-together where 5 beer tastings are matched with 5 appetizers at stations throughout the store. Last Friday Kentucky beers were featured including two of my favorite breweries West Sixth and Lore Brewing.

Several area bloggers joined the staff at Whole Foods as they told us a bit about the work that they do, and about the mission of the store. I will admit that I’m not a 100% Whole Foods shopper, but I do appreciate the products I buy there – grains from the bulk bins, my puffed kamut, and Ataulfo mangos, when they are in season.

I really like that on their website you can find Unacceptable Ingredients for Food and their Meat Animal Welfare Standards. That makes shopping easy. Through my work in agriculture, I’ve come across many local meat producers and fruit and vegetable farmers who supply Whole Foods. The combination of local support and global projects makes me a fan. We also learned that they price match with surrounding competitors, which explains why I’ve always felt that many things at Whole Foods aren’t any more expensive than they are at other area supermarkets.

Along with a little education, good beer and snacks, and great company, we received every food bloggers favorite thing – a goodie bag! They kept our cooking in mind and filled it with several ingredients, perfect for putting together a few new recipes. I was happy to see black lentils in my bag. I’ve used their brand before, and I was excited to create something new with them.

Baba ganoush was one of the appetizer offerings that night so I had eggplant on my mind. Lucky me, we just happen to still have eggplant from the garden.

I had no idea what direction I would go with the soup, but the more I tasted it, the more I felt it needed some Indian influences, which ended up making it a lot like daal. (And I’m definitely not complaining.) Tahini and garam masala came to the rescue, and I added some crushed red pepper for heat. It turned out to be a great way to celebrate the start of comfort soup season!

Roasted Eggplant and Black Lentil Soup Recipe

2015-07-09 08:44:21

Makes: 4 to 6 servings

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Ingredients

6 small eggplants (you need about 1 cup roasted pulp)
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4-6 cups vegetable stock
2 tablespoons tahini
1 cup black lentils
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
If your eggplant is round, de-stem and cut each in half. Longer Japanese style can be roasted whole. Lightly coat the eggplants with 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil and spread in an even layer, cut side down, on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until pulp is very soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
In a soup pot, heat the 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high and add the onion and garlic. Cook over medium to medium-high until the onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add 4 cups of the stock. (Reserve the remaining 2 cups to add later, if you want a thinner soup.) Simmer for about 3 minutes.
Scoop out the cooled eggplant pulp and transfer it to the soup pot. Use an immersion blender to blend the eggplant, onions and garlic with the stock until smooth.
Add the tahini, and bring the soup to a low boil. Stir in the lentils. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Add the salt, garam masala, black pepper and crushed red pepper. Add more or less of each to taste. Simmer for another minute or two and serve.

By Lori Rice

Fake Food Free https://www.fakefoodfree.com/

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Disclosure: Some products in this recipe were given to me free of charge from Whole Foods Market. I was not required to post about them and received no compensation for doing so. Thoughts here are my own.

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Black Lentil Salad with Roasted Asparagus

March 30, 2012

This simple black lentil salad uses spring asparagus with sweet onions to create a delicious side dish for a seasonal meal.

Black Lentil Salad with Roasted Asparagus Recipe | Fake Food Free

So far we’ve been harvesting single servings of asparagus from the garden. My husband got the first serving, and I got the second. He’s a much bigger asparagus fan than me so I thought that was only fair.

It’s coming up slowly, but I’m not going to complain because it’s a bit early for asparagus anyway. I’ll take the slow arrival as a trade off for having it so early. It must have known how desperate I was to get the garden going this year. Despite the warm winter, I still felt like I’d been cooped up inside for way too long.

This week I did manage to collect enough asparagus to make a salad, and this got me thinking about some black lentils in the pantry. It goes without saying; we are still in clean out mode. It’s amazing how much you can stuff into a small pantry when you are as obsessed with grains and legumes as I am.

The tang of the balsamic vinegar in the dressing for this salad adds a good balance to the asparagus that has turned sweet from roasting. I rounded up all the asparagus I could, but if you have more, add it. It only makes this salad better.

Black Lentil Salad with Roasted Asparagus

2018-04-26 11:24:28

Serves 2-3 for a main, or 4 for a side

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Ingredients

¼ cup white onion, finely diced
1 cup dried black lentils
¼ cup chopped fresh chives
½ to 1 pound asparagus, roasted or grilled
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspon mascavo sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Place the onion in a bowl of ice water and allow it to sit while you prepare the rest of the salad. This will draw some heat out of the onions. If your onions are already sweet, you can skip this step.
In a medium sauce pan, add the lentils and 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 20-25 minutes. You want the lentils to be slightly firm for a salad. Drain and rinse with cold water until cooled. Pour into a medium bowl.
Drain the onion. Add the chives and onion to the lentils. Chop the asparagus into ½ inch pieces and add to the lentils.
In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, and sugar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the dressing over the lentils and toss to coat. Add more salt or pepper, if desired.

Notes

To roast the asparagus, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 15 minutes, or until dark green, but still crisp.

By Lori Rice

Fake Food Free https://www.fakefoodfree.com/

Soon I’ll be looking for ideas to use up all our asparagus. What’s your favorite way to prepare it?

black lentils

Roasted Eggplant and Black Lentil Soup Recipe

Black Lentil Salad with Roasted Asparagus

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