Recipe by Dr Lucy Williamson, registered public nutritionist, gut health expert and author of Soil to Gut
Serves 4 as a side or light lunch
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup coral whole (coral) lentils (these keep their shape really well)
- 1 cup quinoa
- juice of half a lemon
- 2 spring onions finely chopped
- bunch of asparagus (if available – comes into season nice and early)
- 100g broad beans (frozen work well here too) or 50:50 with frozen peas too
- 100g feta cheese, crumbled
- Fresh herbs – mint should be available and adds wonderful flavour
- 4 tbsps green pesto (either bought or my recipe)
- 4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and Pepper
METHOD:
- Cook the coral lentils until tender – about 15-20 minutes simmering either in salted water or use a nice chicken or vegetable stock. (whole lentils hold their shape well). Drain and set aside to cool.
- At the same time cook a batch of quinoa – save time and cook double so you have a batch in the fridge for other recipes. Pop the quinoa in a pan over heat and toast gently shaking it for 2 mins. Add twice the volume of cold water. It will bubble up. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave, covered, for a further 10 minutes.
- Cook the broad beans (and peas) and plunge straight into cold water so they keep their colour.
- Mix the lentils, beans, chopped herbs, and spring onions together. Add the lemon juice & olive oil and season to taste.
- Partly mix through the green pesto and drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil.
- Steam the asparagus lightly for 8 minutes until tender and serve on the top
- Stir through crumbled feta and add extra mint on the top.
Optional extras
- grated lemon rind, mixed seeds and for a burst of colour, top with some pomegranate jewels!
- use some leftovers like previously roasted beetroot which is still in season in the Spring
