MIKEY BELL

As I’ve become more mindful this year of making better and healthier choices, I’ve noticed that for some strange reason, this means, eating everything in a bowl.

Is it the restorative zen-like feeling of cupping a bowl to bring in that temple like feeling? Not really.

Is it that I can pack it with lots of healthy, nutritious ingredients? Meh. I guess.

Or is it, because it’s in liquid form, I can convince myself to eat more of it? Probably.

Either way, a lot of my food lately has been coming in bowls, and while this is something I usually run towards rather than shy away from, I do have to admit, that one can only live on untextured, smooth liquids for so long before they start walking backwards up the wall while screaming into a pillow.

So I needed something with a bit more body.

Essentially a brothier, more liquid version of a dal, this is a warming, one-bowl recipe that is meant to be savoured on it’s own with the spirit of a soup, rather than accompanying a wider meal. If you’re after a version of a dal that is a lot closer to what you’d expect one to be, I have a fabulous Tomato & Coconut Dal recipe that I’d like to direct you to.

This recipe was also born from necessity, which was an abundance of carrots post-new year. I had a huge amount of carrots lying idle in my kitchen and since I’m not a rabbit, I needed ways to use them up. I hate carrots usually, I won’t lie to you, especially in their original format – lying there all skinny and orange, like me when I was eighteen. The nerve of them. However, when I’m trying to eat healthier, for some reason unbeknownst to me, I grab a bag, and then stare at them for weeks begrudging their existence.

But then I made this and then it didn’t seem so bad.

I like to serve this with a jammy, soft-boiled egg (four and a half minutes after the boiling point in a pot of water) and some cucumbers, which have been pickled as per the recipe here.

Serves 2

60g red lentils

1 tbs butter (+ 1 more optional tbs for serving)

2 – 3 shallots – peeled and finely chopped

1 stick celery – chopped finely

2 cloves garlic

A thumb-sized piece of ginger – peeled

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 ground coriander

1/4 tsp all spice

3 carrots (medium sized) – peeled and grated

700ml vegetable stock

A handful of chopped dill

1. Rinse the lentils under the tap until you can see the water run clear and then put them to one side.
2. Heat 1 tbs of the butter in a medium-sized pot and once melted, add the finely chopped shallots and celery with a little salt, cooking for about 5 minutes until they soften.
3. Grate in the garlic and ginger with a fine grater, cooking for a further 2 – 3 minutes until they are warm.
4. Add in the cumin, coriander, all spice, and a little black pepper, stirring so that everything is coated, and cook for a further few minutes.
5. Tip in the grated carrots, using a spoon to stir and coat them. Cook for a few minutes further, just until the carrots begin to soften too.
6. Add the washed red lentils, the vegetable stock, and stir everything together. Bring the pot to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook uncovered for about half an hour, stirring now and then so that the lentils don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. I like mine quite brothy, but feel free to add a little more stock if you want it even more liquid.
7. After the thirty minutes are up, leave to stand a little to cool before serving in bowls with a generous scattering of chopped dill. As mentioned in the intro, I like to also serve with a soft boiled egg, some fridge pickles, and a further tbs of butter stirred through.