Brown rice & lentils with lemon

Get creative with greens

Make the most of the young green veggies from your garden by preparing this light, yet wholesome vegetarian meal or healthy side dish, that Heleen Meyer recently shared with me. The combination of brown rice and lentils with a lemony dressing, to complement all the flavours, and a soft cheese will make you come back for more.

Did you know that the combination of equal quantities of brown rice and lentils forms a complete protein? So even if there is no meat in this dish, it’s still filling and nutritious. Brown basmati rice has a lovely nutty flavour, perfect in this recipe, but ordinary brown rice will also be good. The green veggies add bulk to the dish with lots of interesting textures, colours and healthy vitamins and minerals.

The simplicity of this dish adds to its enjoyment, as you really just need to put together a few basic ingredients for a special synergy of flavours. Goats’ cheese in this recipe is particularly good, but you can substitute it with chunky ricotta or even feta. Enjoy it as a vegetarian meal, starchy side or even as an alternative salad with a braai.

Brown rice & lentils with lemon

Recipe by Heleen Meyer

Image by Berna Coetzee , for LiG Tydskrif

Serves 4 – 6

Salad

125 ml (100 g) uncooked brown lentils

125 ml (100 g) uncooked brown basmati rice

1 fresh or dried bay leaf or two thick strips of lemon rind

100-150 g broccoli, cut into florets

250 ml (1 cup) fresh or frozen peas, rinsed

100 ml fresh mint leaves

100 g goats’ cheese (chevin), feta or ricotta cheese or even pecorino shavings

Salad dressing

60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil

25 ml (5 tsp) apple cider or grape vinegar

15 ml (1 tbsp) finely grated lemon rind

45 ml (3 tbsp) lemon juice

5 ml (1 tsp) honey

30 ml (2 tbsp) finely chopped fresh mint

salt and black pepper to taste

1. Salad: Place lentils, rice, bay leaf or lemon rind and a small pinch of salt in a saucepan with 625 ml (2½ cups) cold water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until cooked, but not too soft. Drain well, remove the bay leaf or lemon strips and allow to cool.

2. Salad dressing: Mix all the salad dressing ingredients together and season to taste.

3. Place broccoli in a shallow dish and cover with boiling water. Allow to stand for about 10-15 minutes or until just cooked and drain well. (Alternatively, simmer gently in a small amount of water, until just bright green in colour and still crispy – take care not to overcook the broccoli.) Repeat the process if necessary.

4. Arrange cooked lentils, rice and broccoli on a salad platter or individual plates with the rest of the salad ingredients. Serve with the salad dressing and enjoy as a vegetarian meal or starchy side dish.

Tip:

1. To make this a non-vegetarian meal, add cooked chicken or bacon to the salad.