Yotam Ottolenghi's Adas bil hamoud

Lentils are my favourite pulse, but even I felt the need for some new inspiration in the lentil soup department. Along came thousand-times-blessed Ottolenghi with the answer in this Arabic sour lentil soup with a strong lemon brightness.I used kale and savoy cabbage instead of chard, which also worked well.

Recipe serves 4-6.


200g brown or green lentils
110ml olive oil
2 large onions, peeled and finely chopped
5 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1½ tbsp cumin seeds
3 lemons – finely shave the skin off 1 into 5 wide strips, then juice all 3 to get 75ml
Salt and black pepper
3 firm, waxy potatoes, such as desiree, peeled and cut into 4cm pieces (650g-700g net weight)
400g Swiss or rainbow chard, leaves and stalks separated, then roughly sliced
1 litre vegetable stock
1½ tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely sliced on an angle

Put the lentils in a medium saucepan, cover with plenty of cold, lightly salted water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the lentils are nearly cooked but still retain a bite, then drain.

While the lentils are cooking, put 80ml oil in a large, heavy-based pot for which you have a lid, and put on a medium heat. Once hot, add the onions, garlic, cumin, lemon skin, two and a quarter teaspoons of salt and plenty of pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often, until very soft and golden. Stir in the potatoes, lentils and chard stalks, pour in the stock and 800ml water, bring to a gentle simmer, then cover and leave to cook for 20 minutes, or until the potato is soft but still holds its shape.

Turn off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and chard leaves, and leave to cook in the residual heat for two or three minutes, until wilted. Divide between four bowls, drizzle over the remaining two tablespoons of oil, garnish with the coriander and spring onion, and serve hot.

Corn pancakes

A fast and easy lunch, and fairly adaptable.

I love corn fritters but sometimes find traditional ones with whole kernels in a flour batter a little stodgy. These are inspired by Isa Chandra Moskowitz's "Fresh Corn Johnnycakes", which are also awesome.

Corn pancakes


1 can sweetcorn kernels
Flour/ finely ground polenta (or a mixture)
1 tsp baking powder
salt
dash of vinegar
seasonings (optional - I like herb salt and paprika)
finely chopped spring onions

(optional add-ins: grated zucchini, fresh coriander)

Preheat a cast iron frying pan (or other reliable non-stick frying pan) on medium.

Dump the sweetcorn in a bowl and whizz for a few seconds with a stick blender so that some of the corn is mashed.

Add spring onions if using, seasonings and salt, vinegar and baking powder and stir thoroughly.

Add enough flour/polenta to glue it all together and adjust with water as necessary to make a scoopable batter. The thicker the batter, the thicker the cakes, I like mine on the relatively thin side.

Add a neutral vegetable oil to the pan. Scoop batter into frying pan to make fritter-sized pancakes and fry on each side until crispy.

Toppings

My favourite is layering the pancakes with a bed of rocket or spinach, topped with sliced avocado and red capsicum or tomato, drenched in a smoky chipotle salsa.

A more Kiwi topping would be vegan sour cream and sweet chili sauce.