• 50g puy lentils
  • 1/2 bay leaf
  • 1/2 garlic clove, bashed
  • A few parsley stalks (optional)
  • 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 150g carrots
  • 1/2 good handful flat-leaf parsley leaves
  • For the dressing
  • 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp cider vinegar
  • ½ tsp English mustard
  • ½ clove garlic, peeled and finely grated
  • 1/2 pinch sugar

Most of this recipe is marinating time, so it’s a good one to make for a packup (that’s my silly lincolnshire word for ‘a packed lunch’, I didn’t realise it was silly until I said it in London. NOW I KNOW. Thanks, Southerners), or just generally the night before. Totally vegan, and surprisingly filling (well, to me, I always expect salad to be light), but I think I’d do a 1.5 portion for a full lunch, or maybe stuff this into a toasted pitta? That would be ace. This is based on a Hugh F-W recipe from the Guardian Blog, I think. Too tired and short of time to google, sure you can find him if you want.

Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 40 mins | Servings: 2
Nutritional Info: 229 kcal, 25g carbs, 11g fat, 7g protein

 Ingredients:

First off bring the lentils to a boil, then drain them, then put them back in the pan, cover with water again, and add parsley stalks garlic and bay leaf. Simmer for about 25 minutes until tender. I don’t know why you do those two bits separately. It’s probably like an uber-rinse.

Meanwhile mix all of the dressing ingredients together in a container, that’s the olive oil, grate garlic, cyder vinegar, mustard and a half pinch of sugar, whisk with a fork.

Grate your carrot, and when the lentils are cooked, drain them, remove the bay leaf garlic and stalks, rinse with cold water, and  tip them into a container with the carrots. Add the dressing, season well, and leave to marinade

After 20-30 minutes, longer if you have patience (I don’t) stir through the chopped parsley and serve.