tomato |

The inspiration for this dish came to me yesterday, while staring blankly at the meat section in Sainsbury’s, wondering – as usual – what the f*ck to cook for dinner. Having just finished my “long run” outside Sainsbury’s doors (good timing or what?!) I could barely think straight, let alone face into hours of laborious food prep.

This is my take on what has become a well-known dish in recent years. It’s great winter food and quite impressive, particularly given its simplicity. If you have a good stock of herbs and spices you can get quite creative but for my version I’ve stuck closely to the seasoning used in the sausages, amplifying or complementing flavours already present in the dish. It’s super tasty, nutritious and quick – you should be able to get it on the table in 30 minutes. For real.

Ingredients

375g chipolata sausages (12)

250g spinach

200g split red lentils

150g cherry tomatoes

1 onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 chili pepper, minced (optional)

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp white pepper

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp nutmeg

3 bay leaves

salt to taste

juice 1/2 lemon

1/2 glass wine

Serves 4

Method

Step 1: in a large pan, warm the dry spices in a little olive oil on a medium-low heat for about 1 minute. Add the minced garlic, onion and (optional) chilli. Fry for a further 3 minutes.

(As an aside, I cook with chilli a lot – but sometimes I’ll use peppers, or even chili flakes, that go straight for the back of my throat, and have me coughing up a lung for 20 minutes. I tend to just struggle through (good for the sinuses and all that), but I’m told that a damp bandana tied over your mouth and nose should help. Just don’t suffocate yourself, please.)

Step 2: add split red lentils, cherry tomatoes, bay leaves, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and about 400-500mls of water. Cover and leave to simmer on a low heat for 12-15 minutes.

Step 3: meanwhile, place chipolatas under a hot grill, turning occasionally to make sure they are good and browned all the way round. This should take about 10 minutes. Once cooked, turn on oven at about 160c to keep them warm while waiting for the rest of the dish to be ready.

Step 4: add wine to lentils and stir through.

Step 5: turn up heat to medium-high and add spinach. Toss the spinach to make sure that some of the lentils are on top as this will help it wilt faster. You want to remove from heat as soon as the spinach has wilted as it’s much nicer with a bit of bite left in it. This should take about 2-3 minutes. Check seasoning to make sure it’s to your taste – but otherwise, you’re done. Serve with red wine, obviously.

For my first post ever, I decided to keep it very simple. Calling this a salad feels a little like I’m cheating because, seriously, let’s just take stock here: there are 5 ingredients (4 if you don’t count the olive oil, not pictured here). But, we’ve been eating it pretty much every Saturday morning for the last couple of months, usually with scrambled eggs and toast. So I must be onto something. Very simple, very tasty, and very satisfying.

Ingredients

7 -10 small vine tomatoes

80g stilton

2 small, ripe avocados

10 basil leaves

Olive oil

Method

Step 1: cut your tomatoes in half and arrange at the bottom of your salad bowl. Today, I had small-ish vine tomatoes, but I quite often use mini Roma tomatoes. The important point is that they need to pack a punch. So, as long as they are flavoursome, it doesn’t matter exactly which type you use.

Step 2: slice open your avocados. Using a teaspoon, remove the pits, scoop out the flesh and place on top of the tomatoes. I use a teaspoon because (a) it’s easier to wedge under the avocado pit than a tablespoon and (b) it makes for smaller scoops of avocado which are easier to eat and more in proportion with the tomatoes I use.

Step 3: tear up your basil leaves, roughly, and scatter over the top of your salad. Sometimes I add a handful or two of spinach leaves to this salad to beef it up a bit. This works well if you’re having it on its own for a light lunch or dinner.

Step 4: crumble your cheese over the top, taking care to break it up into relatively small chunks. The key to this salad is to use a good, strong cheese — either a white sheep’s cheese or a blue cheese, like the stilton I used here. The sharpness of the cheese chimes well with the sweet tang of the tomatoes and the soft blandness of the avocado but it’s strong stuff you’re dealing with and you don’t want it to be overpowering – so, try not to overdo it.

Step 5: drizzle with olive oil if you so desire. Do NOT be tempted to mix it all up. I did this exactly once (I can’t really explain why, but it seemed like a good idea at the time). While it still tasted great, it looked pretty vile. So, you have been warned.

So, there you have it: quick and easy avocado salad. Serve with hot buttered toast and scrambled eggs for a delicious brunch, or eat on its own with some spinach thrown in if you feel like a light lunch or dinner.

tomato

Chipolata sausages and lentils

Tomato and avocado salad