Recipe for Lentils with Roasted Tomatoes and Horseradish

I’ve shared my thoughts on the Anna Jones cookbook A Modern Way To Cook previously, as well my favorite recipe from the book for homemade crackers. This cookbook brings together more then 150 vegetarian recipes in unique flavor combinations, and one that had caught my eye and that I was saving for summer tomato season was one for Lentils with Roasted Tomatoes and Horseradish.

Lentils are super affordable and healthy, full of nutritional benefits such as high dietary fiber, lean protein, iron, folates, vitamin B6, manganese, thiamin, selenium ,and more. This makes them great for heart health, helps fight fatigue, can help with weight control since it helps you feel full, the fiber is good for digestion, and the selenium in lentils (not found in many foods) can improves immune response to infection by stimulating the production of disease-killing T-cells and helps detoxify some cancer-causing compounds in the body.

This dish is also, importantly, delicious. It is tasty with the creaminess but healthy comfort of the lentils, the cold contrasting shock of the horseradish sauce, the burst of the roasted grape tomatoes, and the crunchiness of the breadcrumbs. The only expensive ingredient is the horseradish sauce – the recipe calls for cottage cheese, but you can use silken tofu, vegan mayo, or vegan cream cheese too.

Cooking the lentils with the tomato and garlic is something Anna was taught by her friend and longtime boss Jamie Oliver, and while the lentils were simmering the aromas of the garlic and herbs were wonderful.

Her original recipe serves 4, but I doubled the recipe when I made it which is reflected in my photos. The listing for the recipe below is still for 4 people.

Ingredients:

• Lentils
  • 1 1/2 cups of Puy lentils, or green or brown lentils
  • 4 cloves of unpeeled garlic
  • 1 small tomato
  • 1 tablespoon of vegetable stock powder of 1/2 a stock cube crumbled
  • 4 sprigs or so of thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • To taste later: splash of red wine vinegar
  • To taste later: olive oil
• Roasted Tomatoes
  • 14 ounces of grape tomatoes
  • Drizzle of olive oil
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • Zest of one organic, unwaxed lemon
• Breadcrumb Topping
  • 2-3 handfuls of bread crumbs
  • Drizzle of olive oil
  • Leaves from a few sprigs of thyme
  • 1 coarsely chopped clove of garlic
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
• Horseradish Sauce
  • 1/2 cup of cottage cheese (or silken tofu)
  • 2 teaspoons of jarred grated horseradish

Directions:

1. To soak or not to soak: lentils can be cooked without pre-soaking. However, doing so makes them easier to digest and they will cook faster. Lentils and all legumes have phytates and enzyme inhibitors which make it harder to absorb the nutrients, so you’ll get more benefit (and less possible gas or bloating). You can soak them overnight, or just a couple hours. But, with lentils, unlike their other legume friends, their shells are not as hard so it isn’t required. Whether you decide to soak them or not, make sure you rinse them before you start cooking so you can remove any debris or shriveled lentils.
2. In a large pan, add the 1 1/2 cups of lentils, 4 unpeeled garlic cloves, whole tomato, 1 tablespoon of vegetable stock powder of 1/2 a stock cube, 4 or so thyme sprigs, and the 2 bay leaves. Pour in 1 quart of boiling water and bring the pan up to medium heat until the water is simmering, then lower the heat to keep them simmering. You use boiling water rather then regular temperature water because the heat will help break down indigestible starches. The rapid simmer and then reducing heat for the rest of the cooking time will try to make the lentils less mushy but so they plump up.
   
3. Simmer until the lentils are soft and the water has evaporated, stirring periodically. If the tomato is sticking up out of the mixture like mine was, it’s ok to cut the tomato in half. If the lentils are looking dry and aren’t soft yet, add in a little bit more boiling water. How long this will take depends on whether you use Puy lentils (25-30 minutes) or other type of lentils – green and brown lentils, which are very common, will take longer. Fresher lentils will also cook faster then older lentils that have been stored awhile.
4. While the lentils are simmering, preheat the oven to 425 F for roasting the tomatoes. On a baking sheet, place the grape tomatoes which you have cut in half (cut side should be facing up). Drizzle some olive oil. Sprinkle some salt and pepper and the zest of the lemon. Once the oven is ready, roast for 15 minutes.
   
5. For the breadcrumb topping, mix the bread crumbs with the thyme leaves and coarsely chopped garlic. Spread this on a baking sheet and drizzle the olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake this for 5 minutes in the 425 F oven.
   
6. The horseradish sauce is the easiest – just mix together the cottage cheese and the horseradish and set aside.
7. Once the lentils are cooked, remove the bay leaves and the sprigs of thyme. Scoop out the tomato and garlic cloves. Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, pop the cloves out of their skins and mash them with a fork along with the tomato into a paste. Stir the tomato and garlic paste back into the lentils, and then tasting, season with additional salt, pepper, a glug of olive oil, and splash of red wine vinegar.
   
8. To serve: everyone starts with a ladle or two of lentils. Then top the lentils with the horseradish sauce, some of the roasted grape tomatoes, and finally the breadcrumb topping.
   

Once cooked, lentils should be stored in the refrigerator, covered, and should be eaten within 3 days for best taste, and not kept for longer then a week. I made a huge amount to make multiple meals worth for F and I – and this recipe was a huge hit with F.

This is not a sponsored post – I just had this super cute spoon from Lentils.Org from a Lentils & Utensils dinner I had to miss because of last minute work travel, and I already knew this was a recipe I bookmarked and wanted to do for the summer, so I wanted to use the spoon! If you are interested in finding out more about lentils including their benefits and a lot more recipes, check out Lentils.Org.

What is your favorite way to have lentils?